Two tests down and its not looking good

By: Marc Ashton

So South Africa and England have squared up against one another in two test matches:

• Result one was a hard-fought draw with the poms hanging on for dear life.
  
• Result two - the English steam-roller the home team at Kingsmead

Before the first test match started, I had concerns that the South African attack was lacking sufficient penetration and variety in their attack. They managed to take 19 wickets but for big parts of that final day it looked like their attack was going to let them down.

The second test match was a disaster with the English team only needing to bat once and the South African bowlers chasing leather.

In both test matches spinners Paul Harris and Graeme Swann have proven their worth. The second test match, Harris was not his usual tidy self and the lack of variety in the attack was shown up for what it is worth.

Where to from here?
This is the question on all the South African fans lips at the moment.

Let's look at the weaknesses at the moment:

• Ashwell Prince has been short-changed being forced up into the openers berth. He' s a middle-order batter and is worth his weight in gold when he holds an innings together. He has said he doesn't like opening but will take one for the team. I am not totally sure that this is the most appropriate treatment for one of your most senior players?
  
• We need a genuine opener and if he has to come in for either JP Duminy or Prince then we need to bite the bullet and bring somebody who is used to the new ball. A bold selection would the decision to include Andrew Puttick but I doubt that the selectors will make that move and will instead plug away with the team that they have.
  
• Wayne Parnells exclusion is completely baffling. Neither Makhaya Ntini nor Morne Morkel have fired in the last two test matches and both Parnell and Friedel de Wet are chomping at the bit and on song.
  

Graeme Smith has said that wholesale changes are not needed but you have to ask how hungry this South African side really looks at the moment. You can see that the English have come to fight - that has been their attitude from the time they touched down in the country.

De Wet - a selection I admittedly didn't think had merit - and he showed how hungry he was in the first test and got rewarded with wickets. Two or three fringe players being given the chance to create a bit of competition for places isn't the worst thing in the world. Look how hungry Duminy was when he finally cracked the nod last year against Australia - he piled on the runs.

I am pretty sure that the South African selectors won't make any real changes for the third test. There may be consideration to either a swap with Morkel or Duminy, but nothing in the past has shown that Micky Arthurs selection policies are likely to be particularly bold.

Geez we are tossing away this cricket

Swann has proven a good choice for my Dream Team but he is certainly spoiling this second test match for the Proteas…

I can’t say the same for Ashwell Prince!

I see he has just removed Prince and Hashim Amla and there is still plenty of cricket to be played. Are England going to pull one over the Proteas?!

One must hope that the local boys keep their nerve! Looks like it could be another great finish but at the moment England look like they have the upper hand.

Changes to my cricket dream team

As mentioned I had expected Eoin Morgan and Wayne Parnell to play in the first test match and picked them in my "Dream Team". With two 0's against their names I finished the first round of the competition with a global ranking of 1530.

I have made two changes to my side with Graeme Swann replacing Parnell and Ashwell Prince replacing Morgan. Hopefully they can come to the party in the second test match.

Getting interesting

The first test match between England and South Africa at Centurion is suddenly getting interesting. If it hadn't been for a 109 run stand between Graeme Swann and James Anderson for the 9th wicket then the Proteas would have had a very comfortable lead.

Fortunately this English team has come to fight and sure enough they hung in there and then Anderson knocked Ashwell Prince over for a duck.

Match summary - we're going into day 4 of the test match with the Proteas 71 runs ahead and 9 wickets in hand.

Both Swann and Paul Harris (who picked up a fifer and gave a nice boost to my "Dream Team") have bowled really well.

Its unusual to see the Centurion Park being this spinner friendly but it proves my argument earlier about having variety in the attack.

Gonna be an interesting day of cricket that's for sure.

Uninspired first test

The first test match between England and South Africa at Centurion Park has been an uninspirational affair.

The home team has set a first innings score of 418 thanks to a Jacques Kallis century and some nice contributions from Prince, Duminy, Boucher and some stubborn contributions from Paul Harris and Friedel De Wet at the bottom of the order.

De Wet then managed to get Alastair Cook out to leave the poms at 88/1 at the end of the second day.

The things that stood out for me:

• A scoring rate of 2.73 per over is really slow for the Proteas and while it might be enough runs to put pressure on the English its not exactly setting the world alight... especially considering that Centurion Park is supposed to be a good batting strip
• The English bowled aggressively - no shortage of bouncers from their quicks
• I like this scrapping spirit - maybe it could be an interesting test match series after all
  
• De Wet hasn't exactly looked on song on his debut - why didn't Morkel take the new ball?
• I still think we are going to regret that we didn't play Parnell
• Graeme Swann bowled well - will be interesting to see how Harris does on this track

Anyway we will keep on watching to see how it all plays out

Ashes Day 2 notes

Well England appear to have come back from the death to put Australia on the rack courtesy of some top quality bowling from Stuart Broad.

I'll partially take back my comment yesterday about the Poms not looking like they wanted to win it - Broad seems to have lit a bit of a fire underneath them and his first spell of 5-16 simply wrecked the Aussie lineup and it was some top quality fast bowling.

Yeah the English cause was helped a bit with some tight decisions but when the ball is in your court you run with it.

I was a little surprised that more wasn't made of the 37 and 18 contributed by Broad and Swann at the end of the English innings. I think those two scores could prove vital on a pitch which is going down fast.

Having said that, the Aussies don't look they have given up either and they've knocked over three quick wickets leaving the South African batters the job of securing an Ashes winning total.

It could be a humdinger of a weekend for these two sides - let's see who comes out on top!

Aaaahhh England takes the second Ashes test at Lords

I haven't had so much fun cheering for an Australian side pretty much well... ever!

Geez I enjoyed this Test match. A bit of drama with the English (through their prolific SOUTH AFRICAN run-scoring connections), a bit of class - Freddie Flintoff showing what a loss he is going to be when he goes and the Australians making a game of it when everything looked to be lost.

Eventually it was a step too far and Australia will rue some average umpiring and the fact that they didn't get the runs in the first innings.

As an English cricket fan you have to proud. It is quite obvious that the guts shown by Collingwood in the first test match has worn off on the others who have suddenly realised that they can be competitive. Flintoff impressed me - as did Prior. I still think they are a batter / allrounder short and their lineup is going to be seriously exposed when Flintoff retires but
in all these guys put their hands up to be counter.

I don't rate Graeme Swann particularly highly but he deserves some mention as he seems to have come on a long way in the English setup. Personal opinion, I think he has done well because he knows what is expected of him. In a similar vein I think Paul Harris knows what is expected of him in the South African side and he has settled.

In comparison the expectation around Nathan Hauritz doesn't seem to have been settled.

Which brings me to the Australian side. There is not a lot wrong with this side when they click. Would Australia be 1-0 down after 2 games if Brett Lee had been in the side? I don't think so but he could have dished up a dogs breakfast and maybe they would have so there is no point theorising.

As an armchair fan personally think there are only two things that need to be done from an Australian side.

Number 1 - they need to decide if their strategy includes or excludes Nathan Hauritz. If it includes him then they need to tell them what they expect of him and back him on and off the field.

Number 2 - Ponting needs to remind them that they have come back from a loss at home to beat a far more formidable South African side not so long ago they can win this.

Still think the Aussies are good to take the series but hats off to the Poms for showing some grit and determination!