Part two of the Twenty20 Champions League Preview:

• The Bangalore Royal Challengers have almost as many South Africans in their squad as the sides representing that country (even without the injured Kevin Pietersen). Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn all feature, whilst Rahul Dravid demonstrated in this year’s IPL that there’s a role for him in Twenty20 cricket which doesn’t simply involve driving down the run-rate.

• Somerset’s preparation has been dominated by Marcus Trescothick’s return to India, with some of the coverage seemingly willing him to suffer a breakdown. Assuming all is well with Trescothick, he and Justin Langer make an experience opening pair, with possible future ‘England’ wicketkeeper Craig Kieswetter also capable of making quick runs. It’s difficult to assess how well the English sides will do, but at first glance it seems a mighty task for Somerset to win the tournament.

• Sussex have a reasonably balanced side which was impressive during the English domestic Twenty20 Cup, with the batting of Michael Yardy and Ed Joyce and the bowling of James Kirtley particular highlights, with Luke Wright and to some extent Yasir Arafat capable both of adding runs and taking wickets at crucial moments. The side may struggle against some of the millionaire IPL teams, but perhaps greater experience of Twenty20 cricket will count in their favour.

• Trinidad & Tobago are arguably considerably stronger than the side which is representing the West Indies at the moment, with Dwayne Bravo one of the stars of the (now presumably defunct) Stanford 20/20 competition alongside spinner Dave Mohammed, and with Windies wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin also in the side.

• Wayamba have the experience of Mahela Jayawardene and the magic of Mendis. The latter will most likely bamboozle a number of players who are missing international experience, although he didn’t quite live up to his billing for Kolkatta in the IPL. The side look more like dark horses than front-runners, but, as I’ve already said, anything could happen over 20 overs.

• Victoria might suffer for the loss of Dirk Nannes, but David Hussey and Brad Hodge have the class to make an impact with the bat. Bryce McGain has another chance to make an impact outside of Australia following his disappointing Test ‘career’.

international cricket continues to amuse me. no other world sport is filled with this much drama as cricket is.

ipl is a cancer to international cricket as we know it today. nobody is going to accept that for sure since it’s a big cash cow with lot of milk in its jugs for everyone. one of the biggest blunders in ipl-2 was the introduction of strategic breaks ["sb"] so that broadcasters could fill that gap with “informations for viewers”.

ipl-3 will be coming with that same blunder but in a rehashed form. ipl-3 retains “sb” and it is now split into 2 “sb” per inning. so total 4 “sb” per match. what an innovation. broacasters will be over pluto.. i guess. then again, remote is in the hands of the viewers.

pakistan players are now free off any match-fixing allegations. whoever knows cricket will guarantee that some of the matches in the recent sl-pak series were really “odd”. both tests and one-dayers took dramatic turn for no apparent reasons. commentators call it “usual pakistani incosistency ” but i think there is more to it.

major league baseball in america is finding it hard to redeem some of its icon players out of “dross” usage allegations. mlb reached this stage by playing arrogance and denying wada codes for its players. cricket’s future wont be any different if they keep on playing hide-and-seek with wada code of conduct.

whats the matter with that dale steyn ? he is now cleared from drug test result that showed “slight increase in morphine levels”. smells like another “sweep under the carpet” to me.

lastly, whole world except some in england know the fate of ashes trophy. oz is surely going to retain it. with or without mr.flintoff, eng got no chance of pulling a miracle in the 5th test. fate was always inking it the moment pietersen went out with achilles heel. i am baffled.. why on earth is bopara still playing ? not that he is not talented.. that man is deep in the abyss of pressure. heard ramprakash is being called back.. maybe they should be ringing mr.botham and mr.gooch too.

PS: since nothing can travel faster than light.. prediction is impossible.. just stating my opinion. thats all.

when indian cricketers refused to sign wada agreement most in the indian media said that is because of the whereabout reasons. today, it’s official that south african seamer dale steyn had tested positive for morphine during ipl season 2 in south africa.

this just proves that cricket is not drug free. just another nail on the coffin of indian cricketers’ arrogance.

if they keep on showing their baby face with the wada code.. world will have to assume only thing..

they are all running on boosters..

PS: going by MLB news.. even sachin tendulkar will be in shadows without wada attestation.

Gautam Gambhir’s stay at the top of the ICC Test batsmen ranking lasted just 10 days as Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara grabbed the coveted position from the Indian opener on Saturday.

