THIRD TEST: NEWLANDS

Big Cricket doing Big Cricket things cooking up acceptable outcomes and recidivist Rabada gets a free ticket to Newlands despite a extensive form sheet.

Comments

[Bruce]

Poms getting skittled in the test at Eden Park is nice to watch.

[Tony Tea]

Listening via the SEN updates. Superb. All out 58.

[Philsgone]

If sledging is a form of bullying, and bullying in the workplace can lead to disciplinary action, how long until someone from an oppositioon teams says they have been bullied on the firld and the player gets rubbed out. Thats where all this is leading now the ICC has completely undermined the umpires

[Philsgone]

Starc under an injury cloud, then all of a sudden he's fine. 1-81 is not so surprising in these circumstances

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

This looks like a good test. I will be interested in how RaBADDer bowls

[Philsgone]

3 tons to nil. If this doesnt change we can kiss this series goodbye.

[Carrot]

Have barely watched a ball of this match, but the focus is yet again on other things than the cricket. We of all cricketing nations are not going to gain anything by bitching about what people in the crowd have said, much less writing supposedly official letters about it. It's the move of a distracted side that are losing - which we are. Surely - surely - the only option here is to just let this stuff go. If Warner is so upset about what they're saying about his wife then making a song and dance about it is only going to make things worse. Seethe inwardly by all means and call De Kock - erm - a cock, but showing the crowd and the media that it's getting to you is not going to get you anywhere.

PS, the t-shirts are hilarious.

[Carrot]

A team that IS losing, not are losing.

[The Mongrel]

What a fine ambassador for our nation Warner is. From Cricinfo:
Australia’s Vice Captain David Warner was involved in a heated exchange with a spectator......several fans were also ejected for singing songs about Sonny Bill Williams.
.....offensive masks were distributed by fans referring to [Warner’s wife Candice’s] brief bathroom encounter with the rugby league player Sonny Bill Williams years before......two Cricket South Africa officials....have been suspended.....after allowing fans wearing the masks to be admitted.....and then posing with them for a photograph.

On second thoughts, neither nation is well served by its players, officials or supporters.

[Carrot]

Wow, what an absolute mess this series has turned out to be. Imagine if it had happened against India!

Smith and Bancroft must be sacked and banned, and given all that's gone on so far this series, someone other than Warner needs to be given that captaincy for the 4th Test. We must take the high road on this one. Any attempts to duck out of it and we'll be a laughing stock, particularly given how we went absolutely out of our way to cash in on the Stokes affair, both on and off the field.

[Philsgone]

These blokes have disgraced us. Cant say stronger than that. A conspiracy to cheat. fucking hell. agree with Carrot. Smith gone, no return to the captaincy. I'd put Payne as captain, remainder of the leadership team are all weak as piss clearly. This has broken my heart. Scorn will ppour upoon Steve Smith. He may be the best bat in the world today, but he will will remain a cheat for the rest of his life. Sad day for Australin cricket.
And we will lose the series now 3-1. Good.

[The Mongrel]

The Mongrel:
On second thoughts, neither nation is well served by its players, officials or supporters.

Steve Smith:
Hold my Gatorade.

[Patarder]

Steve Smith, what a palooka.

[Patarder]

It's of such monumentally stupid proportions it's actually unfathomable to 99% of Oz that he could hatch such a stupid and ill-conceived scheme and think he could get away with it, let alone being sporting.

[Carrot]

Both Smith and Warner stood down for the rest of the match. Does anyone know who’s captain?

[Philsgone]

The keeper

[Carrot]

Oh, good for him. He was touted as captaincy material a long time ago.

[Philsgone]

So when they sack the 6 senior group and Bancroft, whats the team look like? 2 Marsh brothers Paine and Cummins. Also the senior group are all from NSW. So am I, but a mix of other states might have sorted this issue before it saw the light of day. We will never know. Sutherland and Lehman should soon follow, This issue has to be seen as a turning point for Australian cricket. I hope they get booed when they fly back in. I might go and boo them myself. This is the pits.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

This is an absolute disgrace

[Patarder]

What a complete and utter farrago of stupidity. At least we aren't playing cricket with the bravado of the insouciant while our countrymen die.

How long till Faff get's outed for the quota?

[Patardest]

Anti-racist Warner could have done the right thing, were he true to his words, and boycotted the tour for all too real reasons but instead chose to go ahead and get riled up about things that he should have taken account of well in advance.

There are absolutely no winners in this for us, but the EFF must be laughing hard. Big win to them.

[Carrot]

So we've just lost four for nothing. And Steve Smith parked down the other end, watching most of it. Fitting.

[Carrot]

Has Warner been implicated in this as well, or is it more that he was deemed not to be captaincy material following all the carry-on earlier this match and series, a la my comment above?

We've got selection headaches now - who's in line? Are we dropping Bancroft and Warner as well as Smith? Renshaw, Maxwell, Handscombe? And do we bring in a completely new captain out of left field - Bailey?

[Carrot]

Holy crap - life bans?? Wow.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Smith should never Captain again.
Anyone involved in this should never ever be near leadership.
I do like Lehman's comments. ( that was meant to be ironic)

Life bans???

