titan_uranus

I agree with that. I hope so. But you'd think that Johnson, Siddle and Hilfenhaus will be the first 3 picked. The last spot will either be another quick (Clark, Nannes, Lee, Bollinger) or McDonald. I heard on ABC radio that Katich said his body doesn't cope well with bowling, especially now that he's an opener. Hussey is definitely near the end. We just can't afford to have consistent failures in the top 5. I'd say Hodge or Klinger will be in the squad and if Hussey doesn't perform, there'll be an opening in the middle order for one of them. I wonder if McDonald's 60 will keep him in the forefront of selector's minds? I doubt he'll start in the first Ashes test, but I reckon he might get a spot in the squad. D. Hussey won't get a spot in the squad. His Shield form wasn't fantastic in 08/09.

I agree. Johnson and Siddle are certainties. Hilfenhaus isn't, but will probably start in the first test in England just because he's a swinger and it generally swings in England. As for the 4th spot, maybe we'll see a return of either Lee or Stuart Clark. A bit of Ashes experience. I wouldn't rule either of them out. And if they're fit and bowling like they were 12 months ago (not guaranteed), then they'd complement the other bowlers well. I like Nannes too, but if the selectors turned to Geeves and Magoffin in South Africa as cover, I'd suspect those two are in front of Nannes in the queue. And Bollinger, for that matter.

The fact that we won the first 2 tests doesn't vindicate the selectors' decision to take a squad with 5 spare bowlers and no spare batsman. Yes, it wouldn't have mattered if North hadn't had a severe but brief bout of gastro, but would you have been happy if at 1-1 we'd played the team we're playing now? I wouldn't. Agree. North, Katich, even Clarke can chip in with decent spin. Katich especially. That leaves room for a 4th quick which helps share the load around.

Well then. Australia has in 2 days undone the superb efforts of the previous 15. We can apportion blame on the selectors for not sending over a replacement batsman. Hodge, Klinger, Rogers or Ferguson should have had Hauritz's place in the original squad. That was poor judgement, and as many commentators had pointed out, could have cost us the series if it was 1-1, not 2-0. The McGain experiment has failed. Sorry folks. 93 runs in 10 overs is woeful. He bowled maybe 5 balls in total that were threatening, and most of those were in his first 2 overs late on Day 1. Too much short stuff and full tosses. At 37, persisting with him would unfortunately be a waste of time. Better off with Krejza, who at least has shown his potential to take wickets, and has time on his side.

And on a congratulatory note, Martin Love made an unbeaten century in his last innings for the Bulls. Well done Love. And well done Victoria.

Obviously we have been in an unassailable position since the rain hit. I was just thinking that enforcing the follow on could have allowed us a chance at a win. Lunch on day 5: we lead by 592. So clearly we've won the Shield.

I'm quite surprised they didn't enforce the follow-on, thereby absolutely ensuring the shield. Batting again gives the Bulls some hope, though obviously it's a very, very, very slim chance.

That's the official order as per http://icc-cricket.yahoo.com/rankings/rankings.html (as of 6th March). It's how I would see it as well. The top 3 are clearly the best 3 in the world. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have the players to make a contest against those three teams (but get unfairly underscheduled by the ICC). England can't seem to improve, West Indies might finally be on the up, and New Zealand is terrible (can't bat, can hardly bowl either). And whilst we're speaking of rankings, in the player rankings, Mitchell Johnson is now equal with Dale Steyn as the best fastbowler and the no. 2 bowler overall (behind Muralitharan): http://www.icc-cricketrankings.com/

Agree re: Haddin. His batting is improving rapidly, which will ease the pressure and allow the selectors to play McGain, batting Johnson at 8. Johnson will soon overtake Steyn as the no. 1 paceman. And Siddle won't be too far behind. Now that South Africa's lost their first series since 2006, their side's being changed like ours has been: http://content.cricinfo.com/rsavaus2009/co...ory/394673.html McKenzie, Morkel dropped. Prince not only returns, but opens, and will be captain. And to top it all off, the Windies held off England again for another draw, meaning they've won the series 1-0!