Gambhir had replaced Pakistani run-machine Mohammad Yousuf as the number one Test batsmen on July 15 but Sangakkara’s match-saving 130 run innings in the third Test against Pakistan propelled him to the top.

By virtue of his performance in the third and final Test against Pakistan, the 31-year-old Sri Lankan wicket-keeper gained two places to secure the number one position with 862 points while Gambhir followed him with 847 points.

Apart from Gambhir, no other Indian finds a place in the top-10 chart and the next in the list is Sachin Tendulakar, who dropped a place to find himself in the 15th spot.Among Indian bowlers, Harbhajan Singh has dropped a spot to the sixth while Zaheer Khan gained one rung to be ninth.

South African Dale Steyn leads the bowlers chart, followed by Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan and Aussie pacer Mitchell Johnson.Meanwhile, there was no change in the top-five of the ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders with South African Jacques Kallis still leading the pack, followed by Johnson and New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori.

Recently I was debating with one of my co-workers who would make up a World’s XI test team on current form. We then went away and picked out teams, and came up with exactly the same list for 9 of them. I found it difficult, as did my friend, to actually find places for Australian players other than Mitchell Johnson. Another difficulty was that it was hard to not just pick the South African team and field that. In the end, I came up with the better list I feel – primarily because I included Shahid Afridi as my all-rounder (before his form peaked during the Twenty20 finals mind you – was I exercising forsight I didn’t know I had?). I’ll list my list below, but it’s important to remember, while reading, that it wasn’t chosen off reputation or past performance, rather current form for the past year. Which, instantly, rules out choosing the likes of Brett Lee, Stuart Clarke, and Andrew Symonds due to injury or selection issues. So too with Sachin Tendulkar – his form hasn’t been better than any of the batters I settled with. Here’s my list:

1. Graeme Smith (c) – South Africa
2. Phil Hughes – Australia
3. AB de Villiers – South Africa
4. JP Duminy – South Africa
5. Kumar Sangakkara (w)(vc) – Sri Lanka
6. Jacques Kallis – South Africa
7. Shahid Afridi – Pakistan
8. Daniel Vettori – New Zealand
9. Mitchell Johnson – Australia
10. Dale Steyn – South Africa
11. James Anderson – England

To me, those are the best in-form players for their respective places. Phil Hughes might surprise a few, but I really think that between his debut and now, there hasn’t been a better opener other than Smith. De Viliers, Duminy, or Kallis shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone – along with Hashim Amla and Aswell Prince, they form the best middle order in any team across the world now. But Amla, as an all-rounder, doesn’t come close to Afridi. And Prince, as a batter, doen’t even come near to Sangakkara. And the bonus with Sangakkara is that you can give him the gloves and he is a good keeper as well. Much along  the vein (though not as a good as) Adam Gilchrist. Vettori, I feel, is the best spinner out there due to his experience, consistency, cricketing mind, and ability to spin a ball on dead wickets. All of that pushes people who might have a better short-term record, or can spin the ball further, out of contention. The pace line-up is, in my opinion, the best four pace bowlers out there in terms of form, consistency, and variety. I wanted to find a place for Makhaya Ntini, but I couldn’t drop anyone from their spot. Umar Gul and Abdul Razzaq, two fantastic Twenty20 Pakistani cricketers, were on the short list – but they are yet to show they can last a full test.

If you look at the bowling line-up, with all-rounders included, it’s quite formidable: Anderson, Steyn, Johnson, Vettori, Afridi, Kallis, Duminy. 7 bowler rotations is very handy for variety, especially with a specialist spinner and two part-time spinners. And the batting depth, if you accept that Johnson can dig out a good knock more often than not, extends to 9.

A good team I think. Opinions? Your own team? Comment it.

Thomas.

And so India finished their Super-Eight campaign with an unblemished slate. Three games, three defeats, and the most dismal defence of a title since Sri Lanka were sent packing from the 1999 World Cup, also in England. As for South Africa, eliminated on home soil by the Indians two years ago despite losing just one game, they go into the semi-finals with a perfect record, just like Sri Lanka. Pakistan and West Indies will need to play out of their skins to deny them.

India’s self-destruction at Trent Bridge was almost comical, though the fans who had flocked to the ground despite the meaninglessness of the fixture certainly weren’t amused. From 47 for 0 at the end of the Power Play to 64 for 4 after the next six represented a very steep decline, and when Yusuf Pathan then lofted one tamely to short cover, the end was nigh. The two Singhs, Yuvraj and Harbhajan, tried to go down swinging, but there wasn’t much conviction in the effort.

