Aussies win round 1

The Australians had won on two fronts by end of the fourth day of the first test in Durban.

The cricket was entertaining and tough and South Africa will at least be able to take a small consolation in the fact that they showed some fight. But there’s no denying the Aussies deserved the win. Mitchell Starc was great to watch and the rest of the series should be cracking.

All the attention has shifted to the stairwell confrontation between Quinton de Kock and David Warner at tea on the fourth day.

Sadly for the Proteas it highlights that the Aussies have already won the first round of the mental battle. They’ll try to deny it and claim that both sides had plenty to say. But the Proteas are on the back foot already.

Why do I say that?

The Australians are not fun to play against and I don’t believe that their approach is always in the spirit of the game. But they are masters of it and most likely don’t cross what they have decided is ‘the line’. They put pressure on the umpires by the fact that it is concerted and consistent, making it difficult for the officials to take action. David Warner (on the field at least) is a prick. But his persona is by no means unique to Australia.

Quinton de Kock is a gifted player but one who has not been in great form of late and was always going to be targeted to try and keep him off his best. He is pretty reserved and doesn’t have much to say in general. Compared to the Australians’ pack mentality when it comes to verbal and mental disintegration, he’s a shrinking violet.

So the fact that he seems to have jumped from pretty quiet straight to a personal, family-related comment shows that the Aussies have got to him. They have prompted a response that is completely out of character. They’ll have preferred it to be a rash shot or crazy run, but it manifested as a verbal off the field.

De Kock will have the support of the team and the usual pc things will be said, but at the end if the day it is he who has acted out of character. Warner and some of his mates will continue to do what they have been, but the Proteas keeper will have to get his head back on straight because he’ll know that they got to him. And it only means that they’ll come at him even harder through the rest of the series.

Perhaps a call to King Kallis to get a few tips on shutting out the noise may be useful.

Provided both players take field on Friday in Port Elizabeth it will add even more spice to what is promising to be an exciting series. The home team have a struggle on their hands to get back into the series and their senior players need to step up to get the attention back onto their performances with the bat and ball.

Joe Root failing to convert?

One of the great things about cricket is the statistics – no matter what you’re arguing for or against, the stats don’t lie… although they’re always open to interpretation!

Coming into this Ashes series most have acknowledged that neither the Australian nor the English teams are ‘great’ sides, nor in particularly dominant form. Both have inexperienced top order batsmen and while the Aussies have the youth and intimidation in the their pace attack, in Anderson and Broad the Poms have experience and bit of guile.

So most of the focus has been on the stand-out batsmen in each side. The hosts have world number one ranked Steve Smith, backed up by David Warner. The English have Joe Root, backed up by the vastly experienced Alastair Cook. That both talismans are also leading their teams makes it even more interesting.

Smith and Root are often spoken about as two of the four leading young batsmen in the world at the moment – along with Indian skipper Virat Kohli and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. All four have played a similar number of test matches for their country and bat in the top order.

Teams’ best batsmen generally bat at 3, 4 or 5 in the order. The ability to influence the result more that others through an innings is what sets the greats aside from the very good. These innings are often hundreds, or big hundreds. Test teams that have players who are able to regularly score 100s, opposed to 50s and 60s, are the ones that are able to regularly post the runs needed to put pressure on opposition and give their bowlers something to defend.

I though it would be interesting to do a small comparison of some of the numbers of the top players at the moment, and for interest’s sake a few of the more recent batting legends of the game.

For the sake of this data I looked at runs scored batting at 3, 4 or 5 in the order.

The main thing that jumps out, with an eye on the Ashes, is Joe Root’s poor conversion rate. He goes past 50 at a similar rate to Smith – approximately 45% of all innings. (This in itself sets the two of them on another level compared to their contemporaries). However while Smith goes on to a hundred more than half of the time, Root’s conversion from 50 to 100 is just 29% – significantly lower than any on the broader list. Kohli, on the other hand, gets past 50 less frequently, but when he does his conversion to 100 is over 60%.

While England continue to rely on Root as the one to consistently turn matches their way with the bat, it is going to become more of an issue if he is not able to score the big hundreds his team needs. It’s a lot of pressure and while Steve Smith has blossomed with the burden of captaincy on him, it remains to be seen if Root with be able to do the same.

