Well I was watching the Ashes when they put an interesting stat up on the screen. South Africa have played 10 tests this year already, currently playing the 11th and have only won 2!! I mean for a team that is meant to be so good, how can we only win 2 tests. Something is wrong BIG time, and what has changed? I don't see any new blood (apart from now) coming into the side? No lets give players that are not performing another chance. Maybe they will improve. Scrap that idea, send that player back to play domestic cricket, and make him earn his spot back.

How do you get form back? Play more cricket... Why on earth then did Graeme Smith play sweet buggerall 4 day cricket before India got here? India didn't play well in the 1 dayers, they won the first test, and what did they do? They asked to play another warm up match between the first test and the second? Why, so that some out of form players could try and find some form. Now that is how it is done.

While I am at it.... Why don't they open with Shaun Pollock? His line and lenght can not be matched, and when he is bowling in tandem with Ntini, Ntini is at his best and he takes loads of wickets. When they don't bowl in tandem, Ntini looks pretty average. Pollock has worked hard at his bowling, and is bowling a bit quicker now than he did earlier in the season, and last season. The hunger is still there for him to perform, and we should use him at the start of the innings. They do it in the 1 dayers, why not do it in the tests as well?

We have no hope.... or do we?

I'm happy there's some new blood now, and hopefully we will get back on track. I HAVE ALL THE FAITH IN THE WORLD.

But I definitely agree that they should open with Polly, bowling in tandem with Ntini, AND KICK SOME CRICKETING ASS. It totally works and I just can't see why they keep opening with blerrie Nel.

toasted, I am also glad to see the young blood. Morkel is a star of the future. They must just stick with him for a while. Give him a chance, as he is new. They also need to start exposing a spinner at some stage. We have 2 excellent spinners in the ranks. 1 young, 1 not so young... You decide....

I would drop Gibbs for now, as he hasn't really performed. Yes he got 63, but that is one score out of how many? The same can be said for Smith, although he is the captain, so it is hard to drop him. So, drop Gibbs and bring in a new guy to bat at 5 or where ever, and open with Smith and De Villiers (another superstar in the making). And let us not forget.... When boucher finally retires, De Villiers, can take over, but that depends on if we have another quality keeper, cause then De Villiers can stay in the field.

Oh yeah, for interest sake.... Australia have won 11 of 11 tests this year.

Yeh, i agree there is something wrong and the saying that comes to mind is Shit rolls down hill. Graeme Smith should be dropped - so what if we need a new captain, we cant afford to have a plonker like him farting around at the wicket. Same for Gibbs and Amla. Send them all back to domestic cricket and get their form back - only then can they come back into the side.

I believe that we have enough players of good calibre to do very well, we just need experience and practice. I have also heard that the south african team are quite heavy drinkers and I know first hand that one of them beats his now ex-girlfriend when tanked

Makes me sad

Well Amla was in form domestically, but you can't blame him completely for his performance. I mean the openers are meant to do something, and they didn't which adds pressure on him. Saying that, he still should've done better than what he has done. I reckon give him 1 more chance.

Got to say that we did well today. Well done to the boys, and may this be the time for some good tests. i.e. Better than 3 out of 11. I must say Nel has impressed me recently. He is becoming more of a strike bowler, and when did he start bowling over 140km/h??? Come to think of it... Polly has also gained some speed. Wonder what they been doing or eating??


Could that be a 1XSmith? If not please do enlighten me. That pisses me off no end.

I can't believe I effing missed the cricket today. I assumed the "bad light" wouldn't be getting any better and went to effing movies instead. Now I have completely missed out.

I reckon this 3rd test could end up being a draw. Almost the end of day 3 and we are still waiting for both 1st innings to be finished. We either need to get a lot of runs before lunch tomorrow and the declare and have a bowl, or declare over night, try bowl india out and then get whatever runs we need. Yes we could bat till tea tomorrow, and then bowl but it may not be enough time...

Can we maybe do to India, what Aus did to England? Hope so.

Unless India can score 300 odd runs quickly today (which i doubt), they don't really stand a chance of winning.

I just hope we don't get a very in form Kumble on the last day taking 6+ wickets. I reckon we might be in for a win for India if they don't throw it away today by scoring in the region of 150 odd.

