Scratching Your Head - No, It's Test Cricket

It's interesting how often the media report with baited eulogy and gleeful blame, that Test cricket is dead. Were science fiction a factor, journalists might well have emerged from a worm hole, fresh from the late 1950's or perhaps the middle 1960's or anywhere in the 1980's. In those time frames, cricket was either dull or dominated and results were predictable. The other certainty to bring to such fantasy is that none of those time travelling journalists would be Indian.

Reports of its death, based on the Test cricket of the past three weeks, have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, based on the Test cricket since the mid 1990's, Test cricket is unlikely to die. If one man can be held responsible, look in Mark Taylor's direction. His mantra of playing matches for a result was based on the belief that the approach produced better cricket for spectators and players. When administrators legislated West Indian tactics from the game, the deceit of slowing play down so that four fast bowlers could cripple a day's play was removed and the opportunity for a Shane Warne or a Murali was opened.

Test cricket has produced more results in the last fifteen years than at any time in its history post timeless Tests and uncovered pitches. When the cycle of dominance of one team is broken, it also produces oddities - unexpected twists and turns as players lift from being brow beaten and into self belief.

At Mumbai in the last week, 1153 runs were scored in four days of cricket on a pitch imported from the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Twenty two unlucky fellows lost their jobs at a bowler abattoir, usually because they tired of the slaughter.

On the last day, runs were still scored by wickets tumbled aplenty, as India and the West Indies played out the closest draw that 2019 Test matches have yet thrown up. None can ever be closer, with India needing one run, the West Indies one wicket and the last wicket of the day falling after its final ball, as Ashwin was run out trying  to return from a deadlock holiday. This was a match that was dead and predictable after the West Indies made a million in their first innings and India replied making a million less 108. At stumps, West Indies were batting comfortably toward an extended net session.

Someone forgot to tell the Cricket Gods and didn't they strike with punitive vengeance on Day 5.

Samuels stumped for 0

Pragyan Ohja and Ravi Ashwin did the hot knife through butter trick in a West Indian Calypso Collapso morning. Both took four wickets but Ohja snared five of the top six. Brathwaite and Bravo both got balls which jumped of the track a little more than expected and Samuels played a penny dreadful, jumping down the wicket to be stumped in Dhoni's sleep. Ashwin got Powell with the only lbw of the match and what a brave decision it was! Replays suggest it was out but there are few who will give such as these any more, preferring to say no and let technology make the call. Of course DRS is a dirty acronym in India.

The tail surrendered meekly - Ashwin taking nine for the match to go with his lower order century and India's improbable victory which may have been in Dhoni's dreams when he woke, loomed as easily possible.

Kohil made 63 in the chase

After 90 minutes of Sehwag's creativity and Dravid's unflappable solidarity, the win was a certainty. The runs required v overs left equation had the West Indies grasping at what ever was left after the straws were exhausted. Then some luck. The tireless Bishoo bowled too full to Sehwag who was shaping to reverse sweep but played through too quickly and back edged instead to Sammy at conventional slip. It was bizarre. Soon after, Dravid and Tendulkar lobbed to mid wicket where first Ramdin and then Edwards held screamers. The win was still on but then Laxman top-edge a pull to Barath and Dhoni drove uppishly to short cover where Edwards held another beauty. Kohli, holding things together through the crisis, joined with Ashwin to put India back in the picture and just 19 from victory. Bishoo claimed him with an ordinary ball when Kohli tried to give it too much in a cut shot and sent it Sammy for his third catch of the innings. Nineteen to go and three wickets left. With four required, Rampaul moved one back in at Sharma and bowled him. Seven balls left. The new batsman, Aarun, got singles at the end of the Rampaul over and with Fidel Edwards bowling, another off the fourth ball of the last over. 1 required. Ashwin survived a massive lbw appeal of the fifth but he had wood on it. He sent the last ball to long on but was beaten to the keeper by Ramdin's return.

Five days of cricket came down to one ball, a bowler, a batsman and the skills of the fieldsman.

As for those that want to write of death, the dirty dancing they intend for Test cricket's wake will have to be wall flowered for the time being. If you can't wait, pop back down that worm hole. Ken Barrington and Bob Simpson are waiting for you there.

Over To Your Mob, Invers.

Phil Hughes - giving slips a rest

Tomorrow, the cricket public will get its first look at the work of the new selection panel. As if their task hadn't been made hard enough by the standards set by their predecessors': erratic inclusions of a new spinner every Test (or so it seemed); the failure to remove dead wood; and their inability to admit errors that playground selectors wouldn't make in the first place and would change between recess and lunch in order to win. To make it juicy, New Zealand are whopping our suggested reserves and three of the starting line up from Johannesburg have become The Wanderers in their own right. Here's the line up that toppled South Africa in the cliff hanger second Test:

1. Shane Watson
2. Phil Hughes
3. Usman Khawaja (Shaun Marsh)
4. Ricky Ponting
5. Michael Clarke
6. Michael Hussey
7. Brad Haddin
8. Mitchell Johnson
9. Peter Siddle
10. Patrick Cummins (Ryan Harris)
11. Nathan Lyon

Marsh and Harris haven't recovered for Brisbane and they have been joined on the injured list by Watson, Johnson and Cummins. If it was the opening Test of an Ashes series, Cummins would play. If you add to this list players who should be removed owning to poor form, then a line goes through Hughes, despite his first innings 88 at The Wanderers. Someday soon, the selectors will drop him one last time and let him get on with a successful first class career. He has no future in Test cricket. If we accept that Ponting and Haddin have bought themselves extra time, then for now, they are safe. With so many injuries, Hughes will be selected again for continuity, although most of the change will be to the bowling.

Removing the problems, it looks like this:

1.  
2. Phil Hughes
3. Usman Khawaja
4. Ricky Ponting
5. Michael Clarke
6. Michael Hussey
7. Brad Haddin
8.  
9. Peter Siddle
10.  
11. Nathan Lyon

Dave Warner - ready to swap
Blue for Green?

The opening spot invites the most candidates. Of the likely contenders, Liam Davis and Rob Quiney have good Shield form behind them. Davis leads the run fetchers this season with 451 at 56 and he has two hundreds from his eight innings and is having his best Shield Season. Quiney has been good for the Vics but his current form is not as good as the start he made. The other Victorian opener, Chris Rogers, has continued to do everything Andrew Hilditch asked of him when he was discarded. He went away and has scored a a rhino's pile of runs and has started this season strongly again. Their chances may all be diminished because of age, particularly Rogers. Being yesterday's men doesn't put the happy face on Australian officials these days. Hopefully, shooting one's mouth of will be less of a crime than it has been. All things considered, David Warner has to be the man selectors turn to. He has had two first class innings this season: 148 for the Blues against South Australia and 65 for Australia A against New Zealand and in his only one day game, he made 86 against the Redbacks. He is an evolving batsman whose technique is tightening, changing, as he eyes a Baggy Green.

Ben Cutting

Two bowling spots are open and presumably, they will both be quicks or medium pacers and at least one of them needs to be able to find the narrow end of the bat in order to smash the thick end onto the red leather. Those available have to be Trent Copeland, James Pattinson, Ben Cutting, Mitchell Starc, Ben Hillfenhaus, perhaps Mitchell Marsh and maybe even Peter George. Would anyone seriously consider the Shield's leading wicket taker Jade Herrick? Of these Hillfenhaus has been tried and failed and the Kiwis enjoyed his bowling for the last few days. Copeland, is the most recent Test bowler and conditions would suit him but the times they are a changing. Pattinson deserves the spot, after serving his apprenticeship, going through the long tour of Sri Lanka (Twenty20's, ODI's and Test), playing one ODI and bowling well and then being dropped for South Africa and seeing Cummins taking his spot. Justice says he should be picked. However, the man who should be gambled with is Queenslander Ben Cutting. He is second in the Shield wicket table, will learn from having played the Kiwis already and will be playing at home.

