FIRST TEST: KINGSMEAD

The green, green grass of away.

Comments

[m0nty]

I presume the beer they serve at Kingsmead is worthy of the name.

[Tony Tea]

Is mead beer? I didn't know that.

I'm marooned in a house without Foxtel.

[Carrot]

Smartcric.com is for people like you (and me), Tones. I’d be lost without it.

[Carrot]

Rabada is getting serious wheels, here. I can’t remember the last time we faced this sort of pace. This could be loads of fun to watch.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

a slow pitch??? I wanted to see the last batsman standing on a greentop

[Philsgone]

Smith out to an offspinner. that may be the issue that decides the series. MMarsh looking solid as is Payne. Next in the bowling alllrounder we have been looking for. Variable bounce, Lippy on the last day can showus what he has done in hte last 12 months.

[Carrot]

It's a funny thing about Snorkel. Clearly he's a very good bowler - scary good at times, that spell to Clarke last time we were in SA springs to mind - but he doesn't ever seem to take swags. He really should get more wickets than he does - he bowls a similar line and length to Ambrose, who obviously used to tear sides apart. It might be one of those Gillespie/McGrath things. When Gillespie was at his peak he was almost TOO good. He'd beat the bat by inches, and McGrath would do "just enough" to take the edge, and regularly outbowl him. You wonder what it is about cricketers like that.

[Philsgone]

Great dig MMarsh, threw it away but he batted for hours which will be the making of him. Lippy can turn a game now, he is our bowling leader. 200 tomorrow and that should see us 1-0. ABdV is a joy to watch, he can get 50 every dig, because that will not be enough to win them a game.

[Philsgone]

When Koo gets runs, wickets tend to follow

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Agree on Lobster.
SA obviously cannot play cricket in SA against us for whatever reason.

[Carrot]

The conditions are just like Australia's. Throw in the odd decisive won toss (like here) the fact that they get no crowds, and hey, presto - it's virtually a home match for us. Warner's home/away record looks even worse when you look at it in that light, too - before Bangladesh last year, the only meaningful runs he ever scored away from home were in South Africa.

[Carrot]

Annie needs a score - but it's not going to be easy on this deck. A 30-odd might be enough to see him into the next match, assuming that we win reasonably easily. You could argue that a 50-run partnership for the first wicket and he's already done his job; it was important that we didn't lose early wickets, and we've already managed to avoid that.

[Philsgone]

Top score in the second dig keeps the wolves at bay for the series. Also there is no-one there to pick to replace him. Handscome has no form, Ussie in the same space as Annie so they would have to fly someone in, and the selectors wont do that. I reckon they will take it into th fifth day, though no repeat of Adelaide a couple of y=ears back when Faf worked hius mircle.

[Philsgone]

Great dig by MArkham, but just not enough. de Kock will hammer some boundaries probably means we will have a win by 100. Great team effort, Lyon playing no significant part but he was unlucky. MMarsh takes the most imoportant wicket of his career thus far

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

not happy with the umpires. A number of Awzies needed to be reported for bad behaviour.

[Patard]

I wonder what was said to get Ravey Davey so wild. Maybe something about de Cock?

[Thot Shamer]

Patard: Falzon has that 1000 yard de Kock stare bruh

[Philsgone]

A similar case to Glen McGrath in the West Indies all those years ago. He was also unhappy , and rightly so as it turned out.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

It would not have happened if the Umpires did their job!
Few players realise it but sledging is against the spirit of cricket i.e respect for the opposition.

win (and lose) with dignity please both sides

[Patard]

IMO it's nobody's business which NRL team your wife goes for.

[Thot Shamer]

Or which team your wife roots for.