The game look set for a draw, however, let us not rule out an Indian 2nd innings batting collapse. If South Africa's bowling combinations are carefully thought out i.e Pollock and Ntini opening, and if they stick to a good line and length and consistantly make the Indian batsmen play, SA stand an excellent chance of wrapping up India inside the 4th day!

Steyn bowled well in patches in the 1st innings but didn't make the batsmen play at enough of the balls.

He is a little short of "match fitness". In hindsight he should have been left out of the sqaud. Morkel should have taken the field instead. Morkel adds greater value to the team if you consider the fact that he can bat!

Which is what I said at the start of this test. I just have a bad feeling we are in for a little gem of an innings from the Maestro. If we are, then India will take the match away from us, and depending on the wicket it could get quite interesting/exciting/nerve racking on the last day. Hopefully, my feeling is wrong, and we bowl india out for like 100 and then go on and win the test.

Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag or even Laxman all have the ability to post huge scores and occupy the crease for large amounts of time.
Most, if not all, of these guys love to play off the back-foot due to them being accustomed to the slow wickets in India that prevents the balls from "coming onto the bat" like it does here in SA with our fast, bouncy pitches.

Thats the key here! Causing the Indians to play forward more often will win SA the test match!

Steyn and Ntini are the keys to winning this match. They need to stick to their tasks and not try to do too much as they did in the 1st innings! Pollock will be his usual, miserly self and dry up the runs from his end. Thats when our two "strike" bowlers must step up and clean India up!!

Also, judging from what I saw yesterday the pitch seems to be holding up fairly well. Anil Kumble of the last day of a test match is not something SA want to worry about!!!

Yes they can all occupy the crease, but only 2 out of those 4 (5 if you include Ganguly) can score quickly. That being Sachin, and Sehwag. Those two could score a quick 100 each, and that would be that.

This pitch is actually more suited to the Indians, rather than the SA team. It is closer to a Indian wicket than a true South African wicket. Why do our groundsmen do this to us?

This pitches bounce is fairly consistent. (I've only seen a handfull of balls do strange things)
Its pacy and the ball comes onto the bat nicely.

Kumble was turning the ball sharply on only a few occasions yesterday, but I did notice some fairly large rough patches outside leg stump on the one end.

Newlands often favours spinners on the last two days of a test match and I hope that Kumble isn't the decising factor on day 5. He can destroy SA single handedly!!

In Australia, if a pitch favours an opposing team, then Cricket Australia will not schedule a test-match at that ground. In South Africa's case that ground is: Perth! When last did SA, when touring Australia, play a test match on that ground??

Here in SA, it seems that when a pitch favours a team, they all say, sure why not - lets go for it! Its not a new thing - Its been happenning for years.

This issue need to be resolved! We cant afford to lose to India this test series with Pakistan looming!!

Yeah, it does need to be resolved, and REALLY soon.

2 wickets down already, so could this be our day. We need to be aggressive like we were in the last test. I mean we basically won that inside 3,5 days with all the delays due to bad light.

That was a brilliant effort by SA!

Australia have this ability to shift up a few gears when they need to! They have this killer instinct that South Africa lack!

We need to be aggressive, I agree, but with control. We can't be aggressive for the sake of aggression, like Andre Nel and sometimes Graeme Smith!

SA and every other cricketing country in the world.

True! But, we did beat them in the greatest one-day international ever played and they were also beaten by Bangladesh not too long ago!!

In that 438 match the proteas showed character, tenacity, brilliance and guts! And they got the glory that day!!!!
That killer instinct is there, lurking just beneath the surface! It teases us with its release at times!! Someone need to help the team bring it out!!!!!!!

I think what helped us there was two things. Boeta going out so early, and the fact that the players went in with the attitude that they had nothing to lose, so why not go for it. It paid off.

God, Gibbs was in brutal form that game!!
He reminded us that day, that when he gets it together he can be one of the most dangerous batsmen in the world!!


That was a blessing in disguise, for sure!!

Anothing thing was that the break between innings was just 20 minutes. The magnitude of their batting task at hand didn't fully sink in! They simply didnt have time to think about what went down on the field the past 50 overs and comtemplate!