Luke Butterworth has a good record
under pressure with bat and ball

Cutting can bat but not as a Test No 8 and Siddle shouldn't be any higher so we either weaken the bowling or take an all rounder into the Test. Of the above bowlers, Copeland would be the closest but not good enough to bat so high but could Australia afford to play with only three specialist bowlers, especially given the absence of Watson? The bolter from the blue - well the apple green actually - could and probably should be Luke Butterworth. He has been there or there abouts for the last couple of seasons and with runs in the bottom half of the order and plenty of wickets at important times, he would be the perfect man at No 8 and what better time to blood him than in conditions which will suit his bowling. The fly in the ointment may be the hamstring strain which caused him to miss Tasmania's just completed win against the Vics in Melbourne. To provide Michael Clarke with options, James Pattinson should be chosen in the thirteen. What we would have now is:

1. Dave Warner
2. Phil Hughes
3. Usman Khawaja
4. Ricky Ponting
5. Michael Clarke
6. Michael Hussey
7. Brad Haddin
8. Luke Butterworth
9. Peter Siddle
10. Ben Cutting
11. Nathan Lyon
12. Trent Copeland
13. James Pattinson

Cutting must play and the injury and opposition situation would be an idle time to debut Butterworth. Again, Pattinson is the man you feel for. Hughes, Ponting and Haddin are on time borrowed in their most recent batting against the Proteas. Fear about too much change will save Hughes here.

New Zealand will never have a better chance of winning a Test series against their hardest rivals. One up from Brisbane and the docile Hobart beckoning  a draw but with the inclusion of Butterworth, Australia would have a man with home ground advantage. After all the hard work of the last few months, injuries appear to have dealt Clarke an unfair blow.

However, remember what they say about a ill wind ... according to Bob Dylan, that's where the answer lies.

POSTSCRIPT: John Inverarity announced the Australia squad of twelve for the first Test against New Zealand (not 13 as had been the previous approach). Mitch Starc has been selected on the strength of performances at Brisbane and because of his left handedness. If that variation is seen as important, then it will be between Pattinson and Cutting for the final sport because Siddle will certainly play and Australia won't go in without a spinner.

The selected 12 is: Warner, Hughes, Khawaja, Ponting, Clarke (c), Hussey, Haddin, Siddle, Cutting, Pattinson, Lyon & Starc.

Cricket Is But A Stage And We Are Merely Players

Watching and waiting for Tendulkar

It was a day for Indian cricket when Sachin left Ashwin faced.

It's very hard not to believe that the pitch at Wankhede Stadium wasn't doctored in the weeks leading up to the first day. With the series already comfortably India's, a run heavy draw was of no concern but allowing a certain home boy to score a milestone century in front of his own crowd must have been an idea which had rupees written all over it.

The Indian reply to West Indies first innings of about a million ended a hundred or so short but it was a stage which had been set the previous evening for one actor - an whom everyone had come for on the fourth day. Tendulkar walked on stage for the second act, support cast in place, adoring audience near breatless with anticipation. The script was followed to a tee and Tendulkar reached 94. Perhaps here the script said that Tendulkar, the batsman who has most often of all raised his hundreds with one meaty blow for six, would do so at Wankhede: crowd to go wild, media to frenzy and world to look on in amazement and remark how remarkable.

Someone forgot to brief The Game. Cricket, fickle and in no need of gender to prove it, decided to ad lib or do we now call it improvise? Ravi Rampaul, more than happy to be the villain subject of hissing, found a tad more lift, Tendulkar played as if bored with lines and Darren Sammy took the catch at second slip. Stunned as mullet silence. Men held their faces for fear that their cultural wobble might shake their heads from their mounts. Women wept. Children asked simple innocent questions ... what happened ... who died ... can I have a Kulfi?

The man himself walked quietly off, consoling himself, no doubt, with the other ninety nine and waving his bat in appreciation to fans who still want so much more of him. As humble a sportsman as has ever graced his chosen field, he would be devastated if he believed the occasion had been set just for him. Definitely not his style. It was another moment for all of us to remember just how much more important the game is than the individual.

Ravi Ashwin a maiden 103

Wankhede would have a hero to cheer late in the day. Ravi Ashwin, shared 97 runs with Kohli, who left in self-hatred after trying to hit to sacred cow corner and instead lobbed a simple catch to Fidel Edwards at a shorter than usual long on. It was Bishoo's only reward and unfitting benefit for the West Indies best bowler. If only Carlton Baugh could catch. Ashwin set about keeping the tail alive whilst plastering a batsman's fours and sixes to most parts of the ground. His final four, steered between slip and gully off the party pooper Rampaul, gave him a maiden Test hundred and the status of being only the third Indian to take five wickets in an innings and score a hundred in the same Test.

Adrian Barath and Kirk Edwards played dumb shots to hand their wickets to Ohja and a small crack of light came through the door. Barath drove lazily in the early overs and not long after Edwards went kamikaze, jumping down the wicket and being stumped so easily my grandma could have removed the bails and she's been dead for twenty years. Edwards was kicking himself as he left - an interesting sight - but he might have to reserve some butt space for team management. Kraigg Brathwaite and Darren Bravo calmed the savage beast, restoring order after moments of madness. There is still work to do but Bravo must be considering another hundred as a savoury option for his fifth day feasting.

There are still plenty of runs on the buffet.

Bowler's Graveyard - India v West Indies 3rd Test

Wankhede is hard work ... or so it's become in 2011. Test cricket hasn't been played here for six years and in that time the deck has become as dead as Elliot Goblet's smile. First the West Indies and now India have sent their top order out to boost their averages whilst bowlers break their heart on a useless task. This is the SCG lino of the early 1990's.

It wasn't always so. Before the ground was fallowed, it had been a result pitch going back to 1988-89. Only one draw in the previous nine Tests and one which gave even visiting sides a chance to beat the hosts. Maybe that's why they stopped playing here?

Tendulkar - will this be it?

Regardless, baring a nuclear holocaust, nothing will prevent a draw here. Sachin Tendulkar, whose quest for the 100th international hundred has been longer than Days of Our Lives, which has been going so long that it's now produced by the son of the originators because they both died! Since March, every Test, every ODI has been more about will he or won't he than India's result. His near things have overshadowed India's other great servant, Rahul Dravid, who will turn 39 in Australia this summer and yet has made five hundreds since his last birthday. Tendulkar, playing in his home town, has moved nicely towards the milestone at Wankhede, having completed two thirds of the task but each run brings greater expectation and greater pressure. Perhaps Ian Chappell's advice is the best (and let's face it, when is it not). Chappelli suggested to the Little Master, "bugger the fans: play for yourself." He was dropped by Carlton Baugh on 58, when he should have been caught. Just as well Baugh doesn't wear the Star of Pakistan on his chest.

Rahul Dravid

Dravid was magnificent. Ponting has received public assurances from the Indian No 3 that age should not weary him, nor the years condemn ... which is comfort for Ricky, but even so, at the going down of the sun, the media will crucify him. Different kettles of fish make for a different smell. Dravid remains super fit and sharp of eye and a batsmen for all places across a long space of time. He's played 160 Tests in fifteen years and the last time his batting average dropped below 50 was in his 38th Test. Like most from India who achieve longevity, he had his turn as skipper, captaining India 25 times. He chalked up 13000 runs in his innings of 82: more of them scored away than at home but then 56% of his Tests have been off shore. He averages 49 in Australia, 60 in England, 63 in New Zealand, 66 in the Caribbean and 70 in Pakistan. Only South Africa and Sri Lanka have tamed him. In any other age of Test cricket, Rahul Dravid would have stood alone as its champion but Lara, Ponting and especially Tendulkar have drawn the spotlight whilst he quietly took India to No 1 with flawless batting at first drop. Even this year, when stars stayed at home and nursed themselves for the lush pastures of England, Dravid went to the West Indies and topped the batting before scoring the hundreds in England.

