3rd dead Test Match, Aust v SAf @ SCG

[FD88]

Some of you are a bit schizo I think. One minute the Aussies looking great, the next it's the end of the world and South Africa should chase the target down with an over or two to spare tonight!!

All we need is a wicket and we are right back in this. Almost a wicket to the clown as well.

C'mon Aussies.

Don't recall that I had expressed my view on the declaration yet. I felt that Punter's innings had pretty much put them out of it in that a strong platform was then in place to set an impossible target; I would've thought 410 or so would have South Africa thinking draw but with 376 they'd still have eyes on an unlikely win. After their big chase in Perth the confidence would be up which makes me a bit uneasy. I'm not saying we won't win, but we have left them in the contest which is very risky. Here's hoping the pitch becomes evil tomorrow.

[locky801]

Clarke to bowl the last over of the day, would have given it to Katich for something different

RSA 1/62

[Dog_ger]

A disgraceful wicket....

Shame head Groundsman...

[locky801]

A disgraceful wicket....

Shame head Groundsman...

yeah terrible wicket, 10 wickets gone down in 2 days and plenty of runs

[wycbloods]

Haddin has dropped a very difficult chance, we need to hold them all

If they had 2 slips in that would have gone to 1st, instead they played a 1 and a half trying to get wickets with a new ball and not have at least 2 slips...WTF?

Hey WYC - Ive been bagging Katich for years now

RR - you agreed with RM who said he was a Champion

And still haven't worked out you are wrong

[Dutchy]

Dodgy pitch and they are already 2 down effectively.

Yeah dodgy pitch gave up 5 wickets on Day 4

SA will go very close here, esp against an attack that cant swing or spin the ball

[Dutchy]

Haddin has dropped a very difficult chance, we need to hold them all

If they had 2 slips in that would have gone to 1st, instead they played a 1 and a half trying to get wickets with a new ball and not have at least 2 slips...WTF?

Hey WYC - Ive been bagging Katich for years now

RR - you agreed with RM who said he was a Champion

Dutchy i said "well said" to RM who made many other points as well as saying 'Katich the champ'. Seriously that is hardly evidence that i have ever suggested the Katich is a champion player. Regardless you still avoid my question of what would you have liked to see the Australian side do in regards to their TEAM batting performance?

Perhaps you are just unable to admit when you are wrong and are clutching at straws with the Katich thing seeing as you have been bagging him for years. I guess seeing a guy you have bagged for years come out and make the most runs in a first class season in Australia ever then go on to make over a thousand runs in 2008 at Test level must make you feel pretty silly.

As for having 2 slips, it wouldn't have helped. The ball would never have carried to first slip. Haddin should have moved better and he would have taken it. It was always the keepers catch and it is just Haddin's poor footwork that made it look difficult. I do agree that we should have had at least 2 slips though.

> Some quicker run scoring today would have seen them have 10-15 more overs at them tonight, could be a huge difference
> Yeah Im pretty silly, lets judge him when he has spent more than 12 months back in the test side, he failed the first time, if in 3 years time he is still making 1000 run seasons in the test side Ill be impressed
> The ball would have clearly carried to first slip, it was at least 6 inches above the ground when haddin got the glove to it and first slip would have had the option of diving forward if he was in the regulation 1st slip position, it was a genuine first slip catch and Haddin would have let it go IF he was in the correct spot

[rod_rooster]

Haddin has dropped a very difficult chance, we need to hold them all

If they had 2 slips in that would have gone to 1st, instead they played a 1 and a half trying to get wickets with a new ball and not have at least 2 slips...WTF?

Hey WYC - Ive been bagging Katich for years now

RR - you agreed with RM who said he was a Champion

Dutchy i said "well said" to RM who made many other points as well as saying 'Katich the champ'. Seriously that is hardly evidence that i have ever suggested the Katich is a champion player. Regardless you still avoid my question of what would you have liked to see the Australian side do in regards to their TEAM batting performance?

