A 4-1 victory over Australia in the One Day Internationals (ODIs) wraps up the away leg of the tour. We look at some of the cricketers whose reputations were advanced and who went backward on the tour.
Advanced
JP Duminy: Without question the find of the tour. Runs, wickets and a reputation for being a tough and nuggety player under pressure. (10/10)
Graeme Smith: Love him or hate him, Smithy led from the front with runs and a tough as nails attitude that was apparent in the spirit shown by the entire side. (9/10)
Johan Botha: Following in the footsteps of Graeme Smith was always going to be tough. His bowling in the ODI's was tight and played his role to perfection. His stock definately advanced in world cricket ratings. (8/10)
AB Devilliers: A match winning innings that will probably never be forgotten. Devilliers has answered any doubts about his ability as a middle order batter in both forms of the game. (8/10)
Dale Steyn: The worlds premier fast bowler again showed his class and that partnership with Duminy which buried the Aussies will probably be the stuff of bar legends for MANY years to come (8/10)
Hashim Amla: I battled to judge Amla's performance. Without question he's proven he can play the game at this level and get runs in both the Test and ODI arena but I thought he got out at some bad times in the series. Answered any questions about his technique. (7/10)
Morne Morkel: Morkel came into the test series with a few questions hanging over his head. Plenty of fire and more importantly BRAINS in his bowling. (7/10)
Jacques Kallis: Bowled his heart out and made some important breakthroughs when they were needed. A little disappointed in his batting over the series though.... (7/10)
Makhaya Ntini: I reckon Ntini impressed this series. I think there were some concerns that he had grown a little long in the tooth but he delivered a solid performance (7/10)
Paul Harris: Harris played his role to perfection. Personal opinion - the Aussies didn't hold him in particularly high regard - but his hard work and scrapper spirit earned a few more fans. (7/10)
Albie Morkel - I'll confess I was a little surprised to see him named man of the series in the ODI's but he weighed in with some nice little contributions. Needs a bit of work on his bowling but a brave performance all in all. (7/10)
Unchanged / Too little to judge
Mark Boucher: I have to be honest and say Boucher didn't do much to advance his reputation in the series. Kept wicket solidly and chipped in with a few runs but really expected a bit more from him. (6/10)
Lonwabo Tsotsobe: A surprise inclusion for the tour he spent a lot of time on the sidelines. Four wickets on debut shows some ability, but he needs more game time. (6/10)
Wayne Parnell: A good opportunity for a youngster - can't say we had enough time to judge him. (6/10)
Ashwell Prince: Injury ruled him out early on. Without the injury the tour would not have belonged to Duminy though... makes you think.... (5/10)
Went backwards
Neil Mckenzie: He had such a vital role to play in the side and yet he never really got going. A few scratchy contributions but never seemed to stamp his authority on the game at any time. (5/10)
Herschelle Gibbs: Flashes of his true ability and one innings where he really got going. Going to have to work harder to deliver the runs to keep his place (5/10)
What a tour though... Can't wait till the Aussies hit our shores.
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3 comments:
Well I'm not sure how official these ratings are but I like how you've given all of these players a 5 or more and nothing below. A player like Ashwell Prince, who did not play a single game, still gets a 5?? :)
McNenzie also gets a 5? I thought it was the backward category? The guy has an unusual way of leaving the ball and has got him in trouble a few times. The shot he played in the last game, pretty much summed up his tour for me. Why is Gibbs in the backward category? and he got a 5? man, he won you atleast two games in the ODIs. He made a decent contribution for a guy who just got out of rehab.
I won't be rating any players but if I had to pick one player who made the difference. It would be Duminy. Hands down.
Anyway, South Africans did a great job in both TEST and ODI. I like how they came into this tour without throwing any punches in the media. They did their thing quietly and in a more classy way. They certainly have learned from their past mistakes. This was a great time for SA to come in and win, when Australia were at their most vulnerable state. South Africa had a great 08 and I hope they do continue this in the new year. As far as era of dominance is concerned, it is definitely over from Australian's perspective. South Africa may have the number one ranking at the moment but they have to go a long way to have that similar dominance. Personally, for me, the gap has been closed up and the rankings will keep on changing. India will be gunning for number 1 spot as well. They still have to prove themselves outside of India.
Exciting times for cricket in general.
Anyway, it was good to drop in here and read some of your articles. Thank you. I will be looking forward to your blog in feb.
To me a rating of 5 meant the player added nothing over the duration of the tour....
Gibbs (in my opinion) didn't add anything to his reputation and neither did Mckenzie.
We knew what both of them could do and didn't add anything. Would it have been better to rate them as 4's?
I agree a closer ranking between Australia, India and SA is more likely and the sides are going to probably be under pressure to get to (and stay at) the top...
Thank YOU for contributing to this blog. Without input from our readers it would be a bit pointless.
Thanks for the objective commentary
Just realised I missed Vaughn Van Jaarsveld.... Geez was this a tour he will want to forget or what!
Dropped catches, a studs up football tackle on Albie Morkel and no runs to speak of... Sigh poor boy
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