Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA

Brutal result for Australia, and a real big "fuck you" to the many people who said SA didn't belong there (conveniently forgetting India getting their asses handed to them at home by us) simply because they sent a weakened team to NZ and upset the "purists".

Good toss to win, as the pitch flattened out just in time for the Aus tail to face a couple of hundred balls, which would have heartened the SA top order. How good for a guy that averages mid-30s to score a big hundred to win a final! Bavuma is a little fighter as well.

For Australia, you reap what you sow. Cameron Green has 1,300 test runs at 30, and has been out of the test arena for a while, why in the fuck do you pick him at 3? Faced 5 balls combined. Khawaja being able to get a big score in Sri Lanka where he didn't have to move his feet disguised that he is cooked. Marnus's return looks okay given everyone else around him, but still scored less than 40 total runs, and his complete lack of intent over the past couple of years is really hurting him. The three of them all failing could be seen a mile off.
Head only getting 20 was probably the surprise.
Sort of old school Black Caps where the middle and lower order score the runs.

Now they go to the Windies and will probably be without Steve Smith for most of it. Which means reprieves all round.

Dan Vettori the new Agent Robbie.

Just how fucked would OZ be without Cummins, Starc, Hazelwood and Lyon?

surely they are very close to finding out?

Another five years away surely.

Maybe for Cummins.
Lyon would be like 43
Starc about the same
Hazlewood's body will completely let him down before then
The only other guy who gets a run is Boland and he would be in his 40s as well.

@nzzp said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

@MN5 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

Yeah but if you were picking a combined Rugby XV from NZ and India I wouldn't pick a single Indian player

there they are, between B&H and Toyland

View image

Jeepers. Poor old Ivory Coast are rated below India but actually made the WC in 95 when there were only 16 teams !!

Very pleased for SA and their long suffering fans to see them finally get 1 on the board. In odd game in that an unplayable pitch on days 1 and 2 turned into a featherbed on day 3 but that's cricket for you. Fantastic innings by Makram as usually it has been the SA batters that have folded on the big stage and not so their bowling attack.

Always nice seeing history being played out.

@mariner4life said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

Maybe for Cummins.
Lyon would be like 43
Starc about the same
Hazlewood's body will completely let him down before then
The only other guy who gets a run is Boland and he would be in his 40s as well.

One or two of them will surely sign-off after the Ashes at the end of the year?

Might be something similar to when Lillee, Marsh and Greg Chappell all finished at te same time?

Can't begrudge the Saffers. Well done. Good to see someone breaking the big three dominance. Hope it leads to different decisions being made at the top level, but I doubt it will.

Didn't watch a ball of this one. I'm a big cricket fan but just struggled to care. Whether that's the timing, the fact it was on Amazon, the fact Australia were behind from the start, I don't know. Unsure what the WTC really is going forward, at very least you've got to have the final somewhere other than England?

@Virgil said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

Just how fucked would OZ be without Cummins, Starc, Hazelwood and Lyon?

I'm just not sure we would be.

Like kiwis and backrowers, we just seem to have a production line of very good fast bowlers. There's a pretty handy bunch in domestic cricket at the moment that would do well. Maybe not 'all time great' well but I don't think you'd see an enormous drop-off.

@barbarian said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

the fact Australia were behind from the start

To be fair to the Saffas effort on Day 3, at the end of Days 1 & 2 I'd have taken the Australian position on the scoreboard.

There was a fair bit of assistance to the bowlers on the first couple of days, but from what little I saw before usually falling asleep with the time difference - also helped by a few generous gaps between bat and pad.

Am just thinking... in 40 years of watching cricket, perhaps 1985/86 and around 2010ish are about the only times I can remember Australia having anything less than a fully scary bowling attack?

@Donsteppa For many years just having Shane Warne in the team was scary enough let alone anyone else

@Windows97 said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

@Donsteppa For many years just having Shane Warne in the team was scary enough let alone anyone else

He did his best to keep Daryl Cullinan's therapist in business.

@barbarian I get your point and don’t really disagree but if it’s not England then it’s only ever going to be India. Give me Lords over Mumbai any day

London has fans from all nations right here ready snd waiting.

MCG a real alternative but what would a 100k stadium look like for SA vs Pakistan?

Lords is the only place that will sell out regardless of the teams.

@barbarian said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

Didn't watch a ball of this one. I'm a big cricket fan but just struggled to care. Whether that's the timing, the fact it was on Amazon, the fact Australia were behind from the start, I don't know. Unsure what the WTC really is going forward, at very least you've got to have the final somewhere other than England?

I guess there's some scheduling challenges, but with a bit of thought and effort you could have a four test final series - two home, two away - a bit like NBA play-offs.

@Smudge Was the ICC Chairman man of the match or something?

It's like something the dictator of a small country would post on social media.

@sparky said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

@Smudge Was the ICC Chairman man of the match or something?

It's like something the dictator of a small country would post on social media.

He looks like a young, Indian version of John Howard.

@NTA said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

@sparky said in Cricket: WTC Final Oz vs SA:

@Smudge Was the ICC Chairman man of the match or something?

It's like something the dictator of a small country would post on social media.

He looks like a young, Indian version of John Howard.

He has twice the forehead John Howard has