South Africa’s spinners were exceptional, with Johan Botha taking 3 for 16, and Roelof ven der Merwe finishing with 1 for 13. They were tidy and aggressive, and backed up by typically brilliant fielding. And they could still call on Dale Steyn at the end to finish the job. With Wayne Parnell and the Morkel brothers also part of the pack, and Jacques Kallis due to come back, South Africa will take some stopping.

India bowled far better than they had in previous games, with the spinners choking the life out of South Africa. Like the Indians, South Africa had also made a frantic start, taking 44 from the first five overs. The next eight produced just 27, and the eventual total of 130 owed much to the dazzling skills of AB de Villiers, who struck the ball so cleanly and cleverly during the course of a 51-ball 63.

Once again though, Dhoni did something to raise the odd eyebrow. Having bowled spin for 14 overs on the trot, he opted to give the final over to Zaheer Khan, whose opening burst had once again been disappointing. He went for 11 runs, and India ended up losing by 12. More ammunition for the critics.

Having been embarrassed by the bouncing ball at Lord’s, India’s batsmen were terrible against the turning one as well. Rather than knocking the ball around for singles, too many of them went for the Bollywood stroke, while Dhoni’s charge down the pitch and subsequent run-out will feature in blooper shows for some time to come.

In the weeks to come, many will pinpoint the IPL, fatigue and a million other reasons for this Indian debacle. Ultimately though, the players didn’t appear hungry enough. The way Parnell ran across to deep cover to stop a lofted drive from Rohit was symbolic of how seriously South Africa took this, and it’s no coincidence that they have now won seven T20 games in a row. The IPL may revolutionise the Twenty20 game, but for the moment, it seems to have benefited the foreign contingent as much as the Indians.

Officials can bang a gong all they like about the country’s financial might, but just as the Premiership has taken England no closer to football World Cup glory, the IPL will never be a magic fix for Indian cricket’s problems. Global events are won by the teams that want it badly enough. India weren’t one of them.

In honour of Umar Gul’s remarkable 5-6 yesterday (youtube here), here are four more of the best-ever T20I bowling performances:

• Mark Gillespie’s 4-7 against Kenya in 2007, taken in less than three overs. Gillespie’s bowling, a record at the time, condemned Kenya to their worst-ever total of 73 all out (although they managed to post an even more humiliating 67 all out against Ireland in Belfast the following year).

• Gul himself has the third-best figures, taking 4-8 in Pakistan’s Dubai demolition of Australia back in May (youtube here).

• The fourth-best analysis is Dale Steyn’s 4-9 against the West Indies, which included an absolute ripper to see off Devon Smith. Sadly for Steyn, the Windies were chasing down a meagre 58 in a rain-shortened match, so his remarkable haul wasn’t enough to secure victory for his side.

The fifth-best figures come from earlier on this week – Shahid Afridi’s 4-11 against the Netherlands in the decisive match that saw the Dutch eliminated from the World Twenty20 (youtube here).

England’s hopes were revived and Scotland’s thin hopes ended on the third day of the World Twenty20. Two matches took place, both being at The Oval where South Africa played Scotland and England took on Pakistan.

South Africa vs Scotland

South Africa were always favourites against Scotland, and thrashed them in convincing fashion. Batting first, South Africa scored at over ten an over to score 211-5, mainly thanks to a stunning innings from AB de Villiers. He had a strike rate of over 200 as he scored 79 runs from only 34 deliveries. Kallis (48 from 31) and Smith (38 from 21) shared 87 at the top of the order, and Albie Morkel again proved he is the lower order danger man with 24 from 11 including one four and two sixes. The only bowler South Africa struggled against was Haq, who came away with respectable figures of 4-0-25-2, but against a total that large Scotland were always going to struggle.

Struggle they did, as wickets fell frequently. Only Kyle Coetzer put up any resistance, and will come away well from this tournament after also being in the runs against New Zealand. He scored 42 from 32 including three sixes, but the only other score in double figures was Haq’s 15. Botha, Morkel, Steyn and van der Merwe all picked up two wickets and Parnell one as South Africa’s strong bowling attack ran through the Scotland batting line up. Scotland were all out for just 81 runs from 15.4 overs, giving South Africa a huge 130 run victory which will send them through to the Super 8s.