His innings was a beauty. For two and a half hours, sweating so profusely he needed to change gloves three times in two and a half hours, he continued to defy the lounge chair and make his body and bat talk. He never looked like getting out, with a seemingly never ending stream of cover drives and cuts beating defensive fields which had been set after just half an hour of the Indian innings. He expired when a rare misjudgement had him cutting at the innocuous Marlon Samuels and in a clatter of keeper and bat, was given out as the ball just brushed the off stump. Earlier, on the last ball before tea, he had played Bishoo with a perfectly angled bat, only for the ball to spin backwards towards his stumps. Spinning with the speed of a man half his age with his eyes never leaving the ball, he kicked the ball with a Pele fashioned instep and managed for ball and foot to slip past the stumps my centimetres - all with losing his poise or balance.

Darren Sammy reminds
Sehwag he has dismissed
him three times in the series

Earlier, Sehwag and Gamhir had given India their characteristic quick start before Darren Sammy slipped one back at Sehwag through a small gap and bowled him. Gamhir added 71 with Dravid, bringing up his half century with eight boundaries. For once, India's refusal to allow a DRS cost them when Gamhir was given out to a catch by Baugh. He hooked at a bouncer from Ravi Rampaul which was dieing as it got to Gamhir, missed it but was given out. Replays confirmed his disappointment. Tendulkar went hard at the bowling early on, back pedalling the longer the 86 run partnership with Dravid went on. After Dravid left, it was comfort and laughs with VVS Laxman, a senior batsmen who knows when he has been served up an all you can eat buffet. Both did what they had to until stumps.

For the visitors, Sammy bowled with life early on and Rampaul was as honest as he always is with cherry in hand but under the conditions, Bishoo was excellent. The turn is slow and there is no bounce so he had to use variations in pace and flight. Given that he was bowling to two of the best batsmen against spin in the history of the game, his twenty overs at two and half was a fine achievement. He's no Warne but no one every will be. Among the rest, he looks more than handy.

This already looks as drawn out as a visit by the mother-in-law.

West Indies Go Large - Too Large!

The West Indies have taken advantage of a docile pitch at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to heap years of torment over their fragile batting order onto the Indians.You have to go back twelve months and an equivalent number of Test matches for the last score in excess of 500 and then it was based on the Dreadlocked Destroyer, Chris Gayle, who made that remarkable 333 against Sri Lanka. Chanderpaul apart, the West Indies have struggled for players to mount regular team totals above 400 in the last ten years. They have relied, instead on individuals - Chanderpaul and Gayle - to bolster the efforts of players who have struggled to emerge from their batting chrysalis and make substantive scores regularly. The loss of Gayle and the near loss of Chanderpaul both owing to incompetence born of division was seen as disaster.

Common senses prevailed: most of it provided by the little lefthanded Shiv, who still loved the honour of playing for the combined nations of the West Indies. Gayle's pride lay more in his reflection which made the dispute so much more difficult for the players whose loyalty to their captain was more allied to their fear of losing his performances at the top of the order. From the outside, the high handed actions of President Julian Hunte have always seemed driven by a clash of wills, in the same way Don Bradman stood in the way of Ian Chappell and Bill Lawry in making improvements for players in the seventies. That's where the clouds roll in and mask Gayle's arrogance. Ultimately, he has been happier to swagger his gun for hire on the sub continent and anywhere with an open cheque book: a loss to the real game but spilled milk to be wiped away and not wept over.

It's against that background that an unlikely replacement skipper was found in Darren Sammy, who like Mike Brearley, would not normally be considered worthy of his place in the side, on skills with bat and ball alone. He is an occasionally handy medium pacer and a clean, if short-lived hitter of a cricket ball who makes enough batting mistakes to negate the six he has just planted back over your head. Whether by luck or good management, he has proved a galvanising force among his players, Not 28 until Christmas, he was much younger when chosen for the job than some of the few senior players who were left and Chanderpaul was uncertain of continuing at that stage. In 13 Tests, he has only lost four times, a pretty good record given the West Indies form in the past five or even ten years and the fact that two of those losses were in this current series. What he needs to do now is win Test matches and unfortunately, his concern with losing may have influenced his decision to bat on in Mumbai. Bowling captains tend to bat for too long.

Mark Taylor would have declared already.

Kirk Edwards drives

The West Indies piled on a tick over 300 in their ninety overs of day two, against an Indian attack which the top order made look impotent. Kirk Edwards was out after an hour with the drinks cart looming at the boundary edge. He played lazily forward at a ball that would have been more comfortably dealt with off the back foot and edged Ishant Sharma through to MS Dhoni. He and Darren Bravo had added 161 for the third wicket. Kieran Powell, batting in the middle order after opening in his three previous Test appearances, bought a steely countenance to the crease. If the man ever smiles, it must be in secret for he shared no such levity at the wicket. He exchanged glove punches with Bravo regularly enough but looked like a man who realised the bank was giving away samples and he was intent on stuffing his shirt full of them. He went after the bowlers hard early, scoring at a run a ball and taking a four from each of the first six overs he faced. After reaching 30, he slowed, so much so that it took a further 56 deliveries for him to raise his half century. At one stage he managed just one boundary in 83 balls.

Darren Bravo made 166

At the other end, Bravo was giving a batting lesson. He was dropped once, by Dravid late on day one, and had a couple of close appeals on day two, but the other 281 balls were batting perfection. His precision from point to mid off was the stuff that lefties dream off. His timing was neat, crisp and his hunger for runs makes him a dangerous opponent. Having waited 18 innings for his first Test hundred, he now has three in his last four Tests. His combination with Edwards at three, make them the form middle order combination in world cricket and the continual comparison with Brian Lara, odious. He is Bravo.

Kieran Powell

Powell was out, just before tea, after raising 160 with Bravo. He tried to cut a wider ball from Ohja, didn't cover it, with his back foot failing to go across and Dhoni holding a good catch standing up. In the last session, after adding 44 with Marlon Samuels, Bravo finally made a mistake, driving at a ball that was there for the taking but managing only an edge to Dhoni and in the process giving Aaron his first Test wicket. From 5-518, wickets finally tumbled with Ravi Ashwin and Varuun Aaron taking two more each. When Dhoni caught his opposite number, he claimed his fifth for the innings. Samuels was out at the close, giving each of the West Indian top six a half century or more for the innings.

Even Tendular had a bowl
- offies and leggies

Not withstanding such a powerful batting display on a dead wicket against a flat attack, Sammy has batted too long. At drinks in the last session, he had 539 on the board, far too many to ever loose the Test. Even though his attack is limited, Bishoo can bowl nearly half the overs. Yes, India will probably bat well on this deck too - it's flatter than the Hay Plain - but to even get on parity, they'll have to bat for a minimum five sessions. The time to find out was at drinks in the last session when his bowlers were fresh having gloated on the achievements of their batting team mates, bowl for an hour and then be chipper again in the morning. India by contrast, were tired, frustrated and some even injured (Kohli). In that state of mind, a lifeless dusty surface late after two days of fielding in the heat, suddenly throws up pace and turn and spite in the minds of wary, weary batsmen.

