Disappointing

"Marc - if I want to watch a batsman close his eyes and swing at the ball, I'd invite you up to the school nets here hand out some beers and put a bat in your hand - I'm switching this kak off..."

This was the text message I got this evening from one of my mates watching the second T20 game between South Africa and Australia at Centurion this evening. He was referring to the innings played by new boy Roelof VD Merwe.

Got to be honest, I was SMS'ing him exactly the same message...

I don't like to be disparaging of an international cricketer - and I actually think he could be a nice guy in the SA squad - but his innings was a highlight of what is wrong with T20 cricket.

(and more specifically what is wrong with SA's approach to T20)

Seriously the guy was aiming at launching the ball over mid-wicket and its landing over the covers. Nothing to be proud of....

We still haven't got our approach to T20 batting right... will be interesting to see how we finish up this tour here...

Another cheap score for Ponting - surely a case for him to have been rested for these two games??

Bit of a lottery but we will take it

.... 1-0 to the good guys... but geez I'm convinced we still don't really get this T20 format of the game.

Let's be honest, if Albie Morkel hadn't blasted us in the middle of the innings there (AGAIN) we'd have been beaten convincingly after a pretty decent bowling performance.

I thought David Hussey played amazingly well for the Aussies and I'm kicking myself - I could have gotten GREAT odds putting money on him to be the top batter and I had been tempted to do it. Backed him a coupla times in Oz and missed out but I had a good feeling about him yesterday.

Oh well!

Thought the value of spin / bowlers who can take the pace off the ball was well displayed here tonight on a pitch that normally provides fast and bouncy conditions. Robin Peterson, Johan Botha and David Hussey all got to grips (scuse the pun) with how to bowl and their figures proved it.

Wayne Parnell - how well did he bowl?! Did anyone check the speeds he was bowling - definately gathering some confidence and I hope he gets given an extended run in the ODI format of the game - like Mitchell Johnson has proven - the value of a quality left-arm seamer in your side cannot be doubted.

Johan Botha - Another solid performance from the SA T20 captain. This is another under-rated SA cricketer and HE seems to have worked out how to play this type of cricket - he's just got to get his batters to understand how to think their way through the game!

Robin Peterson - I'm not a big Robin Peterson fan but last night he put in a good performance. He bowled accurately, fielded well and in general made a good contribution. It is going to be interesting to see how his role is defined in the the team.

Grrrrr!

I don't know if this is a new thing that the TV producers are trying with their coverage of T20 to "jazz" it up a bit and maybe I'm a traditionalist but I HATE this thing they have of switching to a side-on view just as the bowler delivers the ball....

I like to be able to see the bowler running up, have an idea on where he landed the ball on the pitch and where the batter has hit it. If you show me a view in real-time from square leg, I'm completely unsighted and personally I get a little disoriented.

Is it just me or does this irritate other people as well?

Herschelle!

I know it's early days but there is just something seriously exciting about watching Herschelle Gibbs when he starts to look like he is on form....

Damn he's dangerous and he can score runs wherever he feels like it...

Lots of skill - just gotta work on the brains!

Yeah baby!

I am seriously proud of South Africa today. It's been announced that the country is getting to host the IPL this year in light of the problems in India and the elections.

The big money tournament is to involve 59 matches and should run from mid April to early May and with any luck will see thousands of cricket fans - both local and international - in for an absolute treat!

At a time when the economy is under serious pressure, the idea of playing host to a number of cricket fans, players and administrators etc is seriously lucrative - for those who haven't been to South Africa you are in for an absolute treat!

We live in an amazing country with some of the most incredible people, INCREDIBLY hot ladies, great tourist sites, INCREDIBLY hot ladies, a beer museum, pretty cricket grounds, INCREDIBLY hot ladies, great restaurants, friendly people .... and did I mention our women are SERIOUSLY fine!

South Africa is an absolute treat for international visitors and I hope to see you guys taking the time to come and see our great country.

Well done to all those people who negotiated this.

Great stuff Harry!

I for one am damn pleased that Paul Harris finally got the recognition he deserved as he bowled SA to victory in the third and final test match.

Harris has taken a lot of criticism ever since getting into the South African side and for him to take 9 wickets against the Aussies is a power performance that shows just how valuable he is to the team.

"Harry" has always looked like a good fit for the SA side from a personality perspective and if he could learn to stick around a bit more with his batting he'd be an even more valuable contributor.

