FOOLS BOLD

"Graham Smith made a 'bold' declaration". How many times you hear that today? Or a variation of it - brave, sporting, tempting, take your pick. Plenty, I'd say. To be perfectly frank, I was stunned when Smith waved the Saffa innings closed, I was expecting them to bat for at least another half hour to further lessen the chance of an Aussie win. A target of 287 on pitch kept in good nick by the weather, and without any spinners to speak of meant that Yarp Efrica needed their seamers to get early wickets or they were in big trouble. Turns out Langefelt, Pollock, Jacques and Nel couldn't cut through so that once the shine was off the ball, they were basically fucked. Nor is that your pants-wetting battery of speed demons circa the 1980's Windies. In short, Smith misread the pitch. It was similar to when Australia played New Zealand at the Gabba in 2001. Steve Waugh (seemingly goaded by Mark Taylor in the commentary box) made a 'sporting' declaration on day 5 after much time was lost due to rain. This left NZ with an eminently gettable target of 284. NEVER give a sucker an even break. Australia had dominated the game, yet here was NZ suddenly given a chance to pinch the match on what amounted to a day three pitch, historically the best batting day at the Gabba. In the end, Australia only managed to draw the game after McGrath bowled an over of balls wide down leg side - hardly a dignified save.

Where the circs differed was in the motivations for the declaration. Australia were (over?)confident of bowling out NZ to take a 1/0 lead in the series whereas SA needed to win today to draw the series so Smith was left with a difficult decision to make. He made it wrong. Smith criticised Ponting for not making a 'generous' declaration in Perth, thus backing himself into a corner whereby he needed to make the 'bold' call or he'd look like a dick. If I was the sort of bloke who had a tendency to feel sorry for opposition players, I might almost, nearly, just about be tempted to feel sorry for him. But I'm not. While the weather undoubtedly denied Sorth Efrica the chance to set up a big total, Smith has talked the talked, but dramatically porked the walk. Stiff shit to him.

Incidentally, the last captain to declare twice and lose a test was Honsie Cronje in January 2000 when two declarations meant England won a test by two wickets in what was generally considered an ... err ... 'interesing' result. South Africa's second innings declaration was designated as a forfeit whereas England's first innings declaration was marked with the somewhat less pointed 0/0 dec. Not that I'm, you know, suggesting anything untoward happened today. Not at all. Never. Perish the thought.

Unbogging ourselves from declarations. To chase down any 'challenging' fourth innings target the side batting last needs one particular thing to happen - to keep the scoreboard ticking over. There's no future in plodding to a result, sides that try on that business invariably build the pressure on themselves until a spate of wickets sees them having to stonewall for a draw. In fact, that's almost what I expected to happen today - sans the plodding. Australia would have been expected to have a dash early and maybe get in some bother late in the day thus causing them to put up the shutters. But in Ricky Ponting, Australia have just the batsman to keep the runs flowing. He is currently the best batsman in the world and in ... ahem ... 'career best form'. His innings today was another gem. Ponting = Gun. At no stage was he troubled by the toothless bowling, and then when South Africa threw in the towel around the tea break, easy runs were there for the taking. Why wasn't Nel introduced to shake things up? Rudolph and Botha? Yer kidding, right. Mind you, even as Australia were cruising to victory fingernails were consumed as I recalled previous painful chases. Fanie De Villiers, anyone? As noted cricket stalwart, Dr Zachary Smith was prone to say "Oooh, the pain".

Australia have now won the series 2/0 when at stages, and in particular, if Sarth Efrica had held their catches, the Aussies could have looked at losing 0/3. The Yarps play disciplined, hard cricket and back at home will be hard to beat. But. They need better bowlers.

Comments

[DJ]

I get pissed off every time someone brings up the NZ tour and raves about how they nearly beat us. Weather stopped us in the first two tests and even though NZ played well in the third a massive stroke of luck saw Steve Waugh run out from one of those flukes where a Glichrist four instead deflected onto the bowlers wicket just as we were mounting a real charge. So even though NZ played well in that test they needed a slice of luck to stop Australia winning.

[Living in Canberra]

South Africa play solid cricket but seem to lack the ability to put Australia away. They can get themselves into winning positions, but not deliver the knockout blow to win. They lack bowling to get good batting out twice in decent conditions. Like most things with their game, the bowlers are solid but not matchwinners.

