I wish I had foxtel so I could watch South Africa v India. Going to be an amazing series. How's this for a stat:

Steyn v Sehwag
Balls: 166 (27.4 Overs)
Runs: 159
Wickets: 4

Sehwag always tries to score runs, Steyn always tries to take wickets. Going to be incredible to watch.

Sehwag out 3rd ball duck to Steyn.

i think South Africa are the complete test team atm. They bowl superbly, their batting is fantastic and their fielding is awesome too. i dont want to sound biased, but recently, in every test they have played, they always look dangerous. their bowlers always looking for wickets, and the batsmen are always looking to score. when you have someone like amla batting too, it makes the other batsmens job easier. whenever they need a wicket, they can just throw the ball to steyn or morkel and something will happen.

the thing is they just choke at world cup time.

They're still missing one or two parts IMO. They lack a quality third seamer. India are 9/136 and 50 of those runs were conceded by one bowler, Tsotsobe, off just 9 overs. Also, Paul Harris is a decent bowler, but he's nothing more than an end-holder, they need a strike spinner to be truly complete.

They're still missing one or two parts IMO. They lack a quality third seamer. India are 9/136 and 50 of those runs were conceded by one bowler, Tsotsobe, off just 9 overs. Also, Paul Harris is a decent bowler, but he's nothing more than an end-holder, they need a strike spinner to be truly complete.

What an end to the day. England well and truly on the ropes. 5/81 at stumps. So many of them just throwing their wickets away.

supposedly they we're absolutely giving it to Anderson when they we're coming off

could of that moment of been our very own Harmison to Clarke moment circa 2005?

Very good day of cricket from an Australian perspective. It will be interesting which fast bowler they leave out in Melbourne. Hilfenhous seems most likely tbh. It will also be interesting to see which spinner they bring in, or whether they drop Steve Smith down the order and bring in a batsmen. Personally I'd like to see O'Keefe come in, he is also a strong batsmen which helps his cause.

So, 1-1 with 2 to play, but you lot know as soon as you lose one, the Ashes have slipped away, and you're quaking in your boots aren't you! ;)

Do you drop a quick at all and stick with the all pace and then possibly consider one in sydney depending on the surface?

Ashes 2010: Shane Watson might be the new face of Australian cricket

The Australians are beginning to pop their heads above the parapet in the Ashes series. Mike Hussey and Brad Haddin have been visible from the start; Mitchell Johnson has had his metamorphosis. And all the while in a new persona there has been Shane Watson, Test opener, who now has the air of Mr Dependable. So much so that there is even talk of his displacing Michael Clarke as the best option to succeed Ricky Ponting as captain.

This is a transformation almost as gobsmacking as Johnson's. Watson has been on the scene for a long time now. He made his one-day international debut in 2002 and his Test debut in January 2005. He was trumpeted as the next big thing. Post-2005 he was going to be the Aussie Flintoff. But dependable he was not.

This was mainly because his body, even though it has always looked reassuringly strong and solid, kept falling apart. There was a stress fracture of the back, and the shoulder, the hamstrings and the hips have all rebelled. There was even a hint of hypochondria. In India he thought he was suffering a heart attack in the field: it was food poisoning.

It was not just his body that seemed to be holding him back. He did not quite fit the mould of craggy Australian cricketer. In England there was the revelation of his fear of ghosts when he stayed at Lumley Castle in Durham, for which he was duly ridiculed. Sometimes he has been more noted for his hair gel than his run-scoring.

Watson is married to Lee Furlong, an attractive TV sports presenter, and there was the old story, which left several old Aussie players aghast, that he had once employed a dresser for one of the black-tie functions they seem to enjoy so much out here. And he gave up alcohol in an effort to get that body right.

Somehow this was not the archetypal Australian of Allan Border, Rodney Marsh, Ian Chappell and Stan McCabe. Watson was most definitely of the 21st century. It is hard to imagine Marsh, for example, appearing in a hair gel advert, which Watson fronted alongside some other Rajasthan Royal cricketers, and which bordered on soft porn. (Don't all rush to YouTube just yet.)