Very predictable Australia would collapse. I was umpiring yesterday in Junior and senior finals. this was the only topic anyone was talking!

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Everyone involved suspended for a test series. no-one involved ever gets to a leadership role again. Lehman and Saker must go

[Tony Tea]

Well, that was a bucket of cold festering vomit.

[Tony Tea]

Has two-time offender Faff been moved to comment? What has happened with ball tampering is the reverse of sledging.

We are good at sledging, but when other teams to it they aren't used to it so make a hash of it and go way over the top. Other teams are good at ball tampering, but when we do it we aren't used to it so we make an unmitigated tits up hash of it and go way over the top.

[Philsgone]

CA says they dont know who is in the leadership team. FFS they are the first to fall on their sword for such a stupid comment. A kebab of Sutherland and Howard to start with.

[Tony Tea]

Smith, Warner, Lehmann, Sutherland and Howard - get gone!

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

I have now had a rant at my place.

an absolute disgrace

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Steve Smith's 30 newspolls just came up!!

[Pat]

The overreaction to the ball tampering episode is a national disgrace. Oz has turned into a pack of piranhas. The sanctimony stinks to high heaven especially on this Holy Thursday.

What a bunch of rank opportunistic hypocrites lead our economy.

[Pat]

Smith is brought before a council of the Sanhedrin to be judged before final crucifixion.

Only last week they were hailing him as the next Don Bradman.

Life is a bad joke on endless repeat.

[Carrot]

I just got back from a Maundy Thursday service myself. I spent much of it thinking about whether this is indeed Australian cricket's Easter. Betrayal, trial, crucifixion, sacrifice and grief. You wonder whether anyone's going to be redeemed and saved, but it's probably too early to tell.

The question is who was betrayed by whom of course, and if there is saving to be done, by whom and for whom. These things when applied to waking life are rarely that clear cut of course; we need to take what we're offered when we get it, and hope to make the best of it. You can only take this analogy so far anyway, I don't really want to be equating Steve Smith to Jesus Christ, but it does seem to be a strange coincidence that it's all gone down in Holy Week. It's all been a very sad and unsettling episode in any event.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

A years suspension is completely over the top.

to my mind the v Board and the CEO have to go after having such a blind eye to the 'culture'

[Tony Tea]

I'm more popular than The Beatles.

[Carrot]

You can probably argue that this is just the opening move in a negotiation. The ACA have already made a statement about how it's completely dis-proportional to anything that has gone before it (which it is), the ICC's official punishment was only a Test anyway, and anyone and everyone that isn't Australian has said very loudly that it's completely OTT and that they don't understand why it's such a big deal and why the punishment is so harsh. Before long the lawyers will step in, arguments will be made, CA will re-consider and our boys will be playing again by next season. If you're cynical, maybe that's what CA wanted in the first place - to be SEEN to be throwing very heavy books at the players, but privately perfectly happy to water things down. That way no one really loses - the public and the media get their blood, CA look like they've made a strong move, the players take their medicine but not too much, and we get a redemption story next summer after everyone's calmed down. Let's see how this unfolds.

[Carrot]

Atheists miss out on all the fun, Tones.

[Tony Tea]

I've already flagged a protracted negotiation process. I can't see how Warner in particular will accept a loss of several million dollars for what is on the books as a one or two Test penalty.

[Philsgone]

Agree Carrot, Throw out a 12 month ban, lawyers and players then argue the toss, bans reduced to 6 months, which is fair.
I also love Pats summary. Steve Smith may not be the saviour of Australian cricket, but as he is second in line next to God ie Bradman, Its a lovely metaphor.
And the next test starts on Good Friday. Could Australian cricket be resurrected on the third day. We shall wait and see.
Amen

[The Mongrel]

Smith was clearly devastated at his airport media conference. A commentator on Fox Sports noted that Smith left school at 15 or 16 and had been taken under the wing of Cricket Australia after that.

Who knows of cricket who only cricket knows?

I hope the fallout of this fiasco is that in future captains - Australian or otherwise - presented with the temptation to cheat won't do it.

[The Mongrel]

Look at the bright side.

Smith won't have the burden of being compared to Bradman any more.

Richie Benaud said in the eulogy for Don Bradman that even his critics conceded he never questioned an umpire's decision.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Warner's press conference was awful. sounded like a politician

[Philsgone]

Warner simply followed James sutherlands lead.

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

Can't argue with that

[Philsgone]

Tim Paine looks like a leader from the off. Gets his team and shakes the hand of each opposition member BEFORE the test starts. Now thats class. I hope it was his idea.

[Soups]

Although I enjoy the true Australianism of this team (at least 1 player from every state) I hope we get past 288 but I can't see us doing it. #AvoidTheFollowOn

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

No hard to see, the ball is swinging which is always trouble for flat track bullies and it is also seaming a bit. If it seams then it spins it seems ( haha)

[I am and will always be Not Trampis]

That catch down the legside off Philander was sensational.

This result was always predictable

[Philsgone]

So TT, I guess there is no fourth test blog because the music died at Newlands?

[Tony Tea]

Warner was merely reciting what his lawyers told him to say. If he is going to take matters forward, he can't overtalk the niceties. And Warner, Smith and Bancroft are indeed going to take it further. They'd be mad not to.