[nick]

Smith tries to impose himself on a game with his mouth. He should try using his bat (as he did in England with his 2 double centuries). AB has promise, Gibbs is a talented fool, Kallis is a gifted retard, Prince is lucky to be playing international cricket, Rudolph is steady, Pollock is past it, Boucher should give the gloves and his place to AB, Ntini is workmanlike at best, Nel is a poor mans Merv, Langeveldt is good on his day (like Hoggard), Boje is a club spinner who would bat number 3 (in Zimbabwe), and Botha is a white Murali. That's why we won and they lost. I look forward to Australia administering a good arse kicking in the one dayers and the return Tests.

[nick]

Was Smith tricked by the weather forecast in the same way that Ponting put his foot in it in Test 2 of the Ashes? He won't do that again, and he won't even have a little scar to remind him....

[pat]

MSM Headlines "Smith blunders: backs himself to win a Test Match", "SA in shocker brain explosion, attempt to win a game.", "Exciting draw destroyed by SAfrican foolishness"...

[Mr Z]

I'll echo the comments about the bowlers.

They had a middling lineup with only one plan - bowl on target and hope the opposition gets themselves out. It kinda worked as the Aussies did get themselves in a bother on occasion, but you need at least one of 2 extra things to win:
1. Hold your catches (recent Ashes tour, anyone?), and
2. A strike bowler who can take the opposition by the scruff of the neck and snap it -eg S Warne (and B Lee to a lesser extent).

I think there were a lot of factors to take into account in making the declaration (weather, bowler quality, batter quality etc etc) and Smith pretty much got them all wrong. If it had been Ponting, he may very well be hanging from a lamppost outside the SCG, given the press reaction after Perth.

Oh well, I'm off to practice my DOOSRA!

Late breaking news - Dory to be included in the one day squad - WTF???!!?

[Some Other Bruce]

I'm not gunna be too hard on Smith. 0-1 or 0-2 is still a series loss and he had to do *something* to try and get a result. His hand was forced as much by Jacques Snaillis batting for himself as the new Tugger.

It was the right time to declare by the clock and overs - he just didn't have enough runs.

What I will be hard on him about is the Sarfies ability to go into their shells at even a hint of fightback. The tail wags a bit and they start going though the motions. Hussey should never have got his ton if they'd played him harder instead of hoping to get him off strike so they could have 1 or 2 balls at the end of the over to try and get Pigeon out. Pretty tame really.

[Carrot]

What a silly decision of Smith's, and so completely out of character for how the Saffas have played this match and the entire series. They have been conservative beyond all belief, have shown no inclination to get on with it at all, particularly with the bat, and the least they could have done was to make sure that we needed to score 4, 4.25 an over or so. Even then you could have argued that there was not much for them to achieve by giving us a target in the first place; how many times in recent years has an Australian side been bowled out in less than a day to lose a match?

I think what this series has taught us is that unless South Africa learn how to get on with it with the bat and catch up with the rest of the world in playing positive cricket, the most they will be able to achieve against quality opposition is grinding out the odd draw like they did at the WACA.

I've always thought that Smith was a complete cowboy, ever since he whinged about our sledging when he first came onto the scene. His is the brainless approach of the self-appointed hard man; someone (like any number of club cricketers) that no doubt thinks that as a captain if you are anything less than obtuse, arrogant and bullish then you're not doing your job properly. Perhaps an unwanted, and in fact inaccurate, legacy of the Steve Waugh era, and it's so funny when it comes unstuck, just like Nassar Hussain did in the 2002/3 Ashes.

PS, interesting to see Boucher standing up to Bollock. I've never seen Gilchrist do the same to anyone, although you'd have to wonder whether a time will come when he might do it to McGrath.

[Tony.T]

Smith whinging about Aussie sledging gets under my skin. While that maybe the idea, it's ridiculous because clearly Sarth Efrica sledge as much as Australia.

In the media today the pundits, Crash Craddock, Tubbles Taylor, etc are suggesting Smith's declaration was right in light of historical precedent. That just doesn't hold water. When Ponting bowled at Edgbaston, he did so because of what the pitch WAS like in previous tests. I reckon Nick's right, Ponting was sucked in. And when Ponting batted on in Perth he did so because of what the WACA track WAS like in previous tests when no side had lasted that long in the fourth innings. Obviously the pitch was still a featherbed. When teams make 500 odd in the third innings, you know things aren't too hard.