Man of the Match: AB de Villiers, for a fantastic innings with a strike rate that was high by even Twenty20 standards.

England vs Pakistan

England bounced back strongly from their shock defeat against the Netherlands with a solid 48 run victory. Kevin Pietersen returned to the England team, and showed them what they had been missing with the main innings of 58 from 38 balls. Luke Wright also continued his good form with 34 from 16 balls. It was a much improved batting performance for England, who had struggled for the boundaries in the last match. Saeed Amjal was the pick of the Pakistani bowlers, taking two wickets for only 23 runs from his full allocated overs. England finished with 185-5, and the game looked like it could be won either way.

England came out strongly with the ball, and made Pakistan struggle to keep up with the 9.25 an over required run rate. Younis Khan (48 from 31) was the main attacking force for Pakistan, but they – like England in their previous match – struggled to find the boundary rope. With rain coming in, they were a long way behind on the Duckworth/Lewis method, making England the favourites to win the match. Stuart Broad was the pick of the bowlers, bowling three overs and picking up 3-17 as Pakistan only managed 137-7 from the full twenty overs. Such a large win will surely send England through to the Super 8 stage, and Pakistan may now struggle as they are a long way behind on the run rate.

Man of the Match: Luke Wright for an all round performance which saw him score 34 with the bat, take a wicket with the ball and take two important catches in Pakistan’s innings.

New Zealand beat India in their recent warm-up match for this tournament, which is bound to raise hopes that the Black Caps will pose a real challenge. Brendon McCullum is perhaps the archetypal Twenty20 batsman (as he showed in his dramatic introduction to the IPL last year), and Daniel Vettori and Jacob Oram are both top-class bowlers in the short format, so anything is possible, but it would still be quite a shock if New Zealand were to take home the trophy.

Scotland’s preparations for the competition have been hit by John Blain’s walk-out, and the Saltires’ fortunes in general have been on a downward curve for the last four years. Gavin Hamilton (who has played Test cricket) is still around, but there seems little hope for Scotland to win a match in the tournament, especially given the group they find themselves in.

South Africa are now the top-ranked ODI team in the world, and have beaten Australia twice in their last two T20 Internationals, but their reputation as ‘chokers’ hasn’t yet been entirely shaken off. The recent emergence of the likes of JP Duminy and Morecambe’s own Wayne Parnell – along with the experience of players such as Kallis, Steyn and Smith – may prove enough for the Saffers to finally get their hands on an ICC trophy.

Please be good against the big boys Jimmy!

Somewhere along the lines, my thought process has changed.  Not necessarily for the better to be fair.

I used to hate Greame Smith, now I don’t mind him.

I spent many long hours wanting to smash Jimmy Anderson’s head in, now I don’t.

This is perturbing.

Alas, as we get older, we grow wiser.  Well some of us.  By us,  I mean you lot, not me, obviously, or Ian Botham, we’re both pickle brained fucknuts, but I digress.

I now believe we have a good opening bowler.

This is a man who has learnt to swing the ball both ways at pace.

That my friends, is fucking dangerous.

He averaged 29.84 for 2008, and is currently averaging 26.85 for 2009.   Pretty good figures them.

But, before Ceci jumps on me, for hypocrisy (I rather bagged him back in March over at the Lovely King Cricket).  Let’s look at his averages again.

Since 2006/7 Ashes.

Still not good enough I’m afraid..

Compare his stats to Mitchell Johnson, or Dale Steyn, or Ishant Sharma, or Shane Bond, or Peter Siddle.  He doesn’t compare.

I want fast/swing bowling that actually smashes peoples jaws, stumps and batsman’s confidence.

Jimmy’s not there yet.  I hope he gets there, because it’ll be a blast seeing him uprooting off-stumps of Aussies this summer, but he’s yet to do anything significant against any of the top 5.

It’s all well and good smashing Kiwi’s & Windies players who don’t want to be here, but can you smash the Aussies or the Saffers (who we face this winter).

That’ll be the true test of his character.

So I’ll hold out on the Jimmy Anderson Wankfest until early 2010 if you don’t mind.

You may agree or not, cricket is a puzzle, with an open eye it looks simple but in reality it changes its color every moment. Five day version and 50-50 format provided enough time to adjust with the color-blindness but with the advent of 20-20 edition teams and players falter to reconcile the situation.