Well, 2 early strikes should be enough to prevent a loss now. Duminy's the one we need now, and he was just dropped (though it was a very tough chance) by Haddin.

I'm taking a pessimistic outlook, I know, but the South Africans really are top class cricketers, and I wouldn't put it past them, particularly considering the physical state of our bowlers.

The outlook for this test would be so different if North had held on to Kallis first ball. Instead, we're in trouble of not winning a test that hasn't been in question since early on day 2. I said this before the 5th day of the first test, where the situation was similar, and we ended up knocking them over pretty easily, but I can see a South African win here, but if Kallis and de Villiers survive the first session, we're in a lot of trouble.

The referral system is a joke. It takes far too long, and doesn't always make the correct decision. As for the match, it's not often you can lose 5/4 yet end the day in control. But I'm sure the Melbourne Test will be in the back of the Aussies' minds at the moment. Credit to McDonald for bowling so well.

4/303 at stumps. Brilliant start, didn't quite go on with it as we were 0/184 at the second drinks break. But overall a good day's play. Hughes is a very exciting prospect, at 20 years old. Had the guts to go for consecutive sixes to race through the 90s. First time we've gone into a test match with an unchanged line up since the SCG test of 2008. Let's hope Siddle and Hilfenhaus are actually fit.

I think we are due to tour India this year, for one of those long ODI series. Not sure though.

McGain faces uphill battle to debut Looks like Ponting wants to stick with the 11 that won at the Wanderers. According to the article, only Warne and Kumble have had any effect at Durban since 2002, and Sth Africa haven't played a specialist spinner in their last 2 tests at the venue. McGain's no certainty. This is worrying though. Magoffin has been called into the squad as cover. So it's conveivable that we could have another two debutants in Durban, should Siddle and Hilfenhaus be unfit. 5 debutants in 2 matches!

I read on cricinfo.com that South Africa has come back from 1-0 down to win home series in the last two summers, against India and West Indies. Definitely no room for complacency. Agree that a lot went right for us, and South Africa played well below their capability. Morkel and Harris were nowhere near as good as they were in Australia. And the batsmen obviously were disappointing for them. The gloss seems to have come off Duminy a little: his last 4 innings have all been 24 or below. I'm with you deanox. McDonald's bowling was praised on cricinfo and on the ABC. We went into the match with 4 'pacemen' (McDonald gets included in that group) and they combined to take 19 wickets. Despite McDonald's poor batting, he vindicated his selection. By tying up one end in the 4th innings, he frustrated Kallis to the point of him playing the expansive drive that saw him get out. Part of our loss in Perth came from Krejza leaking runs far too easily. Defending a total in the 4th innings is much easier if the runs aren't flowing. It builds confidence in the bowling team to see the lead holding up. Disagree. Obviously if you bowl them out they lose, but if they're making runs a sense of confidence and a 'we can do this' attitude develops. It definitely helps the chasing team if they're scoring. Having said that, the pitch definitely helped us out. If the next pitch demands a spinner, though, I'm not convinced the selectors will play McGain anyway. McDonald's ability to get a wicket, combined with his super economy rate, should be helping him stay in the selector's minds.

I think Ponting has been vindicated: those runs from Hilfenhaus and Siddle could prove vital. At 2/178, with Amla and Kallis doing fine and de Villiers, Duminy and Boucher to come, Sth Africa can still win. A loss, or even a draw, from here would be morale-destroying for us. When you're in a position to enforce the follow-on, and don't go on to win the match, that hurts. We must take 2 or 3 wickets before lunch, else we'll either lose to Sth Africa or the weather/light. Agree re: Hussey though. He should be batting at 5. And why don't we have another specialist batsman in the squad? If one of our top 6 goes down with an injury we've got no cover.

