Boxing Day Test - Day 3

I would have to choose, possibly one of the worst (from an Australian point of view anyway) days for my 8 year old son's first day of Test Cricket.

We ventured to the MCG for family day. We sat and watched in disbelief. To his credit though, he sat out the entire day with only a couple of brief, Nintendo DS breaks...

From disgraceful to embarrasing

To bowl all day to tail-enders, pick up just three wickets and in doing so surrender your match winning position was disgraceful (Day 3).

To lose 7 wickets in the following two sessions (Day 4) - same pitch, same conditions, is just plain embarrasing.

For years now we have been kidding ourselves that our domestic competion was second to none and that, combined with our natural competitiveness and killer instinct was the secret to invincibility.

Well now comes the wake up call. For years we've shown chinks in the armour and been rescued by McGrath, Warne and Gilchrist.  The parties over. 

I don't mean to take away from the South Africans because they have executed their plans brilliantly, but for professionals, being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to ply their trade, to take a Test Match from unlosable to unwinable in 5 sessions is unforgivable and inept.

I guess I'd better get used to this, although something tells me, those unloseable scenarios won't even be that common for while now.

Weak as ....

One hour into the day's play and South Africa has already managed as many wickets as the pathetic Australian line up manged for the entire day!  And we were bowling to tail enders!

This is now depressing as the realisation sets in, that for the next several years, we are to follow a side that will slump to fouth or fifth in the world you'd think.

We need, an opener that will value their wicket. Some bowlers with some potency, an inspiring captain, and a leg spinner!

Does this South African side remind you of something. Not just saving matches but turning completely hopeless situations into wins! This is Australia of 5 years ago. And these South Africans are fairly young. Watch them now, as they take, and own the number one ranking for the next decade.

The paradigm shift.

As Australia consolidate their fall from the giddy heights of the past decade, and strange paradigm shift takes over the Aussie cricket follower. Ricky Ponting is the ship captain, South Africa are the light house!

I grew used to casually wondering what the score was during test matches - read: How many runs in front are Australia now? - to realising just now (10:28, Day 4 of the Boxing Day Test) - that the cricket was about to start and leaping up to switch the TV on.

This is great for Test Cricket and while frustrating for Aussie supporters used to having everything our own way, really entertaining! Come on Haddos - we need a ton, we need a quick ton and we need Matty Hayden ton, a big one!

Duminy Day!

Any system that still has Australia ranked as the number one test nation in the world is a flawed system.

What I witnessed today was a side devoid of weapons with the capability to concern a decent batting side and a complete absence of any creative thinking or attacking strategy to change things up a bit. They started Day 3 at the MCG looking at taking a lead well in excess of 150 into their second innings, and wound up 60 runs behind!

Once things didn't simply fall into place, Ricky Ponting had nothing! He was just waiting for the South Africans to get themselves out, and waiting, and waiting. By lunch, the attitude in the crowd around me in the Ponsford stand was "well, we were supposed to be batting now...", by tea it was like..."well this is ridiculous! By the drinks break in the last session it had turned to complete annoyance. Disgraceful was the word that kept coming to mind...but why!

Losing Brett Lee of course put a whole in the attack from the outset - but that's not an excuse. Lee has taken 1 for about 1000 recently anyway and I don't believe he would've made that much difference. As it was, Hussey took the only wicket of the first two sessions and he probably wouldn't have bowled if Lee was on!

The rebuilding of Australian cricket has to go beyond trying a few spinners and hoping one will turn into a Shane Warne. It aint going to happen. We need the next phase to start, and start quickly. Build a team and get it to click quickly, around and agressive and creative captain, and I don't think that's Ricky Ponting. We need his batting, we need a better captain. From there we need a leader that can bring this side together in a special way. If not, the Ashes are going back to England again, just as quickly as we regained them a couple of years ago.

Neil McKenzie - the new Andre Nel?

Remember this - Andre Nel dropping an absolute soda at mid-wicket. Ponting was on 19 when dropped (from memory) and went on to score 117.  After that Ponting continued scoring 100's like there was no tomorrow. Two in the match in Sydney and Ponting wasn't dismissed for less than 100 in Tests for nearly 12 months.

Today it was McKenzie's turn to grass the Aussie skipper. It's still early but Punter has just smashed Ntini for 3 consecutive boundaries and I for one and hoping history can repeat....

Australia conceed more records

What a completely flawless run chase by the South Africans! As much as it pains me to say it, that was a completely dominating, well planned and perfectly executed dismantling of Australia in the fourth innings of the first Test.

If you had to script a run chase for a first test, that not only won you the Test but exorcised every demon your country had with regards to mind games, close finishes, defeats snatched from the jaws of victory and failed captains performances - that was it! 

The last day and half was pretty much chanceless. Smith, the powerful leader of his country and a captain who has struggled against Australia both with the bat and tactically, led from the front. Injured elbow and all, he produced a solid performance to set things up, then de Villiers was class. Played through the really tough spell at the end of the fourth day then just set his mind to "being there at the end". You didn't have to be a mind reader to see what was motivating him. There was no way he was ever going to give any fellow batsmen even the chance to replicate that first innings collapse. He was going to be there when South Africa hit 414 - nothing was going to stop him, and nothing did. Not only did they win the Test, but they make a big statement for the remaining two tests in this series. It is now the Aussies who have to battle with some mental scars - dare I say it, mental disintegration.

So now, Australia maintain a lead in world rankings, courtesy of a Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist legacy that sees their points still articially high - but that looks like eroding fairly quickly. With three losses in their last 4 Tests and Johnson aside, a fairly non-menacing bowling attack, things look grim. You'd have to say that both South Africa and India have shown up Australia's lack of bowling flare in recent times, and both these sides have always looked far more likely to take the 20 wickets required, than have their Australian opponents.

So where to now - Hayden, would have to be under the pump surely, but really, only if there is a logical replacement. Do we blood a new opener now? Do we wait until 2009 and risk that, in an Ashes tour, or do we just barrel on, expecting something to change because it always has?

To be honest, I think, while Kattich is in pretty good form - it might be time to make a bit of a statement. Hayden loves Melbourne though!  Maybe the Boxing Day test could be the last of his last chances!

And Ricky Ponting?  Could he become the first captain in 100 years to relinquish the Ashes twice!? (As best I can tell, the Ashes have only been "taken off an Australian captain more than once, twice in history - Monty Noble 1909 and before that, Billy Murdoch who in 1884 handed them back to  England three times in his stint!)