My point? I have one, you know. Well, it's just that a skipper must be astute and flexible enough to make decisions on individual merit and not just go on what happened before. Smith should have realised the SCG pitch was still a belter. Afterall, his mob just batted on it without too much bother.

[nick]

Just a tad off topic, but have you all seen Australia and England's Test schedules for 2006? Australia play SA away in Feb, then 2 Tests against the might of Bangladesh, and then the Test team will be sitting on their hands until November, when they play NZ at home, before the Ashes. England, however, have tests against India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan......

Wouldn't want to go into the Ashes underdone - so maybe CA and the BCCI can jump into bed again and have a Test and one day series prior to the execrable Champion's Trophy?

[Dirk Thruster]

I heard on the steam powered wireless this morning that Botha got pinged for chucking. Haven't heard anything about it since.
I don't know what else you expected Smith to do under the circumstances; a draw equals a loss if it means you're going to lose the series. The longer he waited the less chance there was of winning.
Having said that, they're a boring side to watch, the only attack they can manage is with their mouth.

[Vaughny]

At the end of the day Gob-Shite Smith brought the worst ( I think best) out of the Aussies.
In the summer you boys were TOO nice, but it did not take long for you guys to revert to nasty cricket, you were aggresive, arrogant, and I thought at times bloody dogged. You wore them down, and even with the point made in the above blog that you could have lot 3-0 at times, I just think that is the way test cricket is going, there are so many twists and turns it is more compelling than usual. Higher run rates, bad decisions off captains, umpires, brilliant knocks,controversy at every corner. All this is bringing cricket to the fore for a new generation.
It also proves how much everyone hates Smith, Ponting was never going to be beat and stuck a majestic two fingers up to Smith with that final knock, Is Ponting getting better and better in his role of captain ( swap for Vaughn)?
Anyway up to my boys to become the turban-aters soon but I do not hold out much hope.
Just to emphasise the point Smith is the biggest twat going and I was a smidgeys bit happy when he declared knowing he had dropped a Ponting 2nd test sized bollock. Happy he looked a cunt, unhappy he gifted you the test

[Yobbo]

I second what Bruce said. Smith had to give it a shot. What hurt more than his declaration was Kallis' selfish batting.

Gibbs was dismissed on day 4 for 67, having come in about 2 overs before Kallis. Kallis was still there at the end of the SA innings on 50 not out.

A guy as talented as him should be able to score faster when it's really needed, and he should have been able to put SA in a position where they could have declared even earlier with a lead of 350.

As Tony already said, the pitch was very good.

[Tony.T]

Like I said above, Smith should have batted for around another half an hour, maybe has a couple of overs at the Aussies before lunch and then make us chase harder and maybe a bit recklessly. Sadly for Smith, as it turned out, his bowlers served up tripe.

Interesting during the commentary when Chappell.I said Kallis was "prone to put himself before the team", or words close to that. There's a strong feeling in world cricket that Jack is a selfish pig. Incidentally, It the kind of thing Chappell said about Steve Waugh.

[Carrot]

Oh come on, you can't put Steve Waugh in the same category as Kallis. Whether or not Waugh ended up with a not out at times, his results speak for themselves. How many times did he turn matches and series through fantastic batting with the tail? What Kallis did in both innings last test showed a flagrant disregard for the match situation as far as I'm concerned, and you could NEVER fault Waugh for that.

Mind you, I'm inclined to think that selfish isn't quite the word I'd use to describe Kallis. Stupid comes closer I think. You could say the same thing for Gibbs too, and a lot of the RSA batsman; NONE of them, except for Boucher and Bollock, batted intelligently through that series as far as I'm concerned.

[Tony.T]

I agree, Carrot, that Waugh's achievements can't be compared with Jack's, but it a long held sentiment that Waugh played for himself. Not mine, mind, but it's common enough.

Apparently Kallis is a cretin.

Gibbs is a talented park-slasher whose reasonable record in test cricket is more a reflection of test cricket than of Gibb's ability.

I like Boucher. South Africa soon realised the error of their quota ways when they left him out of first test against England in favour of a coloured player, Tsolekie. Then replaced Tsolekie with De Villiers. Then finally put Boucher in.

Pollock is nearly gone. Touch wood.

[nick]

The Aussies do sledge Kallis specifically relating to his lack of brains. They are correct.

[Tony.T]

It's my experience that when you sledge someone who is stupid, they are too stupid to take offence.