Well, we need 211 to win in a day and a bit. Let's hope the boys can do it. Going to be tough, but exciting all the same. They just better not try and defend for a draw, cause then we will lose for sure.

steyn's last over had 7 balls, rotfl

something odd happened out there

and he is sitting on a hattrick

I didn't know that. Someone won't be too happy about that, considering he got a wicket off the last ball also...

Ya, Steyn's last over was 7 balls long. But....There were also one or two 5 ball overs as well. I know umpires are just people and they make mistakes, but this is just utterly sloppy.

It's just this sort of krap that can severly affect the outcome of a match.

I don't think I need to remind anyone how many times, the proteas have been on the receiving end of poor umpiring.

Umpires should be removed from the game, as much as I like having them there, and replaced with technology.

There is just too much riding on matches these days and the last thing you want is the game to be spoiled by human error.

I quite like them there, and the mistakes they make. It is a part of the game, and I am glad it is still there. I don't mind them being aided by technology, but I don't want them to be replaced.

For LBW's they could make it that the batsmen could appeal against the decision. If the replay shows it was going to miss the wickets via Hawk Eye, then the batsmen carries on. If it shows that he is out, then he is out and the batting team loses X amount of runs. That way it will also deter the batsmen a bit from querying everything. It would have to be quite a substantial amount of runs IMO though.

The same can go for the bowling team. They can appeal against the umpires decision. If the batsmen is in fact out, then he is out, BUT if the umpire is proved to be correct, then the batting team gets an additional amount of runs. Say 50? Imagine playing against Sri-Lanka. They would appeal everything and you could declare without even batting. haha

Although its nice to have umpires there on the field, I believe that one day they will be replaced entirely by technology.

One day test matches won't be played on a field at all, and not contested by 22 individuals. It will be this kid from Australia playing against this kid from South Africa over a high speed Internet connection. The world cup will be over in a day and a half.... Well I hope it never gets that way.

LOL. Thats maybe a bit extreme. But yeah, hope it never ever gets that way.

So we ended the day on 55/2. AB getting himself caught behind again, and Amla failing again. wonder if they will give him another chance against Pakistan? Anyways, the last day today is sure to be an interesting one. Kumble was proving to be a bit of a menace today... What will he be like when the ball is a bit older. Hopefully we can keep our heads, and push on for victory. All I can say is that it is now time for a Captains knock from Smith, and Mr Gibbs had better show us what he is made of. If he fails again, I suspect it will be goodbye to him for a while.

GOOD LUCK Proteas.

AB should NOT have played that ball. That was utterly stupid of him. Amla getting out LBW right at the end of the days play was another poor showing.

Kumble could be devestating on day 5.

Smith and Gibbs need to come good, a century by either player is required to anchor the innings. The job needs to get done by the top and middle order. It cant be left to Boucher, Pollock and the bowlers.

HERE's HOPING SOUTH AFRICA, WIN.

Well done to the boys, although they did make it really really hard for themselves. I mean, if I was batting needing like 15 or whatever it was they needed in the last 30 mins, I would have been more aggressive. There were loads of wickets in hand. I got to say I was very let down by Mr Kallis. I mean he left deliveries that even I could have smacked for four. Anyways, we were lucky enough to get the extra 30 mins, and got the win.

Was a good match and series win for SA. Coming from 1-0 down to win 2-1 isn't easy, especially with a rusty test team.

It was good to see Ashwell Prince make some runs in the face of everyone else's failures.
I think he should have gotten the man-of-the-series.

Graeme Smith was the second highest run scorer in the series behind Prince. He started the series poorly, but started finding his feet towards then end of the tour. He got SA off to a few good starts but was unable to score a century even though he was close on 2 occasions.

Another positive was Paul Harris. He took some very important wickets. If he is part of our test setup from here on in, I can see a very rosy period for South African test cricket. The key is to let the man grow into a world class spinner, much like what Australia did with Warne and what Sri-Lanka did with Murali.

Gibbs and de Villiers were both very poor. They need to up their game if they want to stay in the squad.

Amla, was up there at times scoring a few fifties and proved he can bat, but he needs to refine his technique a little more and go on and convert those fifties into big scores.