Aussie first innings - 17-5-34-3
Aussie second innings - 42.5-9-127-6

Damn great spell of bowling even if the Aussies had thrown caution to the wind and at least we restored some respectability beating the arcg enemy in four days.

Stunned - nominated in Top 10 sports blogs...

I am completely stunned to see that this blog has been nominated in the top 10 SA sports blogs in South Africa for the SA Blog Awards....

I am not totally sure how it happened but hell I'll take it...

Please go and vote for http://cricketstrategist.blogspot.com/ - at the website http://www.sablogawards.com/

Our readers rock!

What were they thinking?!

I don't mean to be too nasty - especially when the oke is gifting us runs galore - but seriously what were the Aussies thinking with bringing Bryce Mcgain over to SA?

I've just done a Google search on Mcgain's name and I see that a lot of cricket boards are buzzing with his name and his atrocious bowling performances in SA.

Hahahahaha I see there are lots of comparisons between him and Mick Lewis who got taken to pieces by Herschelle Gibbs in his ODI debut...

Worlds most destructive batters...

... Here's a bit of fun - who is the worlds most consistently destructive batter??

Virender Sehwag of India is the guy who first springs to mind and Chris Gayle is another big hitting batter.

Not sure that Gayle has the consistency though. Kevin Pietersen, Andrew Symonds and Herschellle Gibbs are the other usual suspects.

Would be fun to throw it out to our readers and get some thoughts on who the most destructive batter in world cricket is at the moment...?

Have to say that I still rate Herschelle Gibbs as someone I wouldn't rush to bowl to...

SA secures ICC Champions Trophy

In the middle of the global financial crisis, it is hugely important from an economic perspective to secure high profile tours and tournaments.

The ICC Champions Trophy, which was originally scheduled to be played in Pakistan will now be played between September 24th and October 5th.

The ICC Champions Trophy will be contested for by eight teams;

Group A: Australia, India, Pakistan and West Indies

Group B: South Africa, New Zealand, England and Sri Lanka

Should be a cracking tournament especially if the West Indies can get their ODI form on the up and India and New Zealand fire....

Payback is a bitch...

That's all I can say - we got put in our place by a damn useful Aussie side in front of our home supporters... Ouch!

Now before we do the usual South African story of throwing our hands up in the air and berating our side, we need to step back and try and put these performances into perspective.

Number 1: When we were in Australia it took heroics from Duminy, Steyn and Devilliers to ultimately keep us competitive in the first two tests which we won... We didn't walk all over the Aussies and I think that is something we need to emphasise. Both sides could have won either of the first two tests in Australia. We were less competitive at home.

Number 2: This is a good Aussie side... We mustn't forget how good this Australian side is... Johnson, Ponting, Hussey, Clarke and Katich are amongst the best in the world in respect of the positions they occupy. On top of that, Hughes looks like a world-beater in the making. Quality cricketers don't roll over and get beaten under any circumstances.

Number 3: Injuries played a part.... An injury to Graeme Smith and the knock that Kallis took invariably rattled us in our first innings. If they had been able to contribute another 100 runs in our first innings and Smith a few in the second innings the series would be all square and we would be patting ourselves on the back for chasing a mammoth total.

We didn't win it and we have to get over it. Imraan Khan and Ashwell Prince have been moved in for the injured Smith and the out-of-form Mckenzie which makes some sense and Wayne Parnell has been added to the squad in place of Morne Morkel...

... and this is where I get irritated with selection in SA cricket. Where the hell is the consistency in moving players in and out.

Bowlers: First test match Lonwabo Tsotsobe is the 12th man and I as a fan believe he will be the replacement bowler if somebody moves out. The second test match, he gets drafted out and Albie Morkel moves to the bench. Third test match, MORNE Morkel gets dropped and Parnell moves into the lineup.... Who the hell is the next choice bowler?!

Personally I think that Tsotsobe or Parnell should be at the top of the line because they offer some variety with left-arm seam where as Albie Morkel (while offering something with the batting front) offers just straight-up right arm seam. Dunno...

Batters:
I think it is great that Khan got a hundred against the Aussies in the warm-up game and he has been the top domestic run getter so he deserves a chance to play. My question is - where was he in Australia or the T20's or the ODI games?