Note: Data provided by cricinfo and correct as of 26 November 2017

Red Springbok rugby jersey?

So South African rugby kit sponsor Asics have unveiled the new jersey design for the coming season. What’s got most tongues wagging is the ‘away’ kit, modelled by the dashing Eben Etzebeth in the picture below.

Yes. It is red.

RED?

The Springboks will likely don the jerseys (and matching red shorts) when they take on Ireland on 11th November. They will officially be known as the Rooibokke that weekend.

As Ryan Reynolds’ says in Deadpool: “You may be wondering, why the red suit? Well, that’s so bad guys can’t see me bleed.”

It reminds me a bit of the worst ever Proteas ODI cricket kit – also inexplicably red…

King Kallis’ expression says it all. “What team am I playing for again?”

Dale Steyn’s injury – is there any upside?

Dale Steyn’s shoulder issues continue. Whether it is a chronic issue or a sign of his age and workload will become clear in the coming days. 

But either way the test series in Australia is the poorer for his absence. The Aussie fans will have wanted to see him and the players would have wanted to test themselves against the leading bowler of the past decade. South Africa’s best bowler will share the fate of South Africa’s best batsman and have to watch the rest of the action from the sidelines.

That his sole contribution to the series was the massive wicket of Warner says something. If the Proteas batsmen can build on the recovery and bat through day three they may end up in a position to push for victory in Perth. A victory would have seemed unlikely at 80-odd for 5 on the first day.

The likely rub is that Morne Morkel will come into the side for the second test. Arguably he should have played at the WACA, but Vernon Philander is working hard hard to show he still has what it takes to justify taking the new ball and you simply can’t leave the explosive Rabada out.

I don’t, however, buy the line that the South Africans are going to ‘win the series for Dale’. He will be missed, even if he is not currently at the peak of his powers. Class is permanent and you always have the feeling that Steyn can make something happen.

Let’s hope that Morne Morkel’s time on the sidelines has made him focused and we see some aggression from. I fear a little for the lack of a talisman in the attack however. The next time David Warner is sitting on 85 from 90 balls who will be putting their hand up to bowl.

This series is already shaping up to be exciting and could go either way. Dale Steyn may yet have a significant impact on the result. Although this time it may be due to his unfortunate absence.

Springbok defence

Rudderless Boks pick up a win

What a rubbish game of rugby.

Allister Coetzee will no doubt have a sense of satisfaction in picking up a win against Australia yesterday. He’ll feel justified in his selection of Morne Steyn at 10, after he kicked all the Springbok’s points on his old familiar stomping ground at Loftus. Coetzee will talk up his side’s ability to keep the Wallabies out despite the visitors’ surfeit of possession, and the fact that South Africa gave away fewer penalties.

But the wallabies were poor and if this this performance is what signals a step forward for the coaching staff then the Boks are heading seriously in the wrong direction.

Coetzee has found himself a victim of circumstance as well has his own stubbornness. Injuries have robbed him of some of his more likely starters, but he has continued to back players who have been hopelessly short of form on the international stage. On top of that, he’s trying to have them play a style better-suited to experienced test players.

He’d pinned his hopes on Elton Jantjies carrying his Super Rugby form into the test side but the flyhalf has been flaky and lacking the confidence and clear thinking needed at this level. He has not been helped by poor service from the erratic Faf de Klerk, who’s lack of a kicking game is simply not acceptable for a test 9. Has this been as a result of trying to implement Coetzee’s game plan? Who knows. We’ve not seen enough of one to judge him on.

That Coetzee remains set on playing guys out of position is baffling. You can get away with one, but the starting backline had four players starting in positions that they don’t usually play.

There have been some noteworthy individual performances and some of the set piece play has been solid. The forwards have made some small gains. But most of the Springbok game has lacked any direction or clear decision making and there is not really an indication of what they’re trying to do. There is much to be said by the fact that the current captain, Adrian Strauss, has had his two best games for a long time in the weeks after he announced his retirement. He knows he is getting out of the madhouse and is doing his best to go out on a high.

There are a lot of areas that need work, but the basic axis of 8, 9 and 10 is the root of the current malaise. Until that is resolved South Africa will continue to struggle.

I don’t know what we are hoping for against the All Blacks this weekend. It could be scary.

