11?Originally Posted by STL
Haha, but yeah, didn't Smith cut an imposing figure coming in at 11, even while injured. The looks on the AUS players faces were priceless when they thought they had it won, only to see one of the worlds best current batsmen coming out. Turns out it only delayed the inevitable by an over or two, but the fact that Smith came out, with a dodgy elbow and a broken finger, really gained him a lot of respect not just from me, but I dare say from most Cricket fans, and as Fungal alluded to, sports fans in general. You could see every ball from the fast bowlers, even MacDonald at his 125kmh-ish deliveries, was hurting him, but he still came out knowing it would. Would be interesting to see if Ponting would have done the same thing if he was in that situation, given it was a dead rubber and whether RSA won, lost or drew, they already had the series sewn up.
Overall, it was a good series, I know we lost, but we were able to see Johnson improve, Siddle improve considerably from the match in Perth to this match (hopefully the selectors persist with him and he is an AUS opening bowler for at least the next 6-7 years, bar injuries), and hopefully we've seen the last of Hayden and Lee. Both past it. Clark when fit back in for Bollinger, and Krejza back in for Hauritz (not really a fan of Krejza, but I think he is the best we've got at a relatively young age at the moment, and Hauritz is rubbish). I would love to see Hilfenhaus in there but I don't know where to fit him in. For Hayden's replacement, the Victorian in me says Rogers, but the AUS in me says Hughes will be better for the long run, and the sooner he is in the better.
Anyway, yeah 20/20s and ODIs, like STL said, the ODIs have become pretty repetitive and every team now has the same plan and team selection, but I still love seeing situations like 30 needed off the last 20 balls and the like, makes for good viewing. And yeah, Noffke should be in, but we all know what the AUS selectors are like...
Plus one.
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