So despite all the obvious talent – Marsh remembers him as one of the two outstanding batsmen at the Academy 10 years ago (Michael Clarke was the other) – nothing much went right for Watson early on. The power of his ball-striking was sometimes awesome; occasionally he bowled some very quick deliveries. But nothing was settled. Born in Ipswich in Queensland, Watson began his first-class career with Tasmania, moved back to Queensland, and now represents New South Wales occasionally. He had a season with Hampshire in 2005.

Everyone knew of his potential but he performed only fleetingly. The plan was for him to start the 2006-07 series against England as an all-rounder but he was injured just before the Brisbane Test. Clarke returned, started scoring runs and back to the hinterland went Watson.

Then came the crucial moment in Watson's career, at Edgbaston in 2009. A strange, unAustralian decision from the selectors was the catalyst for him to move from frustrating extra to lead player. They dropped the young opening batsman Phillip Hughes after two Ashes Tests and promoted Watson to a role that he had started playing with some distinction in one-day cricket.

In his ninth Test match Watson had found his niche. It soon became apparent that his technique was up to the task. He scored 115 runs in the match. He has opened ever since and has averaged nearly 52 in 19 matches. In the process he has found his identity as a cricketer.

Opening the batting holds no fears for Watson. Logic demanded that at the top of the order he would fail more frequently than the specialists against the new ball. The opposite has been the case. In Perth yesterday he was playing his 32nd innings as an opener and he has been out in single figures only five times. He can do the hard part, surviving those opening overs, brilliantly.

He has a weakness, but one that most batsmen crave. He is vulnerable in the 90s. Yesterday he was dismissed in the 90s for the fourth time since his promotion. Inexplicably, having been in complete control, he missed a straight ball. Even when Watson notched his maiden Test hundred in Melbourne last Boxing Day against Pakistan he gave a straightforward catch to cover on 99 and was dropped. The only quibble must be that he has yet to go on to post a massive, match-clinching score.

"Of course I'd definitely take 90 any time I go out to bat," he said after his latest "failure", "but I'm disappointed I couldn't go on with it. I'm really happy with the way I'm batting, though."

After Hussey, Watson looks Australia's best batsman. The bat has looked broad throughout the series as he booms drives down the ground. He cuts and pulls with power, usually off the front foot. He uses the crease decisively. From side-on, which is where the majority of the press corps tend to be situated in Australia, it is, at least, possible to see the massive stride he takes with his front foot even against England's quickest bowlers. He goes as far as a Tendulkar or a Ponting with that left leg and about 10 times farther than Paul Collingwood.

In recognition of his value as a batsman, he is used sparingly with the ball, not as the last resort but as a handy option if the ball is threatening to swing. It is all slotting into place after the haphazard start to his career.

There could still be the odd surprise to come, though. Until Mitchell Johnson's strike on Friday, there was a febrile atmosphere out here. There was a craving for change. Suddenly Ricky Ponting's position has been up for debate and the attention has turned to his likely successor.

For years now, Watson's contemporary, Clarke, has been the heir apparent. But the heir apparent does not always succeed. Clarke has been in ropy, frenetic form throughout this Test series. His one-day form has been even more fitful and his captaincy of the Twenty20 side has hardly been a glittering success. Clarke now gives the impression that he only really wants to communicate via Twitter.

By contrast, Watson has become a cast-iron member of the one-day side. He has often been wheeled out by the Australian management during the dark days in Brisbane and Adelaide and he has spoken sound sense. The Herald Sun newspaper has suggested that he is now a candidate to replace Ponting. This does not mean that it is going to happen, of course, but it would be another strange twist in a curious career.

Moreover there is more chance – and more sense – in Shane Watson being the next captain of Australia than Shane Warne.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/blog/2010/dec/19/ashes-2010-shane-watson