England sneak home

Graham Onions is probably the most hated man in South African cricket right now as he once again frustrated the home team and made sure that England for the second time in three test matches hung on for an improbable draw.

There have been some incredibly exciting moments in this test series and to have had two of them go down to the absolute wire is good for the game.

One of the commentators summed it up perfectly that South Africa have outplayed England for most of the series and apart from one really bad day in the second test, we should be 2-0 or 2-1 up. Yet somehow we are not.

The Proteas are going to have to take a long hard look at themselves going into this last test match. There is some gnashing of teeth and threats that JP Duminy, Ashwell Prince and Paul Harris are under pressure to maintain their places.

Prince is in a no-win situation at the moment. He is playing a role he doesn’t like, he’s relatively short of cricket and he knows he is under pressure in terms of his form. If they are not prepared to shift him down the order, they are doing him no favours keeping him there.

Duminy’s success with the ball in this test match means he will almost certainly keep his place, but he really needs to get some runs and add some stability to our middle-order.

Ironically Paul Harris is the one player whose position is under threat with many people blaming him for our problems and inability to bowl out opposition. The criticism laid at Harris’ door is that he doesn’t take wickets – the reality is that he has taken 11 wickets and only Morne Morkel (12) has taken more than him. Admittedly Steyn missed the first test but the statistics don’t lie.

The wickets he has taken have also not been mugs. Pietersen, Cook, Strauss, Collingwood – they’ve all been taken by Harris at some point in this series.

More important than all of this is the initial reason Harris was included in the side. Harris does a very specific job in the side that allows Graeme Smith to rotate his seamers. Harris ties up and end, squeezes out wickets and he has done it very well for South Africa.

We have one test match to go in this series and it is a must-win situation. By all means look at a jiggle in the batting line-up and find a way to get Wayne Parnell into the side, but don’t lay the blame at the door of Paul Harris.

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.

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.

Parnell travesty

Wayne Parnell not playing in the first test against England at Centurion Park is an absolute travesty of justice and in my opinion a really short-sighted decision that the SA management will regret.

We are going into this test match with three right arm seamers (Steyn, Ntini and presumably Morne Morkel) and we have Paul Harris holding up one end as a spinner.

South Africa are almost certainly going to be without Jacques Kallis from a bowling perspective and we have battled to take 20 wickets in a test match for a while.

Despite this we choose not to include the left-arm seamer who has been a brilliant addition to our ODI setup over the last 12 months? Bizarre...

For sure Steyn is still the premier fast bowler in the side and Ntini has 99 caps to his name but if you have to toss-up Morkel vs Parnell on current form and what they bring to the side, you'd be hard pushed to say that Parnell deserves to draw the short-straw.

There are plenty of reasons not to rush a young fast bowler and not put too much pressure on him, but Parnell has proven he has what it takes to play at international level and by not including him we have robbed ourselves of some much needed variety in our attack.

In Paul Harris you have a great spinner who can plug up one end so you won't have a case where a young fast bowler is going to be toiling for hours on end in the sun and taking its toll on his body. But you lose some of your effectiveness if you are going to tie up one end and then charge in with three right-arm quicks for two and a half days.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big Morne Morkel fan and think he has plenty to offer SA cricket, I am just concerned that the balance of the side is not exactly there if he is given preference over Parnell.

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.

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....

MCG Prediction

Our counterparts over at The Baggy Green are calling for an Aussie win in the second test match in Melbourne tomorrow.

According to the info we’ve got, the Aussies have decided to retain Siddle but replaced Krezja with Hauritz. The South Africans have announced an unchanged side with Prince not considered for selection and Duminy making his second start.

Our opinion for this test is that the outcome is likely to be based on two factors:

Whoever bats first will without question have the upper-hand and we’re guessing that the first innings for both sides will decide the test match – no second innings heroics and neither side wants to be facing either Hauritz or Harris on the last day in Melbourne.

We believe the Siddle move will hurt the Aussies and in a game where both sides are so evenly matched you’re basically weighing up pace attacks comprising Ntini, Steyn and Morkel vs. Johnson, Lee and … well Peter Siddle…. Enough said – hopefully I don’t eat my words.

Another great test match is on the cards and with South Africa striking a pretty big mental blow in the last match, we’ve looking forward to some seriously good cricket action.

Our prediction – A hard fought draw but like we said – he who bats first has the advantage…