I love it when tailenders wag, unless they not English of course. There is nothing more frustrating than seeing a rabbit with a bat smacking your bowlers round the park. Someone who grips the bat with a faint air of distaste, and discomfort, as though he watched someone unblock the toilet with it just before he left the changing room. Someone who stands at the crease looking as though he's trying to remember from which direction the ball is going to come. (Devon who?)
I guess Harmison doesn't fit into that category any more, he's more of a number 8 now. I love the way (because he's on my side) he looks as though he's decided that attack is the only option. It's almost like he's thought "Well I'm no longer No. 1 bowler in the world, I wonder if I could be the No. 1 batsman?" Probably not but I think we are all going to enjoy whilst he is trying. All of course from the SA's amoungst us, and probably the Aussies next year (Oi Aussies, give us our Ashes back! You never know it could happen, maybe McGrath, Lee and Warne will get injured, and Ponting, Langer and Hayden will have to stay home to look after them, and another thing where did you get this Clarke bloke from he looks ridiculously good, you're meant to be on the wane, it shouldn't be allowed.)
Back to the present and the question is how much juice will there be left in the pitch for our bowlers and will it stop raining for long enough for them to finish the match. Hopefully lots and yes. I think the deciding factor will be Harmison and Kallis, if ours fires and theirs doesn't it'll probably be 2-1 and thanks for coming.
Now does anyone fancy the Red Hot Barmy Army tour to Oz, it'll be great, bit if chess, days on the beach, watching the defence of our Ashes.....
What a timely score for Michael Vaughan!!
I see Gilo scored his usual 20-40 runs.
Harmi seems to have become a batsmen - he certainly hasn't bowled this series.
So, lets assume they put on another 20 tomorrow morning. That's 431. The pundits were talking (morning of the first day) of 330 being a good score on this pitch. They said 300 would be reasonable when England were 275-7 (or whatever). Anyway, 431 is a good score whatever the pitch, and not many teams who score so high in 1st innings go on to lose. So, my money would be on England win or a draw.
I hear the weather forecast doesn't look so good. Typical. England already denied one win due to bad light!!
The weather's got this wonderful balance to it at Johannesburg though. If it's sunny then SA shouldn't have much trouble batting for 4/5 sessions and probably forcing a draw out of the game (and a win if our batting collapses in the 2nd). If the weather is bad then there might be overs taken out but batting will be very difficult, which will give England a big advantage and better hope of the win. (My analysis is of course biased, but I think England having runs on the board puts them in a stronger position.)
I'm delighted to see a return to form from Vaughan, he really grafted for that and showed the kind of grit that still seems a little lacking in the batting on the whole. Sounds like he'll be trying to bat on if the conditions are good in the morning and declaring as soon as they suit bowlers. I have a feeling Harmison and Anderson are going to prove too much for the SA batsmen (despite their form not backing me up)... time will tell, I suppose, I'm sure SA won't make it easy.
more rain forecast so the draw is looking likely, gibbs and boucher looked good today against the reduced english attack. vaughn has done the quicks so favours today by bowling them into the ground.
the draw will setup the final test nicely. reading through someone said the english top 5 match the aussie top 5 whew theres is load of BS
Langer v Strauss (strauss may just edge on form, but langer was leading run scorer 04, strauss actually spent time in Aus and modelled his game off Langer, so they are very similar indeed).
Hayden v Tresco (Both are not having the best of times at the moment but Hayden everytime for me, Tresco cant play away from home).
Ponting v Key / Butcher (Key looks to be a good prospect, Butch is one of my favourite players but i think he will be out with the form and Key and the up and coming Bell. Either way i would have Ponting by some way)
Martyn v Vaughn (Has to be the Aussie again, Martyn is on fire @ the mo, he averaging over 50 to MV 43 - make no mistake though MV is a quality player just going through a bit of a dip, maybe his recent 80 will change that)
Lehmann v Thorpe (i am a huge fan of thorpe and dont really like Lehmann, however the Aussie's keep selecting him, i would rather see Katich in the side but hey. either way Lehmann test average is 45 the same as thorpe, DL however has a better strike rate, so take yre pick)
so it is only really Strauss & Thorpe who match up to the Aussie's...
lets pick a combined England Aus squad
here mine
1. Langer
2. Hayden
3. Strauss
4. Ponting
5. Martyn
7. Flintoff
8. Gilchrist
9. Warne
10. Gillespie
11. Mcgrath
Depending on the track it would be one of
Harmison or Vaughn
Lehmann or Macgill
but probably Lehmann as a second all rounder to bat @ 6.
dan
Originally posted by invigorateafter watching anderson bowl today (3rd day v SA) i would not even have him in a combined Aus England 2nd XI. would play Jones ahead of Jimmy any day. to be fair he hs not played much cricket.
Assuming the game is this summer at anywhere in England but the Oval
1 Langer
2 Strauss
3 Hayden
4 Vaughuan
5 Ponting
6 Flintoff
7 Gilchrist
8 Warne
9 Harmison
10 Anderson
11 McGrath
Just thought of the Summer's ashes excites me
i see you left Damien Martyn out of your squad, i would put him into any squad just because his batting is so pleasing on the eye, let alone the fact he was second behind Langer in runs scored in 04 and averages over 50.
daniel
Originally posted by dan182Shame about Freddie though.
looks like Vaughn's back...
daniel
I know there was a thread about umpiring somewhere but please - Bucknor is a disgrace!! Forgetting his light meter, turning up late for start of play, not calling any wides (Anderson was bowling at square leg umpire!) and inconsistent light decisions.
Also, ICC are a disgrace - now overs lost during a days play due to slow over rate are not made up on subsequent days - they are lost forever. Strong incentive for a losing captain to slow things down.
Originally posted by Vargyeah bucknor and dar have had a shocker, looks like a draw now with time lost, should be good decider.
Shame about Freddie though.
I know there was a thread about umpiring somewhere but please - Bucknor is a disgrace!! Forgetting his light meter, turning up late for start of play, not calling any wides (Anderson was bowling at square leg umpire!) and inconsistent light decisions.
Also, ICC are a disgrace - now overs lost during a days play due to slow over ...[text shortened]... sequent days - they are lost forever. Strong incentive for a losing captain to slow things down.
daniel
I take a dim view of the light situation.
Tomorrow if SA need 50 off 9overs with 3 or 4 wickets left. The umpires will come off "to be consistent".
Sod you if you have saved all year to go and watch a Test match in SA.
And if a player has bottle to have a quiet word saying "Come on Mr Bucknor you may be blind but we can all see it fine" he will be docked his total match fee.
Good old ICC - full of common sense!
Well my prediction was waaay off. SA have to be the most likely team to win this now, although it really should be a draw and England could do something special. I think our (England's) batting line-up is looking in pretty good form at the moment which bodes well for the final test. Our bowling is disappointing though. If Harmison can't bowl in the last game it will be a shame, but at the moment it's Hoggard that's holding us together (if any of our bowlers are getting into a combined Aus and England team then it has to be him on current form) so maybe it's a blessing in disguise.