North is our no. 6. A composed batsman. Stabilises the order, has a cool head and knows the game well. And bowls handy off spin. The team is starting to come together nicely. We have a proper top 6 (though IMO Hussey should be batting at 5 and Clarke at 4), three good pacemen who all bring something different, and a wicket-keeper-batsman who can bat well enough at 7 but needs to work on his keeping. Johnson should bat at no.8, leaving the door open for another bowler. Having said that, McDonald does bowl well, has a habit of getting wickets when we need them, and, despite his two innings so far, can bat. McDonald could be played as a bowler at 9 if there was no need for a spinner. As for the match, we shouldn't lose from here, but I'm not convinced we're going to win. Bad light seems to end each day prematurely, there's been rain about, and South Africa won't be bowled out for 220 again I don't think. But the lead we've got should mean we can set a target of 450 and still have enough time to bowl them out.

At 5/254, things could go either way, so I'm glad we've still got McDonald to come. It's not such a bad selection for mine, his bowling in Sydney was fine, he got Amla twice, got Kallis for almost nothing (with a great return catch), and broke the Steyn-Ntini partnership on Day 5. He takes wickets, and is accurate. But if McGain is to come back in, it's his spot he'll be taking. Well batted from Ponting and Clarke, but both had lapses in concentration to lose their wickets. It's a problem that's become more evident in recent months, as players who are set fail to get to 100. Clarke really threw his wicket away, Ponting's was a shocking error in judgement. North looks like he could be our answer at no. 6 (touch wood). Pity it's taken so long to find him (he's almost 30 years old).

Should happen. I can't see North taking too many wickets against the Proteas' batsmen. They're going to be much better at picking him off than the practice team was. They had no trouble with Krejza or Haurtiz, who specialise in bowling off-spin. Not such a bad plan, actually. I just would feel sad for McDonald for getting left out of the team after doing a pretty good job in Sydney.

You could see this coming from the way Boonie was talking over the last few days. It's a seamers wicket, with only the best of the world's spinners having mild success there (Warne aside, only Kumble and Vettori have managed to get some good turn at this ground). I can't see Hilfenhaus playing alongside Siddle, Johnson and Bollinger. I think Hilfenhaus will be 12th man for this test, but will be a good chance for the second if Bollinger doesn't play well. Similarly, if McDonald doesn't play well, McGain surely will take his spot.

Oh yeah, that really pleased me. No more of this horses for courses business. South Africa managed to beat us twice and contest well in the third test without changing their team once. Meanwhile, we're about to enter our 15th consecutive test in which we have played a different team to the test before. Let's get a squad (the one we've got now I think is good) and take them to England, play them at home, then take them wherever we go next year. Not so sure about that. Yes, North will play. But I'm thinking McDonald may play instead of McGain. That would mean McDonald could bat at 8, to keep Haddin at 7, or vice versa. It would really strengthen the batting up, and in terms of bowling, we'd have the three seamers, then McDonald and North to provide back up. But I still think McGain should play. Of course, if Clarke doesn't play then McDonald and McGain will definitely play. But at the moment, looking at Boonie's words and the way the practice match panned out, I'd think a team with North and McDonald in it is quite likely. Yeah, I saw it again and you're right, Hussey's backing up was pretty poor.

Oops. We should have been home at 1/70. Poor batting. Surely there isn't a bigger choking team than the Victorian Bushrangers? By my count, that's 2 wins from 7 finals in the last 3 years, including 3 consecutive FR Cup losses (and the only two wins were Twenty/20). White absolutely threw away his wicket, and ran Hussey out too.

The problem with batting McDonald below Haddin is Haddin. I'm not sure he's good enough to bat at 6 in the test team. If he can transfer the confidence he gained from the ODI series into the Test arena, then maybe it would work, but I don't think Haddin is a long term prospect for number 6. Which strengthens the case for North to make his debut in South Africa. Whilst I think McDonald should start in the first test, North's batting in the practice match (52*, compared to McDonald's 24) suggests he's a better prospect for no. 6. But McDonald's bowling provides an extra alternative to Ponting should one of our seamers or McGain struggle.