Suddenly the guy has been drafted in to the setup... where is the succession planning. As far as I knew the next two batters in line for international spots (based on selector behaviour) were Herschelle Gibbs and Vaughn Van Jaarsveld with Andrew Puttick on the fringes... Suddenly they are pulling in Khan....

In the same way I see that Ashwell Prince is supposedly going to open the innings. This doesn't make sense and we seem to be carrying on with this idea of "making" openers out of middle-order batters.... Dunno - no consistency.

Let's see how it goes

Sorry Pete...

I'll be the first to admit that I think I got Peter Siddle wrong... When he bowled in Australia I was pretty scathing of him calling him "not good enough".

I think he got a fifer in Sydney which I dismissed as him bowling on a bad pitch as well.

Having watched him bowl on SA pitchers, I think

A) I misjudged him slightly
B) He's made the step up to international test cricketer

He bowled fast and dangerously and has been a big contributor to the Aussie success over here. I can imagine a few of our guys are rubbing bruises courtesy of him... eina!

Sorry Pete.... Now just bowl nicely to us today so we can knock off the next 302 runs and square up the series....

Wouldn't that be a nice outcome!

Mitch the man....

Mitchell Johnson has stamped his name all over the Kingsmead test match having roughed up both Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis - 2 of the worlds toughest batters - and taking a couple of wickets to boot.

He looks like a great kind of guy to have in any team. He's quick, he's controlled, he's got the left-armer angle, he will bowl all day if he wants to and he seems to have a real never say die attitude about him.

Definately leading the Aussie charge in this game.

I'm back...

Somebody mailed me this photo and I thought it summed up my feelings as an SA cricket supporter today...

Can anyone remember which movie this is from? Its been bugging me!

After a great tour of Oz WE now seem to be on the back foot at home and it hurts dammit!

The Aussies have benefitted from the bold selection of Hughes at the top of the order and he seems to be justifying all the hype around him - he looks like an awesome talent.

Katich (108) and Hughes (115) got the Aussies off to a great start on Day 1 of the Kingsmead test and they ended the day 303/4

Ponting (9) and Clarke (3) fell cheaply to Paul Harris. Now Hussey and North have the chance to bury the match by racking up big scores here. But we all know how this series has gone over the last few months and nobody is down and out.

I think the lack of a decent spinner may prove to be a problem for the Australians on Days 4 and 5 but we'll see.

Can't help but look at the selection of Hughes and the persistence with Mckenzie upfront for South Africa - could we perhaps have enjoyed a bolder selection or a swap of Prince for Mckenzie on current form?

Will have to see how day 2 goes....

Just not cricket....

The cricket world has been shocked:

Terror struck at the heart of cricket when masked gunmen attacked the bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Five cricketers, including Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, and his deputy Kumar Sangakkara, received minor injuries. The attack also left six security men and two civilians dead. Duleep Mendis, the Sri Lanka Cricket chief, said that they were "getting the team back [to Sri Lanka] today".

Sri Lankan team to be evacuated

This does nothing to improve the reputation of Pakistan as a country and I can guarantee you won't be seeing sides lining up to visit there in the next few years...

Eish!

I am not yet ready to post my assessment of the loss... I am in mourning and will have to dig deep in my soul to concede that the Australians beat us...

276 with 8 wickets in hand

That's all that is needed for South Africa to once again re-write the record books against the Aussies at the Wanderers.

The Wanderers has been one of those happy hunting grounds for us and I don't think anyone is ever going to forget Herschelle Gibbs leading that historic run chase to break the ODI record.

The morning session will without question make or break this chase. If we lose one or two early wickets, then I don't see us making it. If Kallis and Amla get through unscathed then I expect the Aussies will drop their heads and we could waltz home...

.... but as somebody pointed out it only takes 8 perfect balls to win the game for them and with Mitchell Johnson in your corner I would never write them off.

I reckon South Africa is going to come to a standstill if we get through the first hour with no wickets down.

Even if you can't get to the game - if you're driving past the Wanderers make as much bloody noise as you can.... Let's beat the Aussies before they even set foot on the field today. Switch every television and radio to the cricket and let them know the whole country is backing them to protect our reputation in the Bullring...

C'mon boys - you can do it!!!!

Fightback!

Ponting, Clarke and Hussey back in the pavilion as Kallis and Harris get South Africa back in the game....

.... c'mon boys - game on!