Alderman struggled in the West Indies late in his career.

 I think it ended his career.

i must admit this test is a bit painful for me to watch

are the boys doing us proud? The scorecard looks grim

Paine and Cummins put on a big partnership of 100, with the former batting with a  fractured finger.

It would be good for someone like you to analyse why Lyon hasn't been taking the wickets he has as regularly and often as in other recent series. ATM he has 15 in four Tests.

3-183 for SA.

Given how much bounce and turn Lyon is getting, I am surprised he hasn’t taken more wickets. I wonder if he is using his straight ball /top spinner enough to mix it up like he was on the subcontinent?

Warne and other commentators consider all of the Aussie top six to have been below par over the entire series. To them only Paine has batted well enough.

I don’t think Lyon can believe how many balls are beating the bat for no wickets!

i think we only have to survive 75 overs which is not impossible

would be a heroic draw in the circumstances

When one looks at the Oz batting averages, only Paine averages over 50 for the SA Tests.

Warner and Bancroft are in the mid 30s, but the rest are in the 20s.

Cummins has taken 22 wickets, whilst Lyon has 16. The latter has been very unlucky, beating the bat a lot. When one looks at bowlers' performances 
 overseas, Cummins is probably our best current pace bowler. Since Paine has been captain he seems to share a lot of laughs with his skipper, whilst Hazlewood looks more serious on the pitch.

I'm not sure if enough of our batters can bat time?

The tension and hostility out on the pitch has diminished. There seems to be a lot more camaraderie between the teams.  The sledging seems to have been reduced.

Apparently, Paine  initiated a meeting with Du Plessis before play in this test. They had a lengthy meeting  to encourage a much better spirit in the way the series should be played. 

The addition of Burns, Renshaw and Handscomb, has seen more Aussie players smiling on the pitch and enjoying their cricket. 

I've rarely seen a bowling unit in the second SA innings, particularly Cummins and Lyon, bowl so many good balls, and to a lesser extent Hazlewood, yet not take the wickets they should have. South Africa could easily have been dismissed for 150 - 200.

When I've seen Sayers bowl in the Shield at Bellerive, I've thought he has very good rhythm. However, once the speed gun is on him, I think a good Shield bowler is all he can be. He must be the slowest, specialist  fast bowler playing in First Class Australian cricket.

Philander, who is very accurate, with good control over length and who moves the ball both ways, plus who  can bowl short stuff in the mid 130s, is a completely different proposition - a formidable opponent on pitches doing a bit.

It is probably no surprise, but most of Cummins' test cricket has been played overseas. He has taken 9 wickets at the Wanderers.

There is meant to be some rain to hit day 5 of the test, we know Shaun Marsh can bat time he really needs someone to stick around with him for a good 30-40 overs and that should do it.

The bad weather could be enough to get us a draw then. I'd like to see it because the current team looks like a happier unit on the pitch.

If he was English he'd have taken 200+ test wickets, who cares how fast he is as he troubles batsmen. Just look at this test even though he is slow by comparison he has still beaten the batsmen an incredible amount of times.

I would've thought he has beaten the bat far less than Lyon, Cummins and Hazlewood. However, data could show your point to be valid. Stats show he has been very successful in the Shield for a sustained period. I thought Paine kept him out of the attack for a while through lack of confidence in his ability.

 I think of this pitch as doing a bit for seamers. I'm worried about Sayers on flat pitches.

Warne has stated that the only Aussies to have performed on this South African series with an enhanced and value added reputation, have been Cummins and Paine.

I think Lyon has bowled well without luck, given he has beaten the bat so much. Warne considers he hasn't been as consistent as against England, Bangladesh and India. There was some discussion last night about his 'Carren' ball - a ball that seems to turn the opposite way to stock finger spin and drift in from leg to off, like right arm wrist spin.

I thought he bowled more overspin in the  last three series, keeping batters guessing between the sharp turners and straight balls.

I do worry about him on flat pitches as well, but places like England he would do great.

Or we could lose 6 wickets for about 10 runs

Dismal effort with the bat, I am not sure anyone in the top six can be guaranteed for the next test match line up. Paine has clearly taken the wicketkeepers position and the bowling is still very strong. Hopefully Starc will return, Cummins is high quality, Hazlewood and Lyon are very good and there is some more than decent back up around as well. 
Renshaw and Burns had it very tough flying in at short notice, jet lagged and it is really no surprise they failed, although Burns did top score in the second innings. Hopefully this match does not count too much against them, especially Renshaw who I think is a long term opening batsman. I would be looking to be picking him in the next test match, probably also select Burns to partner him. After that I don't about any of Khawaja, Handscomb, Marsh and Marsh.

Agree with all this.

I've heard there is no Test cricket for Oz until October.

I don't suppose there will be much activity in this section for some time.