Perhaps the reason in his continuance at the crease lies more in the bowler's runs than the batsmen's. Several in the camp have fallen prey to what was once Bombay Belly, but since the city changed its name, a suitable alliteration is yet to be found. Hopefully it's not the case but it would at least explain what was otherwise an overly defensive choice. Yes India were gluttons in Kolkata, but you have to bowl sometime and on a pitch that offers so little, the opportunity for any advantage to be milked from such a sacred cow should have been squeezed with both hands.

I wonder what Chris Gayle thinks of the batting? Someone should tell him they're playing.

India v West Indies - 3rd Test, Day 1

Chanderpaul inspects his injuyed calf

To say that the West Indies could do without Shivnarine Chanderpaulwould would always seem to be a statement laced with Caribbean bravado. The 137 Test veteran is one of only three current international players likely to pass the magical ten thousand run mark in Tests in the next twelve months. The others, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jaywardene are, like him, in their very dim final days in the game. Chanderpaul is second only to Brian Lara among West Indian run scorers and at a healthy average that sits just below fifty, but its his experience that is missed most these days, as no West Indian has played as much cricket at this level. A leg strain, sustain when batting in the 2nd Test at Kolkata ruled him out of the starting line up in Mumbai. Kemar Roach, full of promise but under preforming in the four Tests since an eight month break from the team, is also out of the game with the wrong type of runs.

The Windies are left with a top six which has 69 matches between them and more than half of those come from  Marlon Samuels, a man who has been in and out of the team more often than a nervous worm in a field of magpies. Of course, it may not be a matter of how many but how good. Lara made his epic 277 in Sydney in his fifth Test; Greenidge made 93 and 107 in his first; Viv made 192x in his second; Clive Lloyd 118 in his fourth; Walcott 152 in his fifth; Richardson hundreds in his fourth and fifth. Of course it took Gary Sobers seventeen Tests for his first hundred: the then world record 365 not out against Pakistan at Sabina Park. Of those, Greenidge, Richards and Walcott scored their hundreds in India and Sobers in Pakistan.

How good are this new breed?

The first days play certainly gives a strong indication that the West Indies may finally be starting to get things right after a protracted dispute with the lavishly self-indulged former skipper, Chris Gayle. After his prolonged exclusion from the team, selectors and players alike have moved on. Its unlikely he'll ever be invited to play in Test colours again and frankly, West Indies cricket will be no worse off. The West Indies board have handled the matter abysmally but the end result has been to bring the cream to the top.

Kieran Powell, who has opened in Tests, came into the middle order in place of Chanderpaul and Ravi Rampaul was back for Roach. The Indian dropped Yuvraj Singh, whose star has fallen since the World Cup and Umesh Yadav is injured, giving a debut to Varun Aaron.

Brathwaite & Barath ackowledge
their century opening stand

West Indies won the toss and openers Adrian Barath and Kraigg Brathwaite set the tone with a careful batting display until lunch. Barath, who has often been criticised for the avante garde nature of his batting at the top of the order showed great restraint and Brathwaite was his usual study in compact defence. By lunch, no Indians had made an impression and the West Indies had achieved their first target, to be none down at the long break. The ball was out of shape and replaced in only the fifth over and Ohja was into the attack in the ninth. Aaron opened the bowling with an accurate six over spell for just 15 before being replaced by Ishant Sharma who had taken the new ball first. Ravi Ashwin was into the attack after twenty overs but none of it made any difference to the openers.

After lunch, Brahwaite looked the more likely to go, having three close calls against the spinners but surviving to bring up his half century and the pair posted a hundred opening stand. Barath was looking fluent: the benefit of spending time at the crease. In the last half hour before tea, both were gone. Barath lost his footwork and inside edged Ashwin onto his pad for Dhoni to hold an easy catch and and Brathwaite finally ran out of luck when a dipping off break from Ashwin brushed his glove and then went to pad for a pop up catch to Kohli at short leg. At 2-150, it was a good start which the West Indies have often thrown away in the past but Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo had other ideas.

After getting to tea safe enough, the pair wore the Indians out in the last session, adding 106. Edwards, who grows and grows in skill against the spin, came into the side with confidence and exudes it whilst in the centre. Its the sort of swagger than Sir Viv was famous for and it runs from him and into the hollow, scared places of lesser men, filling them with daring do. His influence on Bravo is already showing dividends.

Edwards raises his 50

Their partnership was not without dangerous moments: batting against Indian spinners with their cobra tricks on their dusty home tracks is not a matter that confidence alone with take care off. Ashwin was and is the biggest danger. He is another in the long line of great Indian spinners. Like Warne, he gets so much rotation on the ball he creates his own swerve and dip and when allied with subtle changes to line and length, a batsman can soon be in the wrong place at the wrong time and either offering up gifts to short leg or hearing MS Dhoni celebrating a stumping behind them.

Edwards kept attacking the spinners but did so with great risk, having half a dozen close calls against Ashwin and Sehwag. Kohli was close to catching him at short leg twice and Ashwin beat him all ends up. The debutante Aaron almost bowled him when he shouldered arms and towards the end of the day, Dhoni floored a difficult chance down the leg side off Sehwag. Standing up, they either stick or they don't.

Bravo drives square on the off

At the other end, Bravo stroked the ball stylishly through the covers, off front and back foot. Again comparisons were being made with Brian Lara, a near sure way to destroy a young batsman's career. His timing is exquisite in that naturally gifted expression of bat over ball that only wristy Indians and confident Caribbean cricketers can (occasionally I litter my letters with alliteration). He gave his only chance to Rahul Dravid, of all people, the only man with more than two hundred Test catches. With that many, he's caught a lot more than he's dropped but he dropped this one, appearing surprised when it came.

The wicket looks good for batting and the West Indies must profit with interest now they have runs in the bank. Edwards and Bravo need to press on to centuries and one of them needs a big one. There are fast runs in this tail but not many of them and when the same tail bowls, it is limited. Too much will be needed from Davendra Bishoo against a batting line up which will be bristling for a long work out.

See also "The Thoughts Of Chairman Baz" for a discussion of where Australia is heading.

The Thoughts of Chairman Baz

The full Australian selection panel meets for the first time during the next week to formulate their forward plan for the summer in Australia. With injuries to Marsh, Harris, Watson and possibly Johnson, opportunities might be opened for others. Then there's the problem of what to do with Hughes and Watson, who for different reasons need to be shifted from opening.

For something different, what follows are the opinions of another cricketragic whom I have known since university days. Like me,  a teacher but unlike me, a fine cricketer. Barry Everingham has been a doyen of NSW country cricket for as long as he has breathed. Here are his thoughts on the summer ahead and the direction the selectors should take.

"A really top effort - finally - by a young gun and a bloke who should not be there! We escaped and good on them - Punter and Haddin did the business and should be retained for the next series but beyond that will be a big question mark. Who is putting their hand up and scoring enough at Shield level - NOT in the hit and giggle stuff - that is the vexing query???? Hughes must go if Marsh is fit. He is just a disaster against good bowling and I still think we will be so much stronger with Watto at 6 or even 7 if he is to continue bowling. Marsh, Katich (for this series, Khawaja, Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, Watson, Haddin, Cutting (try him straight up in Brissy), Cummo, Lyon and Siddle 12th. Awesome batting lineup eh! Watto as bowling alrounder and handy no 7 bat!!!! Kat and Clarke to bowl more if needed. If need another bowler to nurse Watto, Huss to 12th in Brissy and try Siddle again with pattinson as 12th (assume Ryan out."

