No, the Adelaide test will be remembered for being the first day / night test and a highly successful one at that.
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India wrapped up a 3-0 series win over South Africa in Delhi. If it hadn’t been for rain in Bangalore it would most likely have been a 4-0 whitewash. After been the dominant force in test cricket for a few years, South Africa are seemingly on the wane. Graeme Smith & Jacques Kallis are clearly missed in the batting line up and Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel were missing through injuries at various stages during this series. The batting was particularly bad though - scores of 184, 109, 214, 79, 185, 121 & 143 in their seven innings. Conditions will be a lot more to South Africa’s liking in the upcoming Basil D’Oliviera Trophy but England will certainly feel they are in with a good shout.
Dreadful stuff yesterday, what was it? 143 in 143 overs?
In other news, John Boy Mooney has retired from international cricket. Sad to see him go, a legend, he is in the RA.
That’s proper test cricket. They had to bat out almost two days to save the test and made a decent enough fist of it.
Interesting enough morning at Bellerive - Australia 121/3 at lunch after 24 overs. Warner out just before the break for 64. Some of the Windies bowling has been atrocious and they’ve gone for 5 an over (7.5 for the first 10 overs), but they’ve got three big wickets, so they’ll be very happy. Their spinner Jomel Warrican, playing only his second test, has taken Smith and Warner. The Marsh brothers have to step up now. Would be great to see this Windies team sticking it to Australia.
James Pattinson in for Mitchell Starc.
That’s not proper test cricket Geoffrey. That’s shite, that’s what that is.
Well, this got very boring very quickly. Voges came in with Shaun Marsh after lunch and very easily took the game away. 350/3 after 70, Voges on 142, Marsh 88. Over 5 an over.
Can’t see the windies doing any damage with the bat, so looks like three very crap tests ahead.
Australia are in NZ in Feb for a two test series (two tests ffs), so that should be more entertaining. Australia have to start winning away to be taken seriously.
Look, you’ve been reared on a diet of ODI & T20 in Australia so you wouldn’t understand the subtle vagaries of test cricket. South Africa were set a target of 481 (the world record run chase in 2,200 odd test matches is 418) with 162 overs left in the match. You don’t win the test match from there. The best that can be achieved is a draw so you play accordingly. It was splendid resistance from South Africa to hold out for 143 overs. The scoreboard is immaterial, so what if they only put 143 runs in the board in 143 overs.
England were in a similar situation in the 2nd test against Pakistan recently, they were set a notional target of 491, with 144 overs left. They agonisingly fell just 6 overs short of pulling off a draw, batting out 137.3 overs.
There’s something compelling and unique to test cricket, the steely resolve and selfless dedication that’s needed to bat out a day and a half, two days to save a test. This is an aspect of the game that’s long become alien to Australian crickets and the Australian cricket public like yourself. If Australia were in the position South Africa or England were in in the last few weeks, there’d have been the usual posturing and macho talk about no target is impossible for us and we can chase down anything. Warner would have blasted Australia to about 80/0 in 10 overs, then stupidly got himself out and they’d be all out in 55-60 overs.
Australia won’t start winning away or be taken seriously until they learn the discipline of batting long and diligently when the need arises. They won’t progress on either of those levels until they start producing test standard wickets in Australia again. What’s unfolding in Tasmania at the moment, like we had in Perth a few weeks ago is a farce and is not what I understand to be test cricket. @balbec summed it up best a few weeks back - ‘The Aussies love their stats almost as much as the Indians’. Its all about boosting the averages or Warner and Steven Smith.
The other issue that needs to be looked at is how much longer the West Indies can continue as a test playing entity - certainly overseas. Since 2003, overseas against Top 8 test playing nations, they’ve won once and lost 37 tests.
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Adam Voges (258 n.o.) and Shaun Marsh (182) have put on an 449 for the 4th wicket to move Australia to 570/4. Partnership has just been broken with Shaun Marsh’s dismissal. That’s also a world record 4th wicket stand in test cricket overtaking the 437 that Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera put on for Sri Lanka for the 4th wicket against Pakistan in Karachi in 2009.
This is the scale how awful the Windies are and what a pitiful farce this is. Voges and Shaun Marsh are both utterly shit batsmen.
Jokeshop
Just looking at the Ashes scorecards there. In the 8 innings over the 5 tests Voges posted 201 runs at an average of 28.71. From that 201, 127 runs (51 n.o. and 76) were posted at an average of 127.00 in his last two innings of the series when the pressure was off after the capitulation to 60 all out at Trent Bridge which all but lost the Ashes for Australia. In his first 6 innings of the Ashes series when the pressure was on and the hard runs had to be got, Voges produced just 74 runs at an average of 12.33.
Shaun Marsh posted 0 & 2 in his one Ashes appearance at Trent Bridge.
You’d wonder what the long term plan is for Australia. Voges is 36 and Shaun Marsh 32. They’ve been shown to be not up to it when it really matters, so why are Australia selecting them for this turkey shoot? Why not blood some young players?
They probably don’t have them in the batting anyway. @Fitzy anyone showing in the Shield this year? They could afford to go with a few young lads against the Windies. But they worship at the altar of stats.
Cameron Bancroft is the only real batsman being considered. The bowling attack as usual has injury problems. Pattinson did well in the second innings in Tasmania, so he’ll be in for the two remaining tests, or at until he breaks down. Nathan Coulter-Nile is banging on the door. But there’s very little coming through tbh and a feeling of complete non interest after this jokeshop of a test in Hobart. There’s two more, but we’re looking at a terrible crowd for the St Stephen’s day test and hoping to make it to day three for Sydney.
We won’t really know anything about Australia until they play the two (ffs) test series in NZ in February.
Boredom.
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You found South Africa’s heroic Day 4 & 5 rearguard action to save the test in Bangalore boring. You find these record breaking batting exploits that the Australian cricketing public hold so dear boring now as well.
Tune into the Big Bash or whatever other T20 rubbish that’s going on.
Have you watched any of the Cricket’s Greatest series of 30 minutes shows on Sky Sports?
Very enjoyable stuff, Curtly Ambrose episode was especially entertaining. Graeme Pollock was also very good.
I saw the Curtly Ambrose one. Enjoyed his account of his infamous spat with Steve Waugh.
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Sri Lanka collapsed from 71/0 to 133 all out in the space of 14 overs leaving New Zealand a target of 189 to win the second test in Hamilton. New Zealand on 142/5 at stumps on Day 3 with Kane Williamson unbeaten on 78.
NZ knocked these off with the minimum of fuss. Williamson scored almost all of the runs today, ended with an unbeaten century. He really is a superb batsman.
Brendon McCullum is set to announce his retirement from international cricket after the second test against Australia in February.
Big blow for England. Jimmy Anderson has been ruled out of the Boxing Day test in Durban with a calf strain.