However, there are few players who have risen when things turned abysmal and took their team to safety and become hero. In the first edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) Shane Warne and Dwayne Bravo ascended on cliffhangers to seize victory for their teams.

though Shane Warne's boys were unable to live the expectations but there is no denying of the fact that Warne had to play a great role in Royals resurgence in the coming matches

After watching first four matches of IPL season 2 in South Africa, it is very much clear now that men who have cut the throat in the previous edition will find it tough to save their neck from spin and length bowling.

We at Octansports.com have prepared a list of players who are expected to come good at trouble shooting, when runs will not be easy to score and chase will be no less than mountaineering.

Shane Warne:

If Ridley Scott has went up to Mt. Cook and tried to look around, he must have caught the ‘Gladiator’ in reality. Shane Warne may not have the abs of ancient Roman warriors but carries the soul of a fighter. During the inaugural IPL, Warne with a bunch of unknown faces pushed the dictators of the game to eat dust.

It was his instinctive leadership that has earned the under-dogs the first ever title of Indian Premier League. Warne has batted dominantly when required; against Deccan Chargers he came up the order his 22 not out of nine balls came as the most worthy trouble shooter of the IPL.

Dwayne Bravo:

When Mumbai Indians were running out of inspiration in the IPL’s first edition West Indies Dwayne Bravo came to rescue. Against Kolkata Knight Riders he produced an enthralling exhibition of grit and gusto. Bravo scored a brilliant 64 not-out in 52 balls to give Mumbai Indians their first victory

That was the turning point for Mumbai who later in the series won six matches in a row, a record in the Indian Premier League.

Roelof van der Werwe:

The South African has yet to make his debut in the IPL, but Roelof van der Werwe has the ability to come down in the order and tear any bowling line-up. Basically a slow left-arm bowler but in no time he has made a name for himself in the South African cricket with some blazing contribution in 20-20 against Australia in the recent series.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers who had a bad last season will be looking towards the Transvaal hard-hitter for some inspirational contribution. To Know About The Full List Click Here…

The second season of the IPL (or the first season of the SAPL, if you prefer) gets underway this weekend, so here’s the lowdown on the teams taking part:

Bangalore Royal Challengers
Bangalore’s main pre-season activity was the purchase of Kevin Pietersen and KP will join a host of his fellow countrymen in Kallis, Steyn and Boucher. Last year the Royal Challengers finished seventh of eight teams, with only 4 wins, and Rahul Dravid didn’t look much of a Twenty20 batsman last time out, so it is to be hoped that the signing of Pietersen and the availability of Nathan Bracken following injury last year will improve things.

Zaheer Khan has departed to the Mumbai Indians in a swap deal for Robin Uthappa, but Steyn and Bracken – when available – should be enough to keep the bowling up to standard. Nevertheless, the Royal Challengers are unlikely to be amongst the favourites for the competition this year (although as Rajasthan showed last year, the odds may not be a fair indicator of each team’s relative chances).

Chennai Super Kings
Initial indications are that Chennai look strong again this year. Matthew Hayden’s retirement from international cricket means he is available for the whole competition, and new signing Andrew Flintoff, if fit, could potentially be the archetypal IPL all-rounder. In addition, MS Dhoni remains a potent threat.

Last season, the Super Kings lost out to Rajasthan in the final on the last ball, and the squad looks good enough to go one better this time around if fortune (and fitness) favours the Super Kings.

Delhi Daredevils
Dehli have been hit by the loss of Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Asif, but have added Australian master blaster David Warner and English duo Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah. Perhaps most important of their new additions is ‘Dirty’ Dirk Nannes, a Twenty20 specialist who has been part of successful Middlesex and Victoria teams in the shortest form of the game.

Dehli also have the likes of Sehwag, Gambhir, Vettori, de Villiers and McGrath at their disposal, so if the Daredevils can get the make-up of their side right, they have a strong chance of success. The fact that most of their overseas stars will be available throughout may lead to the odd selection problem, but they will be problems of the sort that other franchises would like to have.

Deccan Chargers
Last year’s wooden-spoon winners in dead last place, the Chargers suffered heavily in the batting department as Shahid Afridi, Scott Styris and even Herschelle Gibbs failed to live up to expectations. he has been recalled, and they have a preponderance of all-rounders having also added Dwayne Smith and Ryan Harris.

RP Singh is also under pressure after a disappointing season last year, as is Chaminda Vaas, and Fidel Edwards’s arrival should improve the effectiveness of the bowling unit. In all, there is some hope for a better performance this year, although it would be hard for the Chargers to do any worse.

