….being bowled out for 189 or conceding 550 for 7, after being bowled out for 187. Perhaps they are equally bad, there is some real toothless bowling from the Proteas. Maharaj looks totally ordinary with little variation of flight. Ngidi who relies on bounce produced one good off cutter in a basket full of long hops. Jansen had a chance at a nervous Carey in the 90s and proceeded to bowl wayward wide balls gifting him the century. Rabada looked less than menacing, but did get the occasional ball to move off the pitch.

Our best bowler Nortje did look good for a wicket when he was on. I wonder though with his pace why he didn’t eventually go round the wicket, targeting top of off stump  to Carey. Without a lot of movement the additional width at least gives a bit angle and that target  should focus the field settings. And why not experiment a bit when nothing is working. The Proteas are just so passive out there.

The  bowlers have been pretty much dominated…perhaps more so than the batsmen.

Mozart

You shit over Nortje when he could not play in the 2019 WC due to injury and they called up Steyn - who failed totally in that series.   When they had to call up a replacement bowler the idiots ignored Nortje and called up Hendricks.   

Nortje has been the best bowler for SA ever since.   Rabada lost the plot and is a medium fast bowler and he was given he boot in the IPL by Delhi and they retained Nortje in their bowling attack - leaving out Rabada from their squad.   The Indians know more about cricket than you do.   They contracted De Kock and Brevis paying them millions and they would not do that if they think the player are useless.   Please note Brevis is not in the SA squads and that shows that the cricket Selection Committee follows your idea - every player under 27 is out of selection for the Proteas.           

You shit over Nortje when he could not play in the 2019 WC due to injury and they called up Steyn - who failed totally in that series.  

How can we forget.....wiped Nortje before he had a look at him. Did exactly the same with Verryenne.

Mike we're on the divide when it comes to politics but I'll say this again.....Jy ken jou cricket.

Well as I keep saying when your bats keep giving you nothing to work with it must be easy to lose the fight and just slip into going through the motions as bowlers. Who can blame them?

We know our bowlers are world class and that definitely includes Maharaj who is one of the best spinners in the game

This great bowling attack is unfortunately stuck with the our worst test batting line up ever. Must be soooo disheartening

Dave \

Proof enough is that Elgar was dismissed for a duck- he has no scored an average of 8 runs er inning s in the four innings he batted in.   Wonder when the bloody fools in charge wake up to the fact that he is supershit? 

But he is not alone in that - he is in strong competition with the rest of the batsmen as to who is the worse batsman in the squad.

The biggest joke in that line up is Zondo

But all of them need to go

The likes of Erwee, Rassie, de Bruyn and Zondo should never have been selected to play test cricket in the first place

Apart from being poor investments given their ages, they all have piss poor FC averages, so why they were identified in the first place is beyond me

With Australia at 475 for 4….and those players having pretty much donated their wickets, the bowling attack looks as confused as I have ever seen it. The lack of a few experienced types like Broad, Southey, Bolt or Starc seems very apparent. The seuntjies are demoralized and I must say Elgar’s orchestration isn’t instilling much confidence.

I don’t think this can be laid at the door of the missing seuntjie. Pretty much every one the mob has called for is in this attack. Rather it’s the missing grey beards we should bemoan . It turns out experience is just as important in the bowling attack

If not for a couple of dropped catches the Oz batting total might have been this impressive.

But the SA side is struggling both with the bat and ball.

What else could go wrong?

The Proteas bowlers have been shielding the test side for a while now.

Have a look at Test scores over the last 3 or so years. Always low totals, with the bowlers managing to keep things competitive.

This series is what happens when the bowling approaches being as bad as the batting has been.

To me, it’s clear. This batting fiasco might be on the more severe side, but it isn’t a first and is in line with how they’ve been batting for a good long while now.

Bloody hell last thing we need is more experience in this test side

These old boys in the side are a fucking insult and disgrace

There are no veterans allowing Oz to reach 475 for 4, only seuntjies.

Maharaj turns 33 next month and Harner 34 next month - they are old, Nortje is not young anymore he is 29 and KG turns 28 in May

Hardly seuntjies now are they?

There is only one seuntjie in Jansen

True but in terms of experience they are seuntjies….together all those bowlers have way less tests than Nathan Lyon. Collectively they have no answers, not enough experience to fall back on. Great teams are always anchored by a cadre of experienced veterans.

Mozart

LMAO

How the hell can Elgar claim lack of experience for the disaster - when the main failures each have three or more years international level experience.    So the seuntjie story is as per normal total BS.

