England get whitewashed - who would have thought?

One would have gotten good odds on Australia winning the series 5-0 a couple of months ago. I have no idea what they were, never bothered looking! Australia to win, yes, but not a whitewash! Just goes to show how unpredictable sport can be.

Before this series started, Australia lost 7 out of its previous 8 test. Now they're starting to look like the best team in the world, but perhaps a little premature thought if anyone think they are.

Clarke certainly believes his team has the best bowling attack in the world. Not sure the boys on the other side of the Indian Ocean agrees with that and we're certainly in for a treat in a month's time when the two teams go face to face in a three match series.

England were humiliated earlier on being dismissed in their second innings within a mere 33 overs! They looked like a heavy weight boxer getting knocked out in the 12th round having lost every round and just couldn't absorb any further punches. A team who just had no fighting spirit left! I feel sorry for those players who have to stay on for the one day series.

So how good is this Australian team now? Well, their big test begins on the 12th of February at Centurion!

I can't wait!

Two Unsung Heroes

All the focus at the moment is on the dismal performance of England and now it's just a matter of a few sessions before they'll find themselves whitewashed, unless a miracle comes their way over the next 3 days. Take nothing away from Australia of course as they've made a remarkable turnaround from where they were 3 months ago.

But as I'm sure everyone is tired of having witnessed the same pattern for 5 consecutive test matches now, let's talk about two unsung heroes other than Haddin and Johnson for a change. The two umpires out in the middle at the moment, Alleem Dar and Marais Erasmus has had an outstanding game thus far. They've already had to make numerous tough decisions and I'm struggling to think of either of them getting any wrong.

It's good to see that in an era where more and more decisions are being taken out of the hands of the men in charge out in the middle, that we can still see outstanding performances. Let's hope this carries on.

So, to say England are up against it, is an understatement and with them already needing more runs than what's ever been successfully chased down in a test at the SCG, I'm afraid I guess they'll do well to take play into day 4.

Summary:

Aus 326 all out  &  140/4
Eng 155 all out

A Familiar Pattern

Three debutants for England and an unchanged side for Australia. But perhaps the biggest surprise was the exclusion of Joe Root. Perhaps Carberry was told he had one more chance - now he might only one have one last innings left to save his place as he failed to trouble the scorers just before the end of play.

England might have thought there luck has changed when they won the toss on a green looking top and had no hesitation in sending Australia in to bat. At 97/5 things were looking good for the visitors but we've been here before. In came Brad Haddin and as he's done all series, proved a thorn in the English flesh. Haddin was eventually dismissed for a sparkling 75 but Steve Smith carried on and completed his 2nd century of the tour.

Yet again Ben Stokes impressed, following his hundred up from the previous test with 6 wickets in this innings. If England can take one positive back with them it will be his performance. Now we're eager to see how the other debutants perform in this match. Rankin impressed in his first over getting sharp bounce which prompted the question once more, "Why was he on the sideline when they played at the WACA?" But he looked at man out of form, out of depth or lack of match practice before leaving the field with what looked like a hamstring injury.

Borthwick didn't cause the batsmen too many headaches neither as the Aussies clearly decided to be positive against him, but he did at least pick up the wicket of Johnson, albeit from one too many aggressive strokes. He did however at times generate sharp turn and bounce - and of course this being on day 1. Australia were all out for 326 at a healthy run rate of 4 an over.

The big test now is whether England can pile on the runs, get a lead and maybe provide an opportunity for Borthwick to become a hero in the second innings. Maybe this will be the day that KP comes off and score a big hundred! Or are we about to witness yet another far too familiar story, where England get skittled out having had the hosts in serious trouble before halfway through day 1 themselves? England finished  the day on 8/1.

Can England avoid a whitewash?

If you'd said to me two months ago that England will be going into the final test at Sydney, starting in a few hours' time, on the verge of a series whitewash, I would have said "get real"!

But it will take either a very brave or stupid man to bet against it being the outcome in 5 days' time or perhaps even a lot sooner. England seems to be in disarray at the moment. It often ends up being the visiting team though. Trott went home soon after arriving on the Australian shores, Swann quit halfway through, Prior, the vice-captain, got dropped, Cook, the captain, is in desperate need of runs, although he's not the only one and the list of problems just goes on and on.

We might well see a few changes in the lineup today. There are talks of Monty struggling with an injury which may well make room for Scott Borthwick. That won't harm the batting lineup and might be a welcoming addition for a team struggling to score 400.

Will we see Boyd Rankin make his debut and wouldn't it be rather ironic if he ends up doing well on a wicket probably least suited to him on this tour? There might even be room for Gary Ballance which could mean 3 debutants for England! Who would have thought! Australia on the other hand might actually go in to the test with the same 11 that started every single test this series, for the first time in their history.

Whatever the outcome of this 5th and final test, England need to regroup. One often forgets the credit due to a team responsible for another's failures, in this case Australia. It wasn't all that long ago when they, themselves, were in a mess and every non Australian thoroughly enjoyed every defeat they suffered. But they stuck with their players and today they're reeping the rewards. 

It will be interesting to see whether England do the same or whether a lot of changes get made. One thing is sure, Swann and Trott's absence, should he not return, will leave a big hole in a team who wasn't all that long ago No.1 in the world.

No Cape Town New Year's Test

Cape Town without a New Year's test is a bit like Christmas in England without a turkey. As most us enjoyed the best part of a week feasting on the latter or reached a stage two days after Christmas of having had enough turkey sandwiches for a year, the same can't be said about the cricket loving public, not only in South Africa but around the world.

How is it possible that the best supported test match of the year in SA get scrapped off the calendar like leftover breadcrumbs? How can the ICC allow it? South Africa was meant to host India in the 3rd Test, but the series was shortened to two tests only due to India's request. 

As mentioned in my previous blog, attendances aren't great during the longer version of the game in SA, but not only does the New Year Test attract huge crowds at Newlands, it's also a long standing tradition.

Why should the ICC allow this? Is it helping the survival of Test Cricket? Would any other country have gotten away with it or does the Indian Cricket Board control the ICC. It does make you wonder since they also have a say in refusing to accept DRS to be used when they're playing. Again, the ICC allows them to have the final say!

How can the ICC have one set of rules for 9 test playing nations, and another set when the 10th member is involved? No surprise then that some question whether ICC actually still stands for International Cricket Council or something else.

Take nothing away from Indian Cricket. They're blessed with highly talented players, both present and past, have enjoyed great success on the field, became no.1 in the world in the short and longer format of the game, crowned world champions and brought us the IPL! But other countries including Australia, South Africa, England and the West Indies have all enjoyed spells of dominance through the years.

It remains a great shame that a tour so closely contested between the two best sides in the world should not be over 3 tests or even more. Who knows, if it was, maybe SA would have had a world record test run chase behind their names today.