The Slips Drive – Issue 2
This week in The Slips Drive we review Australia’s horrific loss in the First Test against South Africa, offer our thoughts on where the changes need to be made in the lineup and generally chew the fat on the domestic scene. Enjoy.
What Can You Say? : It’s pretty much all been said by now, but it was very tough viewing as an Australian cricket supporter last Thursday night as the Aussies threw away a Test match with an hour of ridiculous batting. The end result was a total of 47 and a subsequent loss inside three days. You would have heard that at 9 for 21, Australia was looking at the lowest Test total of all time and was ‘saved’ from that embarrassment by Nathan Lyon and Peter Siddle, the last wicket pair who put on a respectable 26.
Forget the three Ashes losses since 2005, forget South Africa chasing down 404 in Perth en route to a series win 2 years ago, this is the lowest moment in Australian cricket’s recent history. What made it all the worse was that you couldn’t see it coming. For the first 4 and a half sessions of the match, Australia were well and truly on top. Michael Clarke’s 151 in the first innings was one of the best Test innings played by an Australian in the last 20 years. That will be forgotten. Shane Watson took 5 wickets inside four overs. That too, will be forgotten.
What won’t be forgotten is the meek surrender that occurred with the bat. Was it complacency? Sure, the pitch had a bit in it, the South Africans bowled well, but not one Australian player seemed to want to grab the game by the balls and show a bit of fight. To be bowled out in just 18 overs in a Test match is simply unacceptable.
This is the third time Australia has been dismissed for less than 100 in the last 15 months and you can only wonder where the hard edge has gone from this team. Dumping Simon Katich has never looked like such a stupid decision. The sad thing is, with more changes imminent, it could get worse before it gets better.
It’s Time to Go…… Brad Haddin : You would be lucky to keep your spot in fourth grade if you charged down the pitch and swung wildly, facing your third ball with the score at 5/18. Incredibly, that’s exactly what the Australian wicketkeeper Brad Haddin did. Definitely on the podium for one of the Worst Shots in Test Cricket History, Haddin’s hack was appalling.
The Slips Drive has never been a fan of Haddin. Stories of his arrogance and contempt for opponents in domestic cricket are staggering. His batting had plenty of style, but lacked bottle. When he scored a vital hundred against England at the Gabba last year, many wondered if this was the start of responsible, match-winning innings to come. It wasn’t. Haddin will make his 37th Test appearance later today – We can only hope that it his last.
Natural successor Tim Paine is currently out injured (and doing a great job on Fox Sports), but Matthew Wade looks ready to take over the gloves for the first Test against New Zealand at the Gabba next month. An excellent gloveman, Wade has been in super form with the bat for Victoria this year, notching 120 yesterday in a one-dayer against WA (his 4th one day ton in the last 2 years) as well as averaging 55.60 in the Shield. Selectors – Get him in there.
It’s Almost Time to Go…… Ricky Ponting : As much as it pains the Slips Drive to say this, Punter’s time is just about up. You can see that he is trying hard, is Ricky. In fact, he doesn’t look out of form – he’s just getting out. Ponting is approaching 37 years of age and it appears the renaissance period that all Australian cricket fans were hoping for is long odds to arrive.
Ponting is without doubt this country’s best batsman since Bradman. A man with such a great standing in the game deserves to go out on his own terms, just as former team-mates Hayden, Warne, McGrath and Gilchrist all did. A good judge could assume that Ponting will get the two Tests against New Zealand and the four against India in Australia this summer before riding off into the sunset.
Should this be the case, Ponting will have 7 Tests (including tonight’s against South Africa) remaining in his career. His run tally sits at 12,495 – on current form it will be touch and go to become the first Australian to break the 13,000 mark.
Welcome Back Andrew Symonds : It was all smiles at the Slips Drive when we saw big ‘Roy’ Symonds with his scone on Fox Sports, commentating on the NSW-SA Ryobi Cup game a couple of weeks back. A hard man to dislike, Symonds was back in the cricket spotlight in his home country for the first time since his well publicised departure from the international playing scene.
What was most impressive though, was his commentary. Insightful, entertaining and a pleasure to listen to. He started by putting Brendan Julian (the DUD) in his place and got better from there. Some of the banter with Mark Waugh later in the night was commentary gold, but he also spoke sense about how the SA batsmen should be approaching the run chase.