A couple of others who are knocking on the door for the openers job are Liam Davis (WA) and Rob Quiney (Vic). Chris Rogers might  be a little long in the tooth but another worthy of thought would be Ryan Broad (Qld). Katich is finished I'm afraid, with a disciplinary hearing still pending, his cards have already been marked. He should never have been removed from the contract list but he's burned every bridge, even those made of olive branches.

"We cannot keep putting up with Mitchell Johnson and his inconsistency. Get the young bloods in there with Patty - they can't be worse than him being all over the shop. Very disappointed that Mickey Arthur got the job - most would have loved Rixo - taskmaster with proven track record over a range of teams. Real blood and guts type who wouldn't put up with any prima donna stuff and would have enhanced the work ethic of young and old and call a spade a spade - somehting these blokes have not had enough of IMHO! Would have been great with Langer staying on and still not convinced McDermott is the go as a bowling coach. He was a 'leaker' like Johnson. I'd get Stu Clarke back in as bowling coach straight away."


Johnson will always be a problem. As Tamworthian and handy former batsman Terry Browne says of him, he's an athlete who bowls, where as most bowlers are athletes. The difference is he'll always be expensive but still has that Doug Walters quality of turning a match in a session. Can modern cricket afford such luxuries? I don't think we'll lose too much in terms of spades being succinctly named - Mickey Arthur has a reputation for no bullshit and maximum directness. I agree on Rixon's qualities but there is one school of thought that says he is too similar to his coaching mentor, Bob Simpson and having seen Hilditch off the patch and taking Simmo out the back under Taylor's insistence, many thought a return to that style might not be a good idea, especially with our new skipper being of a different ilk. I think you're a bit hard on Billy. Signs are he is making a difference and he's at least got Johnson listening!

"Hopefully Athur will be a tough nut and do the job on a few of them. Haddin stays until the end of or near end of season and if Paine is fit he plays the one dayers as a lead in - but not much between him and Wade actually. Interesting times - Clarke has done a pretty good job as skipper with some wayward bowling and very average application with the bat. Hard to put up with Lawson bagging his captaincy the other day. I think he will do a good job this summer and if he and Ricky stay down the order they will score tons and tons against NZ and India. Biggest problem will be getting the blue Raj boys out!"


India don't appear to have the artillery to do any real damage on our deck,s so much of it comes down to our bowling and the old legs of the India batting line up. The schedule has them playing four Tests in five weeks from Boxing Day until early February - a big asked for legs that have run up and down pitches a lot of times. Agree with your assessment of Lawson. He's even more bitter and twisted after being overlooked for every new job CA was trying to fill.

"Could be interesting if the selectors use common sense and injuries don't cruel us - although we still have Ferguson, Klinger (STILL think he is a gun!), amongst others. BUT - if I hear another mention of Dave Warner being in the Test side I will give it up. He was not even a regular in the Shield side till this year. When will they learn they have to pick different sides for the 3 forms. Only a few to play 2 or all 3. And Shippherd to coach T20 - maybe Rixo the one dayers. But who am I to have any ideas - other than to agree with Hilditch finally being gone as a very average piece of work as a selector, as he was as a player. Good riddance and let the summer fun begin."


I'm changing my opinion on Warner but as you've noticed, he wouldn't be in my second eleven at Test level. Ferguson and Pattison have to be the highest rated replacements. They've done the yards and deserve their chance. I wonder if an old roughy like Adam Vogues might still stand consideration ... perhaps in the ODI side. He's second only to team mate Liam Davis in run aggregate in the Shield this summer in a WA side which looks the only real threat to Qld at this stage.

What do others think? Stoph, Leftie, Tim, Bear, Ian ... you all have strong opinions and a bent towards expressing them. How about joining the discussion?

Thanks Baz.

Another Step On A Long Journey Home

Oh this is such a beautiful game.

Against form, both corporate and personal, against history, against conditions, against injury and against the best new ball attack in world cricket, Michael Clarke's Australia team bested South Africa at the Wanderers Ground in Johannesburg. This act of will and courage which allowed old champions to rise again and new ones to herald careers which offer so much to the national team's future, will be a cornerstone of the Clarke captaincy and will imbue a sense of self-belief that a clinic full of sports psychologists or a dressing room of former champions could never match. For these five days, the team stood with shoulders pressed together and would not let the Proteas past.

Supporters of the game in Australia have a point in the new history of Australian cricket to rally around. This victory, achieved in the den of a fearsome opponent needs to be revered and its architect allowed to be carried on our shoulders in congratulation. In the dying overs, Clarke rode every shot, every swing and miss, covering his eyes at times and chewing his finger nails, his hat, his nerve endings, down to frazzled shards as his men won a famous victory. Where Allan Border lost in such circumstances, Clarke won.

It was a day of unlikely heroes.

After the morning session was a victim to rain, Clarke started the day at the crease with Ricky Ponting, both of them concerned with early deliveries which seemed happier to be lower in their carry than on previous days. Clarke, looking to dig in with the established former skipper, lasted only three overs before South Africa's best bowler of the series, Vernon Philander, ripped an off cutter through his defence in much the same way as Shane Watson had expired the previous day but at least Clarke was playing at it. The first Test century maker was undone by a ball that was just too good. After another ten overs of slow progress where new batsman Michael Hussey and Ponting were subjected to the day's best bowling, Ponting was frustrated by the tight line of Steyn and Philander. Morne Morkel, into the attack for Steyn, bowled a wider ball, short of a length to Ponting who slashed wildly at it and was caught at second slip by Jacques Rudolph. His was one of several key innings in the victory.

Vernon Philander took 5-70 and
was named Man of the Series

At 5-165 and only just past halfway to the target, an out of form, written off and heavily criticised Brad Haddin joined Hussey. The going was still tough as Graeme Smith moved his chess pieces into and out of the attack but Haddin and Hussey pushed the ball into gaps with a belief the impossible was possible if only they could hang in there long enough. They both batted with the greatest of responsibility, taking the score past 200 but with fifty added for the sixth wicket and the target reduced to double figures, Hussey was out just before tea. Philander trapped him in front with a ball which pitched leg and would have hit middle stump at half its height. The referral was a pointless exercise in hope but never the less, it was a dice which had to be rolled. Johnson crashed an off drive at catching height past Philander but no fielder was close enough and then Imran Tahir beat him stone dead with a wrong 'un on the last ball before the break.

Australia needed 88 and South Africa 4 wickets at tea. The were more than enough overs but the worry was the light that had ended days play in this Test no later than 5:00pm on all of the preceding days.

The next thirteen overs had enough drama to make even Laurence Olivier jealous and he's been dead for years. The first three overs cost South Africa 25 runs. Steyn and Philander were hammered, both only having one over spells as Smith took the first smell in his flaring nostrils of a match turning bad. Haddin dispatched two fours off the first over after tea from Philander, both to the midwicket fence: the first from a ball full and flicked off the line of leg stump and the second a vicious pull. In Steyn's over, he drove the ball straight down the ground. matching the shot Ponting played yesterday. Johnson drilled a full pitch ball outside off stump to the cover boundary past a diving Amla at cover - admittedly not South Africa's most agile fielder. The pair milked an over of singles from Tahir and then held out a Morkel maiden.

Brad Haddin

The momentum had changed but then Johnson injured a foot in taking off for a single. He initially thought a stud had come through the sole of his boot but the pain he was clearly experiencing speaks of a greater injury and a bone fracture would not surprise. With no runner available under the new ICC rules, he was never going to leave the crease and so a rule designed to revoke the Ranatunga Gambit, instead put a valuable player at risk of further injury. The pair combined controlled aggression with smart defence in a manner made famous by Ian Botham at Headingley in 1981 and Smith, relying on his constant changing of the bowlers, rushed to the new ball for a resolution. Again it was Philander who had the answer, removing Haddin with an outswinger which was not reviewed after Haddin asked Johnson's opinion. Replays showed Haddin may have been hard done by. It was, in the end, only a good ball that could remove him - there were no kamikaze sacrifices from Haddin today. The pair had added 72, the last 66 coming in just 11 overs and the game was Australia's to win at 7-287.