Perhaps you are just unable to admit when you are wrong and are clutching at straws with the Katich thing seeing as you have been bagging him for years. I guess seeing a guy you have bagged for years come out and make the most runs in a first class season in Australia ever then go on to make over a thousand runs in 2008 at Test level must make you feel pretty silly.

As for having 2 slips, it wouldn't have helped. The ball would never have carried to first slip. Haddin should have moved better and he would have taken it. It was always the keepers catch and it is just Haddin's poor footwork that made it look difficult. I do agree that we should have had at least 2 slips though.

> Some quicker run scoring today would have seen them have 10-15 more overs at them tonight, could be a huge difference
> Yeah Im pretty silly, lets judge him when he has spent more than 12 months back in the test side, he failed the first time, if in 3 years time he is still making 1000 run seasons in the test side Ill be impressed
> The ball would have clearly carried to first slip, it was at least 6 inches above the ground when haddin got the glove to it and first slip would have had the option of diving forward if he was in the regulation 1st slip position, it was a genuine first slip catch and Haddin would have let it go IF he was in the correct spot

Clearly you've never been at first slip to a genuine quick bowler. You stand further back than the ball will travel in 6 inches (not that it was six inches above the ground mind you). I can assure you from fielding at first slip to several bowlers that have played state cricket that there is no way that first slip had a chance. Firstly the first slip would have had to move a considerable way to his left. It is generally accepted that anything that involves the first slip moving towards the keeper is not first slips catch. That was a keepers catch and nothing else. Look at Manou's catch off Tait tonight. That is how a keeper should move. His footwork was perfect and had a slip cordon been in place he would have taken it in between first and second slip. Haddin's footwork is poor and lets him down too often. The only reason the catch looked hard for Haddin was because he made it so because of poor footwork and technique.

[Dutchy]

Clearly you dont know me RR, for the record ive fielded at 1st slip for nearly 15 years including a couple of years to a former World Cup winning Australian bowler....

Im not talking about Haddin here, Im talking about 1st slip, it would have gone directly to a standard 1st slip position and am confident Haddin wouldnt have gone for it if it was in place

[rod_rooster]

Clearly you dont know me RR, for the record ive fielded at 1st slip for nearly 15 years including a couple of years to a former World Cup winning Australian bowler....

Im not talking about Haddin here, Im talking about 1st slip, it would have gone directly to a standard 1st slip position and am confident Haddin wouldnt have gone for it if it was in place

We'll have to agree to disagree then i guess. I still think that was a keepers catch and only poor footwork from Haddin was why it wasn't taken. I don't think it would have carried to first slip but that's just my opinion. Maybe a better keeper would have taken it and we wouldn't have this debate? Do you think Haddin is a good keeper?*

For what it's worth if you go back i actually agree with you there should have been 2 slips (if not 3) at the point you brought this up.

* and when i say good i mean by international standards.

[Dutchy]

will agree that Haddin struggles behind the stumps...but if he makes runs Im guessing the selectors are happy with that....should he drop some or miss a stumping that costs us the ashes thing might change!

[Tooting Bec]

Clearly you dont know me RR, for the record ive fielded at 1st slip for nearly 15 years including a couple of years to a former World Cup winning Australian bowler....

Im not talking about Haddin here, Im talking about 1st slip, it would have gone directly to a standard 1st slip position and am confident Haddin wouldnt have gone for it if it was in place

C'mon Dutchy, you can't claim Zessers in the twilight of his career as a legitimate quick bowler!

Have to agree with RR on this one though, Haddin's glovework has been at best average behind the stumps this summer and only his allrounder status with the bat is keeping him in the team. You'd have to think if the selectors weigh up the cost of missed chances versus the runs he gives us. Saying that he was better than the nsw keeper last night who missed the stumps twice in runout attempts!