We can only hope for a few more commentary appearances from Symonds before he starts filming the inevitable “Fishing, Shooting & Sinking Beers with Roy” on the Lifestyle Channel.
Cooper Gives NSW the Blues : South Australian batsman Tom Cooper has been a pretty solid contributor for the Redbacks over the last couple of years, particularly in the one-day format. Originally from NSW, Cooper has taken a special liking to playing his old state this year. Kicking things off with an unbeaten century against the Blues in the opening Ryobi Cup match of the season, Cooper followed up with 98 and a match saving 203 not out in the return Shield game in Sydney. In total, Cooper has scored 493 runs against NSW in all forms this season, at a ridiculous average of 164.33.
Due to a quirk in the draw, the Blues have completed their fixtures against the Redbacks already this season and no doubt some of their bowlers are glad to see the back of Cooper.
Wonderful Warriors Win in Melbourne : It’s not often that teams chase down over 350 in the last innings of a Sheffield Shield match, so special mention must be made to the WA Warriors, who hauled in a big target in Melbourne against Victoria this week. Set 362 for victory, the Westerners were in early strife, losing Marcus Harris first ball. Liam Davis (108) and Wes Robinson (83) then combined for a 166 run stand, with Davis scoring his second ton of the summer, to go with two other scores above 80.
However, when they both departed either side of Marcus North’s brief innings, WA were 4/199 and the Vics were well and truly back in the game. Adam Voges and Travis Birt then stepped up with half centuries before Mitch Marsh sealed the win with a quickfire 21 not out. The six points is a huge morale boost for WA, who have been starved of success in the four day game for over a decade. It’s also another feather in the cap of coach Mickey Arthur, who later praised the calm manner in which his team stayed on target.
Arthur is the hot favourite to take over the vacant Australian coaching job, so the WA players will need to heed their lessons from him quickly.
Things To Like About Jayde Herrick : He’s bald, he bowls with a headband and he has funky star tattoos on his elbows. But what’s most to like about Victorian quick Jayde Herrick is that he bowls at a good pace, swings it around and generally sticks it to the batsman. The firebrand right armer has claimed 20 wickets for the Vics in the Shield so far this season and has caused plenty of headaches for opposition batsmen with consistent speeds in the 140’s.
Herrick has been one of few bright sparks for the Bushrangers and looks to be filling the role as the Vics’ enforcer, which has been vacant since the retirement of Shane ‘Stickers’ Harwood. We won’t mention the fact that he’s got a girl’s name.
STATE OF PLAY
Sheffield Shield
| TEAM | PLD | WON | LOST | DRAW | POINTS |
| Queensland | 4* | 3 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
| Western Australia | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Victoria | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Tasmania | 4* | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| New South Wales | 4* | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| South Australia | 4* | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
* Includes matches currently in progress between QLD-NSW & TAS-SA
Teams receive 6 points for an outright win, Teams receive 2 points for leading on first innings if the match is drawn or lost
| MOST RUNS | MOST WICKETS | |||
| Liam Davis (WA) | 451 | Michael Hogan (WA) | 20 | |
| Adam Voges (WA) | 443 | Jayde Herrick (Vic) | 20 | |
| Tom Cooper (SA) | 413 | Ben Cutting (Qld) | 19 | |
| George Bailey (Tas) | 365 | Ben Hilfenhaus (Tas) | 17 | |
| Robert Quiney (Vic) | 321 | Peter George (SA) | 17 |
Ryobi Cup
| TEAM | PLD | WON | LOST | BP | POINTS |
| Tasmania | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Queensland | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| New South Wales | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| South Australia | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| Victoria | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| Western Australia | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Teams receive 4 points for a win, Teams receive 1 bonus point for chasing target within 40 overs or restricting opponents to for less than 80% of their score.
| MOST RUNS | MOST WICKETS | |||
| Brad Hodge (Vic) | 255 | James Faulkner (Tas) | 9 | |
| Tom Cooper (SA) | 219 | Alistair McDermott (Qld) | 8 | |
| Ed Cowan (Tas) | 207 | Nathan Coulter-Nile (WA) | 7 | |
| Daniel Smith (NSW) | 197 | Ben Hilfenhause (Tas) | 7 | |
| Callum Ferguson (SA) | 190 | James Pattinson (Vic) | 6 |
Thanks to Gallo Images/Getty Images Europe for use of the photo.
