Looks like Graeme Smith thought he was Matthew Hayden - walking down the track twice in a row to Bracko - and he’s gone - woohoo - what a start! Kallis in early - all going according to plan…

Kallis gone!!!

Can someone please clear up the question from the previous thread: are Mike and Michael one and the same, or just coincidentally similar? Are you out the there Michael?

Capitulation! South Africa look like they were beaten mentally before they even walked out. This is the most I’ve enjoyed cricket in 8 years!

And now they’re 5 for 31 and they’ve had a let off! Big inside edge - replay shows Bucknor gets it wrong, no surprise there.

Tobi, what do you mean “if”?

I’m not sure I’ll get home from the office in time to see any play at all. 36 for 5. Groan.

Got a point there, Wraye ;-).
I should start looking for a pub with Pay-TV showing Chelsea vs Liverpool tonight…

It’s the 16th over, it’s been all pace ’till now, South Africa have been 5 down, we’re still in the PowerPlay and we don’t even have a second slip? They could have been 6-27 and all out by now. As it stands, they have the chance of making a staggering 150-something (!) especially with Watson on. The name Shane is no guarantee of quality, folks!

I decide to listen to the Warks commentary and this happens, so I switch over, and Gibbs gets a grip. I suppose I want a real game deep down… but it’s nice to see other Test nations get stuffed occasionally.

Oh my God what a pearler of a delivery to Graeme Smith. Swung away a little, he charged, and it rattled off stump. Find the dismissal on You Tube later, that was a stunner.

DeVilliers driving away from his body with no foot movement and it did what it was destined to do, take the outside edge and through to the keeper. Traditional dismissal to a non-textbook stroke.

(If you’re thinking I am off my rocker and late, I’m just catching up with the dismissals. I may be off the rocker though.)

er… Michael, the game has moved on a bit….

Steve-o it has indeed, but I am enjoying catching up and writing, so let me be. If you’re an Aussie you shouldn’t mind it. If your South African, next time ay? :D:D

Why is McGrath retiring? In a day and age where economy rates are up from three or four to fix or six as acceptable, Pidgeon continues to astound with wicket after wicket at a stingy rate. I think he ought to find himself at the top of the ODI Rankings after the World Cup.

I suppose not a bad way to end ay? But God, why not go past 40 and pave the way for the older blokes to never give up hope. There’s another bloke out there doing just this, and this will delight my English counterparts on this site: Paul Nixon.

Will I notice an immediate difference in speed. Much better.

Cooked, been out for a walk, listened to the end of the Warwickshire innings and now pretending to do my essay. Again. 2 done, 2 to go… man I wish I was organised over the holiday.

Had a nap, woke up to see, once again, Oz stroll home without the lower order even putting on their boots, again. Old man McGrath man of the match , again and gilchrist, again, fails to do anything. Is Haddin siting there wondering why it isn’t himself out there?

Will Graeme Smith fall on his sword, now that the Saffers have failed yet again to dominate?

what’s happened to EDIT, Will?

Duuuh, Fiona, if we Poms had been behind it, we would have employed some nerd since 1932 to roll a ball in front of every promising Oz player at training or find a way to extend the body-line bowling.

Sorry, love, not guilty this time.

Still, the Aussies have played consistently well throughout the tournament and best of luck to them. Let’s say it, boys and girls, well played Oz! I really hope Sri Lanka put up much more of a fight than SA, but that is my personal opinion, because I would like to see a “ding-dong” fight in the final. My heart goes to the Saffers fans but never mind, being a Pom, we’ve been there loads of times before, my friends. To answer 13th Man, it is still just a game and a bloody strange one at that! Thank God.

goddamn. That was an excellent bowling effort, and really showed how Tait was a better option than Clark.

What’s going to happen to the ODI bowling line up when Lee returns though? I’m not sure that Lee, Tait, Bracken, Hogg, Watson offers anywhere near the kind of variety that we’re seeing while McGrath is still in the team, but I am warming to Tait.

Lee, Tait, Bracken, Clark, Hogg and drop Watson instead? I don’t quite see that happening… maybe Tait will be unlucky until Lee starts concentrating on Bollywood full-time….

As a dedicated SA fan I can only hope that “Brainy” (Smith) has the decency to resign after this embrassment. The guy is a very useful batsman, but it is obvious he needs a captain to occasionally knock some sense into him, or just tell him to shut the f… up.

He is also extremely slow on the field. He is never able to replace a bowler before the over where the bowler goes for 15+ runs. Why was Pollock left out of the attack (after only 3 overs) until more than 20 overs were gone? Why not take a PowerPlay and at least try to create pressure? And what the h… was that batting approach about? In true SA fashion, when Plan A did not work, we resorted to trying Plan A harder.

Sri Lanka, I am affraid, won’t be much better. Jayawardene has not been much better than Brainy…

duh, Wraye, it was a joke! I can never make without you ruffling up your feathers, chook. Remember, its just fun, as you keep pointing out to ruffled Aussies

I enjoy watching Andre Nel, MIchael. He loves playing and obviously plays for the love of it, and was enjoying himself even when losing badly. Is there some politically correct way to celebrate a wicket?

As for your glee, careful you don’t slip on it, mate! The shows not over til the mad bowler slings….