Peter Siddle came and went, striking Steyn to the wide mid on rope and then scooping the same bowler to to a short mid wicket. It was Steyn's only scalp. It had been four years since he went wicketless in an innings.

Cummins was named
Man of the Match

Newby Pat Cummins entered. Here for his bowling which had been superb, his task now was to help Johnson win a cricket match. In the stands, Nathan Lyon sat with his gear on - including his helmet - the very picture of a man possessed with the fear of being required. For the next three overs, Cummins played and missed a lot, struck two fours and offered Steyn the hard but not impossible chance of bringing Lyon out to face a destiny he was unwilling to tempt. A Cummins return catch flew quickly to Steyn's left, through his hands and down to the long off boundary. Billy Bowden checked his light meter but sheathed it quickly to his pocket. With five required and Cummins winning all of the strike whilst Johnson recuperated on one foot at the bowler's end, Smith called a committee meeting of his senior players and Tahir was given the ball and the responsibility for winning. His first delivery, a googly, didn't bother Johnson and he tucked the second away for a single. The third almost delivered the wicket, striking Cummins plumb but was turned down. Smith referred it and it came back to the umpires call, with the ball landing millimetres from having half of it inside the death zone. Cummins let the next go in the pretence of being a batsmen that all No 10's like to effect and then flogged a long hop to the midwicket boundary and it was all over. Has a young man ever smiled more broadly. One day, he'll realise he did more than play a big part in winning a cricket match as Paul Sheahan and Rod Marsh did after scoring the winning runs at at The Oval in 1972. Their partnership that day started a dynasty.

Johnson's role in this was as dramatic as it was courageous and effective. Again he has proven that he can never be discounted. To achieve this victory, batting injured, gives him greater credit. Whilst his consistency will be forever doubted, his ability to pop up when needed and play a significant role is reminiscent of Doug Walters, a man Ian Chappell still says would always be in any side he captained. Its the question of how to get that level of performance from him more regularly that Clarke and the selectors need to answer. As the modern lexicon goes, good luck with that one.

Did South Africa choke? Probably, but not in such a way that they handed the match to Australia. They are still a side that doesn't handle pressure well. The Haddin/Johnson partnership gradually caused panic. The ball began bobbling from their hands in uncharacteristic misfields. Overthrows kept Haddin on strike. The bowlers - Philander apart - lost length and direction. Morkel, normally a quiet big man who ignores batsmen with the same disdain he removes them, allowed himself to be dragged into a verbal spar with Johnson that was always going to help the Australian focus. Just ask John McEnroe. When it got to the really sharp end, Smith lost his way, didn't back his best bowlers and set semi-defensive fields. The modern trend of fielders set back finally found a captain out.

None of which removes glory from the Australians.

A week ago, they squandered an unbeatable lead, to loose by 8 wickets. Bowling the South Africans out for 96, they suffered the ignominy of making only half that and then bowled with their heads down on the last day.

It's that spirit of recovery that will take this side of Clarke's forward. The change and rebuilding looked for on 8th January last, has been happening in the board room and on the field. Australia has work to do and champions to farewell before the Test summer closes in February but it has been an excellent start. Clarke has won a series in Sri Lanka and drawn in South Africa, results that are better than any pundit, whether media or mug, could have predicted. Now its home for New Zealand and India and the hope of even better. The key decisions looming are fitness issues clouding Shaun Marsh, Shane Watson, Ryan Harris and now, possibly Mitchell Johnson and form issues which have been forestalled by the second innings heroics of Ponting and Haddin. Despite his first innings score, surely Phil Hughes must be under the knife. A fit Marsh and the form of Khawaja, crucial to this win, must terminate his tenure at the top of the order.

That's for later. Today, lets all respond appropriately to this victory and applaud the mixture of new and old who delivered it.

Oh this is such a beautiful game.

Drew Morphett interviews Michael Clarke after the game

Reliance ICC Test Ranking

	Team	Matches	Points	Rating
1	England	37	4634	125
2	India	37	4336	117
3	South Africa	24	2781	116
4	Australia	34	3578	105
5	Sri Lanka	31	3062	99
6	Pakistan	28	2757	98
7	West Indies	26	2286	88
8	New Zealand	20	1588	79
9	Bangladesh	15	138	9
Developed by David Kendix			Last Updated: Mon, Nov 21, 2011

Zimbabwe is currently unranked, as it has played insufficient matches. It has 134 points and a rating of 45.

For the Reliance Test Rankings predictor please click here

Sorry About That ...

West Indies women's international Tremayne Smartt has been banned for five months after taking a diuretic and know masking agent. She was apparently believed when she claimed she took the pill for a swollen knee. The breach of the drugs code was discovered follow drug testing after the Twenty20 international against Pakistan at Georgetown Guyana on September 11th.

You might wonder how the modern player can still fall into the trap of taking banned substances when they are all warned of the consequences. You might have expected more of anyone called smart who spells their name with two "t's" but then again, maybe not.

Warnie's mum has been unavailable for comment.

Can He Do It Again?

The seemingly impossible may be about to happen at The Wanderers in Johannesburg as Australia's youngest and oldest cricketers starred on another stirring day. This may well be an epic Test match in which fairy tales come true.

Amla's century

The Australian bowlers were a disciplined bunch. Pat Cummins was the out and out star, taking 6-79 from 29 overs but for a change, an Australia attack was able to hunt as a pack. AB deVilliers was removed early, after Cummins had pushed him onto the back foot. When a fuller one came, he drove poorly at it, too wide to hit but close enough to send the edge to Michael Clarke at second slip. Amla was out to Mitchell Johnson, now bowling a line much closer to off stump. The ball started on middle and off and slanted across the century maker and was feathered to Brad Haddin. In between, an uncomfortable Ashwell Prince was run out in calling mishap with Amla, Ricky Ponting looking as sharp as his younger days at cover point and running the ball into the stumps at the batsman's end. Mark Boucher played for a big off break from Nathan Lyon and when it didn't come, he edged hard to Shane Watson at first slip who held it well as it came fast to his midriff.

With 4 wickets falling for 37, Clarke held back the new ball as his bowlers were making good use of the old one but Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander proved a nuisance. It was eventually taken, Australia being the first side to need a second new ball in the series. Cummins cleaned up the tail. Whatever this lad eats should be bottled and held back for special occasions because he took two wickets with the first two balls after lunch. Philander was unlucky enough to get a thumb to a rising ball through to Haddin and then Morne Morkel was cleaned up with a yorker straight from the Fred Trueman text book. The last pair added 25 before Steyn, who had been sat on his backside by both Cummins and Johnson, had a windy whoof outside offstump and provided Haddin with his fourth catch and an opportunity to send Ian Healy a postcard.

Cummins  bowls Morkel

Cummins was clearly superb, especially given his lack of experience at the highest level. It speaks well of the development programs in NSW that he has come through under age championships and talent identification schemes which have hardened him along the way. Perhaps more of the young will be accepted now into the national team. He bowled with the pace off, averaging mid 130's but his control was much better, despite a massive four wides he spilled down the leg side. Johnson bowled within himself and with a more productive line. He also bowled at a more reasonable pace and seemed on top of his task. Lyon, again the support bowler, did all that was asked of him and never flagged, even under Steyn's attack.

