TOPIC:

Freezin: Our own batting is dodgy , as we all know. There is too many kak handers in the top six. In relation to SA, what has happened to Miller?

Freezin wrote:

That's a lot of quality outs BH.....but as you say their bowling still looks strong....one would think if Markram can find his mojo, Petersen is fit and young Brevis steps up, that instantly makes SA batting lineup look a tad stronger, plus the keeper  looks like a decent bat and Jansen will only get better with more exposure, but looks more a bowling allrounder TBH.....not sold on Bavuma, Elgar, Zonda or Sarwee.....though Zonda is only young.

Would love to see Morris get a game in Sydney, be pretty samey if Aust go with Cummins, Hazlewood and Boland as the quicks.....cant see Agar getting a gig....especially since Head, Labuschagne amd Smith can send down a few overs between them....does Renshaw open and Uzzie come in at 6.....kind of where the 2nd new ball comes in.....

Yep spot on about Brevis Freeze, saw a bit of him in the Under 19 World Cup earlier this year and he looks like AB DeVilliers mkII a very promising batsman who should be promoted in to the SA Test squad asap, also had forgotton about Peterson who looked quite good last summer in SA, I assume he like Markram must be injured to not tour here this summer???
The Saffas also have another promising fast bowler in Gerald Coetzee who is similar in pace to Nortje who has been very impressive out here and is only 22 so could form a formidable fast bowling quartet with Rabada, Nortje & Jansen for years to come with back up from Ngidi, Olivier, Mulder etc depending on conditions.

Freeze over the festive break I have watched some cricket from NZ in their Super Smash (the NZ equivalent to the BBL) and there are some fantastic picturesque cricket grounds over there New Plymouth, Napier, Nelson, Queenstown etc.

Very true BH, some of those NZ grounds are very picturesque....Hagley Oval in Christchurch is another.....only small, but geez it's English villagesque like.

Just come back from Melbourne with my youngest, who is a professional sports photographer. We were passing a cricket match, in Princes Park, right next to Carlton's footy ground....Matt takes this pic, from right behind the bowlers arm....batsman doing his best Kim Hughes cover drive, with the Melbourne city skyline behind him.....fantastic pic.....he put it on Facebook and the Carlton Cricket Club messaged asking him if they can buy it....

TBH there are some lovely non test grounds all over the place.....especially in the UK....played at some beauties around Surrey / Sussex way....

Sounds like your youngest lad has the dream job for us sports mad lovers mate, best of luck to him in his career.
 

No surprise to see yet another Sydney Test dominated by rain again....
Looking like another full day lost to rain coming up today, which will add to Sydney's record of having full days play that are lost to rain for Test matches in Australia-

Sydney- 25* (will be 26 after today at this rate)
Melbourne- 9
Brisbane- 8
Adelaide- 2
Hobart- 1
Perth- 0

Interestingly England's most washed out venue by Test days is Manchester (Old Trafford) with 24.....2 less than Sydney!

BH /Sydney has had Sub Tropical January storms well before LiL-Nemo.
Word is the SACA is going to have a crack at getting the New Years test next year.The NSW dominated CA will fight tooth and nail to keep it in Sydney.

Thats an amazing stat BH and given that maybe Sydney need to look at the feasibility of indoor stadiums or give away the New years test to another drier state ( Adelaide or Perth ?)
South Africa are almost certainly going to be saved by the weather in this particular match but I have been totally shocked by how bad they actually are. I actually thought the West Indies showed a bit more fight even though they were clearly outclassed.
In the last two innings Australia have scored 1050 runs for the loss of only 12 wickets while South Africa lost 20 wickets for 393 in Melbourne.  Of the bowlers only Norjke has looked interested , the batting has been below standard and the captaincy from Elgar has lacked any planning or imagination.

What's even worse for the RSA is the lack of Maiden Overs.Only 7 bowled in Melbourne with over 150 overs bowled. There quicks are bowling to short,lack a medium pacer /swinger and a spinner to tie down an end and take wickets.
Really surprised how they always easily win at home test series.They have looked really average in Australia.
There's no Kallis/Smith to hold there batting innings together.

The main thing to come out of this drawn 3rd test is that Ashton Agar is not the answer as the 2nd spinner on the forthcoming tour of India. He has been tidy enough but has looked less threatening than Travis Head. A bit tough on Ashton because I cant remember the last shield game he played and his bowling has been tailored to suit white ball cricket. 
I think they might look at Murphy from Victoria with Swepson as the leggie for India.

MH: that is the reason the selectors still pick Lyon as the  first spinner.