Graeme Smith was very gracious in defeat - I missed his belligerence. I like the Saffers for that belligerence and grittiness, and Nel, too. I find his mad dog antics far more “joyful” than than that other mad-eye, Murali. Wish the Saffers or NZ had been in the final against Australia, too. And playing well, not being thrashed.

Too true Michael - gloat while you’ve got the chance I say

Yes, but i like it! I like him growling! I like a bit of character and he’s a good sport and I think the poodle is a bit hard. Nel actually has bowled well this tournament, when he’s played. Anyway, who cares, he’s not going to change just because of you or I or Cricinf0’s opinions.

(I know it’s not relevant but he did play with a broken finger today.)

Joke taken, Fiona I should use more smilies

So, which teams have given Australia the best run for their money in this tournament? Does anyone have the stats in front of them?

Actually, Wraye, you’re wrong. the Sth Africans, in their first match, back in the group stages, were about 2-160 round the 25-30 over, (don’t quote me, this is from memory, not stats), and the Oz bowling looked toothless. Then Smith had to retire with cramps, and it gradually folded from there. But I remember it being tense for much of the match. That was the best performance against Oz I remember. Graeme Smith remembers it also!

At that stage our bowling attack looked much more unstable. It’s so long ago, now, people forget that we arrived at the tournament from 5 losses, were being talked about as on the downhill and that the Cup was much more of a level playing field then. Back then, you Englsih were the gigglers

Will, why has my unedited comment gone in, too????

I reckon Rusty is right. I remember the feeling I had in my stomach at the time. Although it was Watson’s freak direct hit FIRST, then Smithy falling apart (physically).

As for pre-talk hype: Who remembers the article asking if Australia can beat Scotland? Who remembers Viv himself writing Australia off? Who remembers Pat Symcox having his bite?

God I LOVE it when the media fuel the fire. Ricky Ponting loves it too. He’s extremely witty, KNOWLEDGEABLE and blessed with a long memory when he enters Press Conferences to boot…

Yes, nothing inspires Punter more than someone denigrating him.

Yes Michael. Ponting certainly is the greatest Cricket Anorak that there ever was.

Yeah. It was something he said on the “Quote…Unquote” page on CricInfo a while back. In response to a question, he said something like, “despite my reputation as being a bit of a cricket anorak, I don’t really know the answer.” (I asssume he was looking for Almanak). Anyway, that was just terribly funny to me.

In response to a question, he said something like, “despite my reputation as being a bit of a cricket anorak, I don’t really know the answer.” (I asssume he was looking for Almanak). Anyway, that was just terribly funny to me.

No, he would have meant “anorak” as in nerd/geek/enthusiast, not “almanac” as in repository of knowledge.

I’ve always thought it to mean pretty much the same thing as “train-spotter”, but I’m Australian, so I could be missing the subtleties between the two terms…

Exactly, loofer and Kathy. One source says that’s exactly where it derives from - “trainspotters” wearing anoraks, and “trainspotters” being obsessives of the sort I described…….so the “anoraks” out there trainspotting go into slang as a term for nerdy obsessives!

Mind you, I never thought of Ponting as especially intelligent, anyway ( and I don’t mean in terms of a cricketing brain). I never hold my breath waiting for some pearl of wisdom to drop during his postmmatch interviews.

I’ve always thought of Ponting as being rather street-smart, rather than intelligent, if that distinction makes sense….

Someone described him on cricinfo recently as “the most driven man in cricket”, and that’s certainly what I’d think of as his most defining characteristic, particularly given the eternal thousand-yard stare of the last year or so…

Wally is a bit harsh. There are quite a few Australians and even more international cricketers I’d think of as bigger wallies than Ponting.

If anything I think he’s a bit bland. I’m sick of the current trend for sportspeople to mouth useless platitudes, and much prefer people who actually show some genuine personality… cue McGrath, Warne, Pietersen, Nel, etc.

To me the most interesting characters in cricket right now are the senior members of the Aussie team — people who know their sport but a bit about life too — McGrath, Warne, and also Langer and Hayden, who have quite interesting quirks in their lives. As for the majority of very young sportsmen, cricketers or other, they get interviewed far too much when they’ve lived very little life and have nothing much to say.

I found it a bit odd the other day, when Mike Atherton, in a general rant about what was wrong with English cricket, said the English system was fostering very one-dimensional young cricketers who could only communicate in sullen grunts as compared to the much more rounded young men coming through the Aussie system. Is this true? Who can he be talking about? Is it Mahmood, who does seem a little sullen, but is no more or less interesting than many young men his age, though his Lancashire accent is fairly impenetrable?

In my experience most young men at age 21 or so don’t have a lot of interest to say, particularly if they’ve spent their entire life obsessively practising one sport. So I’m wondering if anyone can enlighten me as to what Atherton means or who he is talking about…

I’m rather surprised at Atherton’s comment about the young Aussie cricketers. If they do get interviewed, they usually produce standard sporting cliches or repeat themselves several times through nervousness. The only one who comes to mind as articulate is 22 year old Dan Cullen, a talented off-spinner. He could be quite a xharacter, if he fulfills the hype about him.

I believe Warne said the other day that young cricketers like Alistair Cook shouldn’t be writing cricket columns after only playing a few tests - he should be spending all his time practising. Not sure if Warne is one to talk, though.