Professional footballers – amateur actors

I am not a football fan per se. I enjoy watching matches and have enough of an understanding of the game to appreciate it, but don’t follow a team or refer inexplicably to ‘us’ or ‘we’ when talking about a team that I have no actual connection to.

The World Cup provides some good entertainment – sport is always at it’s best when national pride is part of the motivation.

Watching the Barclays Premier League you’re regularly faced with the pathetic diving and so-called simulation of players like scumbag Luis Suarez. But seeing some of the European and South American players’ antics in the World Cup seriously drove home how little fakery the English game really has in it. These guys are a joke.

It’s cheating really. It’s fake, it’s simulation and it is completely against the spirit in which sport should be played – irrespective of the level of competition. And the acting is shite too – just to really rub it in.

“Hey kids – watch the World Cup. This is how you play the beautiful game!”

Not.

Springboks’ enterprising approach encouraging

It was great to see the South African rugby team show attacking intent in their first full international of the season. When the Boks add pace and offloads to their customary physical approach they become very difficult to play against and Wales found that out the hard way.

The Springbok performance was a long way from faultless. While the men in green and gold dominated the loose ruck and tackle situation when they were there, Wales still managed to win a number of turnovers. The Boks weren’t consistent in the way that they hit the rucks and runners found themselves a little isolated at times. The lineout was a little shaky at times and there were a few aimless kicks.

But when the Springboks are ‘on’ you get the feeling that they’re not too concerned about the errors because they’re confident that they can score when they need to.

The Bok pack has plenty of experience and I have no issue with older players running out, as long as they deserve their place based on current form. It’s that kind of experience that wins World Cups and with the improvements that can still be made Bok supporters can be quietly confident of a strong showing in England in 2015.

Jan Serfontein got through his debut after a Frans Steyn’s actions in the week put a lot of focus on him. With Morne Steyn at 10, free flowing backline moves will not be too common, but Serfontein based his performance around direct running and solid defence and will be proud of his efforts.

JP Pietersen on the other hand looked a bit wasted and doesn’t seem a natural centre. Cornal Hendricks had a solid performance and deserves his place in the squad, but I would prefer to see JP back in 14 when Jean de Villiers is fit again.

Enough has been written about Willie le Roux’s performance – creeping up to near the top of the list of the world’s top current fullbacks.

Hopefully Wales will be a better team next week and their pack front up to at least make a good contest of it. If the Springboks get the same kind of go-forward ball in the first 20 minutes in Nelspruit next week the tourists won’t challenge them.

My Proteas’ team for the second test against Australia

This is the side I’d pick for the second test against Australia starting in Port Elizabeth tomorrow.

1. Graeme Smith
2. Alviro Peterson
3. Hashim Amla
4. AB De Villiers
5. Faf du Plessis
6. Dean Elgar
7. JP Duminy
8. Wayne Parnell
9. Vernon Philander
10. Dale Steyn
11. Morne Morkel

The Port Elizabeth pitch looks like it’ll favour the pace bowlers, so I’m happy to have JP handle a few overs of spin if required.

Parnell adds some variation being left arm and is apparently bowling at good pace at the moment. Robin Peterson should pack his test whites away.

Last chance saloon for Alviro Peterson at the top of the order. Other option may have been to have Elgar at the top of the order but I’m not keen on two left handers opening against Mitch and his mo’.

I don’t think it’s necessary to play Tsolekile in order to free AB from the gloves. They don’t seem to be holding him back and he’s the kind of player who benefits from being involved in the game.

Robin Peterson should not be playing test cricket

So the Proteas have selected their T20 squad for the Aussies and then for the T20 World Cup.

I have very little interest in T20, but felt compelled to comment on this for one simple reason. I am not a big fan of Robin Peterson as part of the current Proteas test cricket set up and believe he should not be in the team. That being said – I find it very odd that he is not included in this squad, for a version of cricket where his ‘skill set’ can actually be valuable.

Have the selectors got it really wrong here? Peterson is a decent limited overs option for South Africa. I can only hope that they’re not planning on persisting with him in the test side – inexplicably seeing that as his strongest suit.

Proteas squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Hashim Amla, Farhaan Behardien, Quinton de Kock, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Beuran Hendricks, Imran Tahir, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Aaron Phangiso, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.