England v. Sth Africa - Test Series

[Donny]

0/255. Gibbs 135. Smith 106. 55 overs.

[Donny]

Well, it's back to reality for England after promising recent performances. Last summer, they came to Australia with similar high hopes after playing well against some of the other Test nations.

It's early days but I think we're witnessing the big difference in standard between Australia and Sth. Africa and the rest.

At stumps, SA are 1/398 after a scintillating partnership from their openers.

Herschelle Gibbs and Graeme Smith put on 338 for the first wicket. Smith, at 22, became the youngest captain to score a Test century. He has achieved this distinction 100 days younger than Javed Miandad.

These two scored 368 against Pakistan in 2002 and, yesterday, became the first opening combo to score a triple century opening partnership, twice and only the second for any wicket.

Don Bradman and Bill Ponsford performed that incredible feat in consecutive Tests in 1934 with 388 for the 4th. at Leeds and 451 for the 2nd. at the Oval.

Gibbs also had a triple century p'ship with Jaques Kallis. Apart from the great Bradman (5 times), only Miandad has three of these.

Gibbs scored 179 before falling to the occasional off spinner, Michael Vaughan. He hit 29 fours and a six. He faced only 236 deliveries.

Smith is 178 n.o. from 257.

James Anderson found Test cricket somewhat more demanding than ODIs and went for 78 at 6 r.p.o.

[JLC]

South Africa lost their last series to England im pretty sure ?? One day of cricket doesnt make a summer either...lol

However the first day is one England would rather forget. Watched a bit and their doesnt appear to be much in the wicket however Sth Africa did very well and scored quickly. However South Africa have to still win the test so i will be interested to see Englands reply.

jlc

[JLC]

[London Dave]

[HAL]

Oh. Yeah, it seems very long to me too.

[Donny]

Good to have you back, JLC.

Bangladesh v. England in a Test match ? The Bangers would have to start favourites, wouldn't they ?

[Donny]

Seven of the worst
Freddie Auld - July 24, 2003

In light of England's dire start to the series, Freddie Auld looks back at seven other dismal series first days.

Australia 364 for 2, Brisbane 2002-03
Scorecard
The day started well enough when Nasser Hussain had a change of luck and won the toss, but things then got immediately worse when he bizarrely opted to bowl on a typically good Brisbane batting track. In among a host of dropped catches and wayward bowling, Matthew Hayden raced to 186 not out and Ricky Ponting smashed 123. Add to that a horrendous knee injury to Simon Jones, and it couldn't hardly have been any worse. England lost the match by 384 runs, and predictably the series, 4-1.

England 122, South Africa 64 for 1, Johannesburg 1999-00
Scorecard
England took a new-look squad to South Africa and included three debutants in the series opener at The Wanderers. But their youthful optimism soon turned into a horrible realism when Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock blew the top order away to leave England in tatters at 2 for 4. One of the new faces, Michael Vaughan (33), along with Andrew Flintoff (3, managed to creep the score to 122, but South Africa reached to 64 for 1 at the close and they didn't look back. England went down by an innings and 21 runs.

England 175, Pakistan 13 for 0, Lahore 1987-88
Scorecard
They were out for revenge after Pakistan had edged the five-Test series earlier that year, but Mike Gatting's team were torn apart by Adbul Qadir, who took a breathtaking 9 for 56 as England crashed to 94 for 8. Neil Foster and Bruce French saved some face with 57 for the ninth-wicket, but 175 all out from 83 overs was not the best of starts. They could not recover and lost the game by an innings and 87 runs, and lost an ill-tempered series 1-0.


England 159, West Indies 85 for 0, Sabina Park 1985-86
Scorecard
Riding high after series wins against Australia and India, England were brought back down to earth with a bump by an awesome West Indies pace attack. Patrick Patterson took 4 for 30 on an opening day in which England collapsed from 120 for 5 to 159 all out in just over 45 overs. And to make things worse, Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes ended the day on 85 for no wicket to set up a 10-wicket win in a 5-0 clean sweep.

England 131, West Indies 14 for 0, Trinidad 1973-74
Scorecard
England travelled to the Caribbean looking to make amends after a 2-0 series defeat to West Indies that summer, but it didn't quite go to plan. In the series opener at Port-of-Spain, Keith Boyce (4 for 42) started the rot as England were skittled out for 131, despite a fighting 37 from Tony Greig. Roy Fredericks and Lawrence Rowe ended the day on 14 for 0 and West Indies went on to win the Test by seven wickets. However, England later fought back to win the fifth and final Test, drawing the series 1-1.