As always underestimated, Peter Siddle went wicket less but was as good as Cummins. He bowled faster than the others but again had his outswinger moving away from the right handers. His line and length were where he chose them to be: a control he has not always had.

Billy McDermott's influence is all over this attack.

Khawaja pulling to midwicket

Chasing 310, Australia began badly. In fact, its hard to image how they could have made a worse start. Watson and Phil Hughes were both gone inside three overs. Philander hooped the first ball of the innings away from Watson and the second he bent back the other way. Its an old three card trick but it worked. Watson had his bat in the air and the Kookaburra had an unimpeded path to the top of off stump. Its not the first time Watson has made such an error. Despite his first innings batting, which enjoyed some luck, it's now 22 innings since his last century, made in the Spring campaign against India more than a year ago and five of his last eight Test innings have been single figures. Hughes was the technical disaster he will always be, thrusting his bat away from his body in back foot defence as his hips rotated his left leg to point. The edge to slips is always inevitable. He will continue to punctuate his low scores with fifties - maybe even hundreds - but long chains of low scores will remain. He is not a Test standard batsman and Justin Langer cannot perform miracles.

Khawaja, batting in his true position, was solid. Covering his off stump and using his height to his advantage, he avoided trouble by keeping his eye on the ball and by applying technique and concentration to the task. He can prevent what Hughes causes. He pulled all the bowlers viciously but judiciously and finally managed his first half century in his stop/start appearances in the Baggy Green.

Ponting 54x

Ricky Ponting came to the crease deep in pressure. At 2-19, the future of the innings and the match was on his shoulders. His poor form had finally caught up with him in the past few days and he had no friends in the media and only a few, brave and tormented souls in the lounge rooms of Australia. It was all there for him to lose. Early on, he was beaten all ends up by Philander - the ball leaving precious little air beside it as it passed his bat. Squared up by a delivery which started on middle and then whispered past the outside edge, Ponting had been done. Then a strange thing happened. A slow smile crept across that steely face as he looked back at Philander standing in mid pitch. It wasn't challenge or arrogance spreading on his face, which we all know to be his way. This was admiration.

There after, years were brushed aside. Ponting pulled the ball down and well in front of square leg, rattling the mid wicket boundary off all the quicks. Steyn was removed from the attack with no thought of lbw's after Ponting played a back foot drive past cover point with such timing and force that two fieldsmen who might have covered it, crossed each other in pursuit after it had struck the rope. The bat was venturing straight up the pitch and when it went to leg, the front leg was out towards midwicket, the blade uninhibited.

As the afternoon wore on and the light became dim, Steyn came back for another crack at Ponting but the status of the contest was clear when Ponting played an imperious straight drive to long on, always the sign that his footwork and the arc of his bat are in order.

At the very end, with two balls remaining, Khawaja played a lazy shot like one might do at the end of a successful net. Not moving his feet, he touched it to Jacques Kallis low at slip, who held it well for the big man he has become. Light ended it one ball later.

Great champions rising from the canvas when all believe them beaten, is the stuff that sports fans base long discussions on. In Australian cricket, we have our share of such stories. McCabe vs Larwood in Sydney during bodyline; Bradman against England immediately after the war in 1946; Taylor's 129 at Edgbaston; Greg Chappell's last Test innings hundred; Waugh's last ball hundred in Sydney an opus replayed on heavy rotation (there must have been 200 000 there that afternoon) ... and others which you can paint on your own story telling canvas. At the Wanderers, we may be about to see another legendary innings arise from a man who has been one of Australia's six best batsmen of all time. Ponting has the chance to play the hand which guides Australia to an important victory: a victory to provide scaffolding in the rebuilding already underway by an unassuming foreman we have all mistaken for a casual labourer. That, is only part of the opportunity that presents itself. The other, should he break that hundred drought and should Australia win, is to retire. Forget all other considerations Ricky but leave as the champion we remember, with a story we can revere and with the job done.

I'll be crossing my fingers twice.

Enter The Real South Africa

Its a rather obvious remark to make but Roebuck would have been enthralled by the third day of this Johannesburg Test for it had everything that cricket played at the highest, most pure levels should have. A young lion roared at older, more experienced members of an opposing pride. The hours bought ebbs and flows to both encourage and discourage watchers keen for their side to grasp the ascendancy beyond finger tips in order to shake the other loose. It bought pressure for players, umpires and spectators and in that fiery stew pot, the highest skills percolated to the top.

It was, indeed, a Test.

Patrick Cummins did more than could reasonably be expected of a young man who has left his parents stoop and greeted the sunshine in the first week of his first real job. His pace was sustained, his length venomous and with more luck, he might have had five wickets. Michael Clarke has a weapon of Thommo pace backed by a coach who is already proving innovative and mindful of both the needs of his players and the objective of the team. Craig McDermott's work was obvious in the improved line for Cummins, the changes to Mitchell Johnson's run up and Peter Siddle's improved length. It seems Billy has ignored advice and will be a hero.

South Africa have realised that a tempered approach was called for in the second innings, having escaped a first innings disaster where they threw the bat at the Australians in the hope of having them fold under the batting attack. Clarke and his men were better than that but weren't able to capitalise, especially after the at times lucky but never the less outstanding opening partnership of Phil Hughes and Shane Watson.

Rudolph skies Cummins

Jacques Rudolph looked a classy player, as he has done in all four innings of this mini-series but was out again after establishing superiority. Cummins made one rear at him from outside the off stump and at 145kms/hr, it was too much for him to control with an attacking stroke. He was a long way toward the boundary by the time Brad Haddin held the skied pull shot. Graeme Smith was a mixed bag of edges, drives and defence but did enough in twenty overs to put his side in front. He was out, trying to cut Lyon, when the ball bounced from the rough and he sliced it instead to Hughes at point.

Kallis worked over
by Cummins

Enter Jacques Kallis and the contest of the day. Clarke immediately removed Lyon and returned Cummins to the fray. The youngster versus the the old pro. Beginner versus veteran. Cummins ripped and tore at a man who has countered the quick and the clever of his generation with equal effectiveness. In the space of three fast overs, the ball flew at Kallis with no space for him to explode a drive or unleash a pull. Cummins was too quick and too accurate. Imagine the best of Lillee against Viv Richards and you have an accurate illustration. After being fortunate to ground a lifter off glove and bat handle, Kallis fended to Clarke at slip and the stripling had his victory.

Hashim Amla and AB Villiers took lunch an over later but straight after Cummins was at both of them, nearly getting his hand on a return catch from deVilliers and trapping Amla in front. Only the wording of the referral laws saved Amla, computer imaging denying the Australians by the thickness of a regional newspaper on a slow news day.

Clarke, in order to conserve his arsenal, already one substantial weapon short thanks to the vagaries of Watson's body, removed Cummins after two overs. It would be easy to criticise this decision but a long day loomed. Unfortunately for Australia, the combination of two experienced batsmen who had been warned of the dangers of treating the bowlers with disrespect, set successfully about the task of building. Clarke threw all that he could at them, to no avail. Johnson, coming in from his shortened run, showed improved swing but still bowled with too much width and was easily picked off. He has long been considered the "wet boy" of this attack, who would roar in and grunt and snarl at the batsmen, blasting them from their complacency. McDermott changed that approach yesterday and its too early to tell if that is wise. The net effect changed little as he still bled runs.

Amla kneels to avoid contact

Amla and deVillers batted to tea and beyond, taking their partnership to 139 with both approaching centuries, before bad light ended the day and ensured an early start in the morning. As it stands, Australia would already need 200. Clarke will know that two more wickets and he can expose a weak tail but it's the damage that Amla, deVilliers and Ashwell Prince can do in the meantime that could well take the game beyond the reach of his batting line up. 