The question is how do players get experience and become greats in cricket.  They routinely with very rare exceptions started young and develop greatness from there.   To start playing international cricket when over or just under or over 30 is too late to develop into acceptable international players.   Beside that such older payers are selected based on provincial experience - but even in those cases on provincial level the older players are below par compared to younger players starting off.    

How silly can you get?   

Maharaj (47) and KG (57)have plenty of experience to draw on

It has stuff all to do with experience and everything to do with our bowlers having chucked in the towel thanks to not being able to rely on their batsmen

They know they are playing in a side filled with a bunch of no hope bats

So the bowlers who no doubt worry about their career averages, the financial aspects of their next assignment which depends on performance and no doubt have some pride….petulantly just decide not to try, to get one back on the batsmen?

Get real Dave, this was an attack that was totally clueless. Rabada has been regressing for some time and Maharaj may have played in 47 tests, but the Oz commentator was spot on when he said he is too consistent, not enough variation to keep the batsmen guessing.

These Australian tests  are probably the worst bowling performance for 20 years. And there is far more than petulance involved….talent, coaching and experience all play a part. I’m not saying there is an obvious solution, but at least we should recognize the problem

I am real this has everything to do with the bowlers chucking in the towel - so evident in KG

I don’t care who you are - no player can keep trying to be positive when you find yourself stuck in a side of talentless bats

It’s gets to a point where you just can’t be asked

This has fuck all to do with the bowlers lacking experience and everything to do with the team as a whole resigned to being second rate thanks to a batting side that can’t post more than 200 runs an innings

It’s that simple - it’s not brain science

We all know that our bowling attack is one of if not the best in the game - so it has nothing to do with talent and everything to do with state of mind

Dave you comment that the bowlers are not given "enough to work with" from the batters is spot on.

Shocking batting performance.

I would rather see some of the young ones at bat going through the learning curve that these present batters.

England is the next team they have to play I think.

More issues I guess.

Rabada would perk up if he was dropped. In his case it’s more about complacency,

Rabada would perk up if he had some bats he believed in

AJ I was listening to an interview with the SA batting coach - hell knows who he is - but he was asked the question about young bats back home. His answer was very measured but basically he said there were good young bats back home but that the question of selecting them was beyond his control and in the hands of the selectors

He said that was all he could say on the matter. It was obvious he was working with bats he did not rate and better options were sitting at home

Mozart

Another favorite of yours - Klaasen - was a batting disaster as well.   He should not be any test or ODI squad.    He is maybe of use in T20 cricket - but even that is questionable.

SA ricket is in the same mess now than rugby selection was done when Meyer and Coetzee were rugby coaches.   Selecting poor player not based on performance led to inevitable disaster.  Erasmus agreed to take over coaching and later management of SA Rugby as Director of Rugby on a number of conditions and one of those were that selecions should be done by the coaching and management staff.

Mpit sang is the "chairman" of the Cricket Selection Committee and the Committee itself is total shit.   There is even a member of the sponsors without any cricket experience in the committee.  Unless the cricket selection is based on merit and form - as well as quota selection without merit - the SA Cricket team is doomed.         

Mozart

Another favorite of yours - Klaasen - was a batting disaster as well.   He should not be any test or ODI squad.    He is maybe of use in T20 cricket - but even that is questionable.

SA ricket is in the same mess now than rugby selection was done when Meyer and Coetzee were rugby coaches.   Selecting poor player not based on performance led to inevitable disaster.  Erasmus agreed to take over coaching and later management of SA Rugby as Director of Rugby on a number of conditions and one of those were that selecions should be done by the coaching and management staff.

Mpit sang is the "chairman" of the Cricket Selection Committee and the Committee itself is total shit.   There is even a member of the sponsors without any cricket experience in the committee.  Unless the cricket selection is based on merit and form - as well as quota selection without merit - the SA Cricket team is doomed.         

Dave we all know that issues off the field of play are the real reason behind most of the dismal performances.

Politics in sport has never worked out.

The only way back up is selection on merit not your colour, faith or political interference.

30 years into the Rainbow nation and what have we got besides going downhill at an increasing pace.

Shocking.

Yeah for sure but what’s frustrating is that rugby seems to have got it right on the whole whereas cricket is struggling

So Zondo top scores….to me he seems tidy and competent. He picks up on the short balls very effectively. To describe him as a joke seems a trifle unfair.

Mozart

Scoring 39 runs and top scoring is not a great achievement - it showed how bad the rest were,   

You never responded to my comment about great Cricket players all started out young.   Some takes a while to reach their high levels they became known for.     In the end they became cricketing greats.

How the hell can we hope to start developing players when they are over 30 years of age or even over 25.    The whole approach and structure is wrong and that remains a fact.