England 134, Australia 8 for 0, Brisbane 1958-59
Scorecard
England travelled to Australia in 1958-59 as clear favourites having not lost a series for seven years. Many considered the England side one of the best of all time. But Peter May's team received a rude awakening in the Brisbane opener when they were rattled out for a miserable 134. Alan Davidson, Ian Meckiff and Richie Benaud took three wickets each, and Australia went on to a win a low-scoring Test, and made a mockery of their underdog tags in a 4-0 series win.

Australia 292 for 2, Brisbane 1946-47
Scorecard
The scoreline wasn't too bad for England, but the fact that Don Bradman was not given out when England thought they had him caught by Jack Ikin at second slip when he had made a scratchy 28 was. It was a big moment in the series and later proved to be a turning point. Bradman ended the day on 162 not out, and went on to make 187, while Lindsay Hassett also cashed in with a hundred. Australia were eventually bowled out for 645 and England capitulated to an embarrassing loss of an innings and 332 runs, and lost the series 3-0.

[Donny]

England's dark satanic mills
The Paper Round
Paul Coupar - July 25, 2003

In terms of bad timing, it was up there with the moment Nero reached for a fiddle rather than a firehose. This was the week that the ECB chose to rebrand English cricket. Journalists were sent packs with moody photos of England's young players, and the sort of personal snippets – James Anderson's favoured brand of moisturiser, Matthew Hoggard's recipe tips – ready to cut and paste straight into Just 17 or Cosmopolitan. Women were supposed to be converted in their droves.

Having revealed their feminine side, the boys were then to be whipped up into a testosterone-fuelled frenzy on the first morning of the series, with a rousing rendition of `Jerusalem' and a montage of scenes of England glories past.

The hype was huge, the end product negligible. On the first day of the Test against South Africa, England leaked 398 runs for one wicket, the brouhaha deflated like a punctured beach-ball and England's sportswriters needed no invitation to shine a spotlight into the reality gap.

Martin Johnson in The Telegraph wondered what was going off out there. "This Jerusalem business, according to an npower-sponsored media release, sprang from the `long held belief that Test matches needed that sense of international occasion'. Who comes up with this stuff? More likely it sprang from a boardroom meeting which began with the words: "Anyone got a gimmick?"

"And was the Holy Lamb of God, on England's pleasant pastures seen?", he asked, warming to his theme. "Well, no one in the media box saw him, though the bloke hailing a cab on the Pershore Road wearing a false beard and dark glasses did bear a mild resemblance to the chief executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board. `Taxi? Tim Lamb here. Bring me your chariot of fire, and get me out of here.'"

Meanwhile Stephen Bierley was dazzling readers of the The Guardian with his knowledge of 20th century literature. "The good folk of Birmingham were totally underwhelmed by the attempt to link William Blake's `Jerusalem' with their national team. However, if anybody could quickly dream up a tune for TS Eliot 's `Waste Land', it might catch on by the end of this match."

The Times quietly shook its head. "The gentle buzz of people talking among themselves, then pausing to concentrate as the bowler approaches, and perhaps gasp at a daring stroke, creates an atmosphere on its own," insisted Richard Hobson.

And amid it all Oliver Holt thought he had spotted the man responsible for the party falling flat - Nasser Hussain.

"As South Africa openers Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs smashed record after record," he wrote in The Mirror, "all the optimism built up by Vaughan and Co. in the NatWest Series deflated as mournfully as a whoopee cushion under the weight of a fat man. The selectors should give Vaughan the job while the momentum is with him. It is time for them to seize the moment."

[Donny]

In the 104th. over, Sth. Africa are 2/444.

Smith has moved on to 205 and Kirsten was out for 44, ct, behind from Giles.

[HAL]

That was a long time ago.

[Donny]

2/506 at lunch with Smith on 246.

He and Dippenaar (20) have already added 68 for the third wicket.

[Donny]

Smith was dismissed for 277. Dippenaar (22) and Rudolph (10) went relatively cheaply and SA are now 5/556.

Giles has 2/137.

[Donny]

SA declared on 5/594 with Boucher (15) and Pollock (24) at the crease.

SA have 2 and a half days to get 20 wickets. England need 395 to avoid the follow-on.

[JLC]

Should be a good challenge for England. They need to show some resolve and fight and try and salvage a draw. Nasser Hussain and Vaughan hold the key. One or both of them needs to make a century.

A bit of rain would also help.....lol

jlc