In an unpalatable final twist to what had been an otherwise splendid day, Ricky Ponting was booed by the partisan crowd at The Wanderers as he bowled the final over in fading light. This behaviour has never been called for, although even I might have engaged Jardine in such heckling. Champions deserve fitting ends and although Ponting doesn't deserve such as this, leaving after that gallant century in Australia's losing cause against India at Ahmedabad at the World Cup in March would have provided such a departure for him. Instead, he must endure ducks and Boers. Such choices we make.

"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them." Kahil Gibran

Taking The Mickey Out Of ...

(with apologies to Toni Basil)

Hey Ricky
you've been around all year
and that's a little long. 
You think you've got it right but I think you've got it wrong. 
Why can't we say goodbye and then you can go home?
Ricky,
when you say you will 
it always means you won't. 
You're givin' me the chills
Ricky

Oh Ricky 

what a pity you don't understand. 

You take me by the heart when you take the bat in hand. 

Oh Ricky

you're so pretty 

can't you understand.
Oh Ricky 

It's batsmen like you 

Ricky

ooh what you used to do 

Ricky

Do 

Ricky
Do
Ricky

don't break my heart 

Ricky.

Hey Ricky
now when you go out there to bat 

you're never gonna score 

if you use your pads like that 

You're getting rather slow
Ricky. 

Anyway you want to do it
Just take it like a man. 
But please 
Ricky
don't make it worse 
Ricky. 
Oh Ricky
what a pity you don't understand. . . . 
Oh Ricky
what a pity you don't understand. . . . 
Oh Ricky
what a pity you don't understand. .

Australia Fight Back - 2nd Test, Day1

It was easy to be critical of the Australian team in Capetown, not only for their corporate episode of bipolar disorder on the second last day but also for the heads down, kicking the sand performance on the last. The days since then should have been the most soul searching of their lives, let alone their careers. The essence of the problem that Michael Clarke and team management have is that no matter how they window dress the situation, the Aussie team, still in a state of flux between the aging and fresh faced, is inferior to its opponent.

Which makes the opening day at The Wanderers all the more remarkable and one on which Clarke has the opportunity of building a great side because despite the imbalance in the teams, despite the Australian performance at Newlands which scraped the very bottom of the barrel, despite losing the toss with a road beckoning, despite another injury to Shane Watson and despite an aggressive South African top order ... Australia still came out on top of South Africa.

Cummins celebrates his first wicket

Pat Cummins, playing only his 4th first class game, made his debut in the absence of Ryan Harris who was ruled out of the game with a hip injury. It would be churlish to detract from the young man's splendid opening day of Test cricket but it is only fair to mention James Pattinson and how hard done by he has been at the hands of the former selectors. Having toured with the Australians in all three forms of the game in Sri Lanka and doing well in the only ODI he played, Pattinson was shelved after proving himself in domestic cricket, whilst Cummins was included for South Africa with first class bum fluff still on his game and has taken a chance via the Harris hip. Pattinson would bear no malice to Cummins but Andrew Hilditch is off his Christmas Card List. Older players such as Hauritz, use a hit list instead.


Cummins bought much needed enthusiasm and young legs to the Australian team. His bowling had pace and was mostly well directed, although he had periods where he sent the ball too much at and beyond leg stump. Regardless, he conceded very little whilst others in the first session gave up runs in search of wickets. Siddle and Johnson went in search of Billy McDermott's good length and even though they were thumped for bowling too full on occasion, it always looked more effective than the short pap that has been thrown up before. The kid's first Test wicket - the youngest Australian to bag a Test scalp - was a splendid catch by Ricky Ponting at second slip, something more like the sharp eyed super fielder of yesteryear. Amla's defence had proved resilient to the youngster but he eventually found the edge with some lift. To cap it off, he then held a sensational catch to remove AB de Villiers when he pulled at a ball from Siddle, sending it down over Mitchell Johnson at mid on. Cummins ran from mid off and took the ball diving towards the boundary and back over his head.

Peter Siddle was outstanding, never once flagging from the doctrine of a fuller length which Billy McDermott has been main-lining into him at every net. For the first two sessions, he toiled away, moving a controlled outswinger away from the right handeres and then in the last session, unloaded a judicious and well timed number of shorter balls which surprised the batsmen. AB deVilliers was undone by one he tried to pull, managing only to send it back down the ground where Cummins held that sensational catch that only young legs would have reached. Boucher was dispatched when he top edged a hook and despite Brad Haddin efforts, it was Nathan Lyon coming in from the boundary who held the catch. Earlier, when Jacques Kallis had reached 55 off only 41 balls, Siddle held one back on him and he scooped it Khawaja at mid wicket. McDermott take a bow.

The South African's had looked in a hurry all day, with only Amla's reluctant 19 defying the trend. The openers were gone within fifteen overs: Graeme Smith using his outside edge for a change, sending an Johnson delivery to the safe hands of Clarke at second slip and Rudolph went soft to Watson after thrashing the ball about and was caught by Haddin. Watson almost bowled four overs for Rudolph's wicket but at what cost as he limped off the ground for treatment to a hamstring, returning two hours later in order to qualify to open the batting. He's a medical marvel. Is there any part of his body he hasn't injured?

Kallis looked in complete control

Enter Kallis and a firestorm of runs, particular off Siddle at the start and end of his innings. He took three fours from Siddle's fourth over, all through the covers from balls of full length and swinging away which scorched the grass. The third, seemingly taking a leading edge, went just as fast as the first two. Having set that tone, only Cummins escaped the full treatment, despite also being sent screaming through the covers on a couple of occasions. Lyons' first over saw the first ball sent high and handsome to mid wicket and then another even further, clearing the boundary by many rows for six in the same direction. Siddle's return was greeted with no more than a flick off the pads which ended deep in the crowd at wide mid on and a four edged down through the gully for 4. Then, like a spring storm, it was over after lots of thunder and lightning but not enough rain, as Kallis shyly held back a similar shot, perhaps thinking he wasn't all the way to the ball and scooped to mid wicket instead.

deVilliers looked right back
to his best

deVilliers had been similarly impressive and is approaching his best but after adding 112 with Ashwell Prince, the pair were out in consecutive overs after tea. Prince had looked a champion during the second session but after tea was a different batsmen. Siddle started worrying him outside off stump and he edged or played and missed at balls that before tea he had dealt with comfortably. In the end, the pressure that Siddle bought to bear reaped dividends for Lyon at the other end, as Prince tried to break the shackles and hit the ball only as far as Johnson at mid on. deVilliers was out to Siddle in the next over to that brilliant Cummins catch and the rest just folded. Clarke picked up a couple of cheap scalps as the light faded and South Africa were out for at least 150 lighter load than looked in the forecast at the toss.

This was a good day for Australia which was all about pride and heart and the best things in sport. So many of the things that sound like clichés could be fairly described as attributes as they stuck to their mission through the first two sessions, despite the additional setbacks and then finished their task in the last session. All deserve praise but that loyal servant Peter Siddle deserves most plaudits as he was the torch bearer.

How good is Clarke as captain? Well, if you can't see what he's done at Newlands or today or in the dark space in between then its time to take those blinkers off. This is no yuppy wanna-be. The job he has done with this misshaped bunch in hard circumstances is already better than anything Border did with Bob Simpson in his ear in the 1980's. Before play he lost his strike bowler and his best batsman and then his most effective bowler and opening batsman was injured during play but no white flag, no complaints, just bloody hard work.

Of course, in a series that has had more collapses than Heartbreak Hill in the City to Surf, anything could happen on day two but you build a city one street at a time.

The signs are encouraging.