Pollock was in fine form with the ball (when is he not?). He also batted well. His promotion to no. 4 in the 3rd test was a stroke of brilliance of South Africa's part. India had expected Kallis to come in. They had based their game plan on slowing down South Africa's scoring by inhibiting Kallis, who isn't the best player of spin in the world. Kallis has been criticised for scoring too slowly in the past and this series was no exception.
Apart from that he is due for some big runs.

Ntini was superb in the 2nd test, but his form waned in the 3rd! Let's hope this is only a temporary slump for him. SA would do well to open with Pollock, who would dry up the runs, and Ntini operating at the other end, would take wickets!

It was a very entertaining series and reminded me once again why I love Test cricket so much!

Pakistan is the next hurdle SA face.

The first test start on Thursday (Jan 11, 2007). GOOD LUCK SOUTH AFRICA!!!!!

Great post, Agreed! I'm afraid I cant say a hell of a lot more, except that I really hope that AB comes out of it, because for some reason I really rate him as a cricketer of the future. Maybe I should become a selector, getting these gut feelings with nothing substantial to base them on!

You sure you arent Haroon Lorgat is disguise??

He mentioned the following:



I mean WTF?

Okay, so now we go into Day 5 of the first test against Pakistan. Got to say we did really well, and it could have been oh so much better. Only need another 130 tomorrow, so hopefully we can do that without too many problems.

1 thing I didn't like about today was the taking of the new ball. Pollock and Harris were bowling well with the old ball, and were causing all kinds of problems. For crying out loud they get wickets, then Smith takes them off and gives the new ball to Ntini and Nel. I would have let Harris and Polly go for another 5 overs each at least. Well done to Pakistan's lower order though in getting 100 plus runs, to make it a challenge for S.A.

as I have said and will always say Smith is an idiot and he is not good for sa cricket, make someone else captain and drop smith to 3rd, we have seen this in the past with batting captains, atherton, Lara, Tendulkar. The pressure for a captain as an opening batsman is way too great

I agree that we need someone else as captain. I wouldn't even drop Smith to 3rd. I would drop him completely and let him get his form back completely, if he can even do that. Maybe I am saying that just because I really can't stand him, but I do believe we would do MUCH better without him there at all.

We aren't exactly getting killed now are we?
Why fix it if it isn't broken?

We not getting killed, but we sure making it hard for ourselves.

Smith is lacking form. The flaws in his technique were exposed by Zaheer Khan in the first 2 tests against India.
he has since got to the drawing board and learned from his mistakes.
I am not a fan of Smith (never have been) and I dont believe he is the right man to captain South Africa.

That being said, he is good enough to be in the team and I dont think he should be dropped from the team just be demoted from captain. His test batting record (despite recent failures) is still pretty good.

A player that should be dropped in the useless AB de Villiers. He simply makes the same mistake over and over again. He has done nothing in the series against India, and his rich vein of failure continues against Pakistan.
He must go back to provinvial cricket and re-earn his test spot.


No we aren't, but there are a few things wrong with SA cricket at the moment that need to be ironed out before we can become an all conquering team like Australia!!

Its starts at the top with poor selection and administration.

I disagree about AB. I think he should be dropped down the order. He has a lot more to offer SA cricket in the long run, than Smith does.

AB is a brilliant fielder. He reminds me of Jonty Rhodes.
But he is not in the side just becuase he can field.

He needs to make some runs and quickly. His performance with the bat the past 4 tests has been poor.

That being said, I wonder how he would perform lower down the order? Who would replace him as opener?

I think AB shouldn't be placed in the openning batsmen... maybe push gibbs back up and leave AB around 5... he did better when he was there

Agreed. Or drop Gibbs, or smith and bring in Boeta. He has performed there.

Or Neil McKenzie. Whatever happenned to him?
Him and Boeta have become the lost men of South African cricket?

Graeme Smith doesn't like him. That's what happened to him.

Neil still has teh hot g/f, Smith doesn't

Neil also has the hot sister!

Im not surprised Smith lost Minki. He didnt deserve her!!!

minki is used goods

I don't rate Boeta. My dad is like his biggest fan, but I cant stand the dude, he just looks outclassed the moment he sets foot on the pitch.

I agree about AB though, and Id love to see him perform, I like the game he plays.

Congrats to the proteas for beating pakistan by 7 wickets in the first test!!

Amla and Kallis did the job scoring 60 and 64 respectively!!

Cant wait for the next 2 games!!!