[Dutchy]

C'mon Dutchy, you can't claim Zessers in the twilight of his career as a legitimate quick bowler!

Never said he was quick Piggy

[Bob Loblaw]

2/86 Bollinger got McKenzie

Its been a treat to watch this man bat. Very Asian, very wristy.

Talking about Amla's 50, not a rub and tug.

[wycbloods]

Good decision by the third umpire to give that C&B by Mcdonald out. It was similar to Smiths catch at 1st slip the fingers just under the ball. Kallis gone for 4 a big wicket.

[MAY-Z]

McDonald to Kallis, OUT, oh well held, McDonald .. or not? Pitches it up down the stumps, Kallis goes back and starts to turn it to the on side, but the ball takes a leading edge and balloons back up in the air towards the bowler, who flings himself to his right in his follow through and looks like he's taken a stunner ... his team-mates converge but Kallis asks for confirmation, and McDonald admits he's not sure. To the naked eye it looked like he took it, Ponting sticks up a finger even before the umpires are consulted, and after numerous analysis Kallis is adjudged out. Thats a very, very tough call. One angle indicates he took it, the straight view says something else. I'm not convinced he took it.

[wycbloods]

McDonald to Kallis, OUT, oh well held, McDonald .. or not? Pitches it up down the stumps, Kallis goes back and starts to turn it to the on side, but the ball takes a leading edge and balloons back up in the air towards the bowler, who flings himself to his right in his follow through and looks like he's taken a stunner ... his team-mates converge but Kallis asks for confirmation, and McDonald admits he's not sure. To the naked eye it looked like he took it, Ponting sticks up a finger even before the umpires are consulted, and after numerous analysis Kallis is adjudged out. Thats a very, very tough call. One angle indicates he took it, the straight view says something else. I'm not convinced he took it.

The replays i saw told me he got 2 fingers under the ball and he held the catch. I am convinced he took it.

[redandblack]

About the Haddin catch. I kept wickets for a long, long time and I think Haddin's keeping this series has been poor, for Test level. His footwork is very average and he's looked out of his depth with the gloves. He's there for his batting. Manou is actually a very good keeper, but that's where it ends.

I think the best pure wicketkeeper I've seen in recent years would be Darren Berry.

As for the pitch, it's a shocker. I thought right at the start that it would be hard to get out on, but hard work to score runs as well. It hasn't carried through with any bounce at all and is as slow as a wet week. As for the cracks, that's a disgrace. So you have a deck that the batsmen don't trust and the bowlers' best chance of getting a wicket depends on whether they can hit a crack.

Not good enough.

As for the caught and bowled, my first look at it made me think he hadn't got it, but each one after that indicated he did to me. Fair decision.

[MAY-Z]

About the Haddin catch. I kept wickets for a long, long time and I think Haddin's keeping this series has been poor, for Test level. His footwork is very average and he's looked out of his depth with the gloves. He's there for his batting. Manou is actually a very good keeper, but that's where it ends.

I think the best pure wicketkeeper I've seen in recent years would be Darren Berry.

As for the pitch, it's a shocker. I thought right at the start that it would be hard to get out on, but hard work to score runs as well. It hasn't carried through with any bounce at all and is as slow as a wet week. As for the cracks, that's a disgrace. So you have a deck that the batsmen don't trust and the bowlers' best chance of getting a wicket depends on whether they can hit a crack.

Not good enough.

As for the caught and bowled, my first look at it made me think he hadn't got it, but each one after that indicated he did to me. Fair decision.

agree that the pitch is terrible the fact that it started palying up on day 2 is a disgrace and meant both sides didnt get to have a bat on a good batting wicket meaning the toss was too important. i have no problems with the pitch acting like it is on day 4 and 5

[Pumba]

its an excellent test wicket it has challenegd the batsmen but plenty of runs have been scored and all 3 rusulst possible on the last day. the game is also likely to go deep into the last day.