South Africa bounced back from their defeat in the first ODI to dominate the second and level the series at 1-1.

Australia’s top order failed as some brilliant bowling from Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell left them at 40-6. Dale Steyn started it off by removing Brad Haddin for just one run, and ended with figures of 9.2-0-27-4. It was Wayne Parnell who was the highlight though, playing in just his second ODI. He took three important wickets in Clarke, Ponting and Michael Hussey, as well as removing Nathan Bracken towards the end. At the age of just 19, he looks like a promising player for the future with his left arm fast bowling. Callum Ferguson and Mitchell Johnson were the only players to offer resistance for Australia, scoring 50 and 30 respectively. They shared a partnership of 63 which carried Australia past 100 and saved them from an embarrassingly low score. As it ended, their score of 131 from 40.2 was still too low, and a victory looked very unlikely.

South Africa soon lost Herschelle Gibbs for just two runs as they chased down Australia’s total, but this was just a minor blip. Graeme Smith top scored with 40 runs before being dismissed by Laughlin, with Kallis also contributing with 31. AB de Villiers (36*) and JP Duminy (11*) carried South Africa home as they secured a seven wicket victory. The series is now level at 1-1, with three games left to be played.

Man of the Match: Wayne Parnell. It was a superb performance by the youngster playing in just his second match.

South Africa and Australia, the two highest-ranked teams in the world (at least at the time of writing, India are bearing down on them with some speed), are playing some of the most compelling cricket in the world against each other.

After the two three-Test series, which overall were tied 3-3, the second leg of the back-to-back ODI series is providing results which are no less interesting. The first ODI went Australia’s way (and then some), with the South Africans being trounced by 141 runs, but the momentum has swung back the other way with Saffer victory in the second match, Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell laying waste to the Aussie batting lineup, leaving their compatriots a mere 132 to knock off for victory (something they managed in just over 26 overs).

The series moves to Cape Town on Thursday – I wouldn’t like to say which way the series will go (although I’m sure some people are already working on it), but I’m prepared to predict a high level of drama and two sides going all-out for victory.

Ricky Ponting won his sixth toss in a row against South Africa and decided to have a bat on what he contently termed “a good wicket” in Cape Town.

Jacques Kallis has spent the better part of the last couple days trying to put everyone at ease as to how he was made captain in the absence of an injured Graeme Smith, but there was still a fair amount of apparent reluctance. Having to field first against a form line-up is no envious way to start a Test South Africa need to win to avert a whitewash.

Phillip Hughes avoids a bouncer.

Spin has played more of a role at Newlands than any other venue in the country and with Marcus North failing to come up from his illness the journeyman leg spinner Bryce McGain was finally handed a debut. The last few months have not been short of drama for McGain – his first tour with Australia was cut short in October when he was sent home from India with tendon damage in his shoulder and his second trip began with a missed flight. At 36 years and 359 days, McGain has become Australia’s oldest debutant since Bob Holland in 1984.

As expected, South Africa went in with a new-look opening pair of the debutant Imraan Khan and returning Ashwell Prince. The allrounder Albie Morkel makes his Test debut, replacing brother Morne.

It has been a dramatic switch for both teams since the previous series. Australia have turned around their fortunes dramatically, with rookies playing key roles, and in doing so they have managed to pass on the restless, testy cape they wore at home to South Africa. Under a steely blue Cape Town morning sky, the heat is definitely on the hosts.

Australia 1 Phillip Hughes, 2 Simon Katich, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Michael Hussey, 5 Michael Clarke, 6 Brad Haddin (wk), 7 Andrew McDonald, 8 Mitchell Johnson, 9 Peter Siddle, 10 Bryce McGain, 11 Ben Hilfenhaus.

South Africa 1 Imraan Khan, 2 Ashwell Prince, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 Jacques Kallis (capt), 5 AB de Villiers, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8 Albie Morkel, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Dale Steyn, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

For Live Cricket Commentary Visit: www.octansports.com/cricket/live-cricket-match.aspx

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                             The History of cricket has seen many great bowlers Uprooting the Sticks but there were Only very few who will be in our Mind forever.I believe that Dale Steyn is one of them.His fiery Pace takes the Timber far away in the Ground to a Distance between Nadir and Zenith.

Ste'aming'yn

He has  Bowled some Unplayable deliveries which always stays in our memories.Steyn started his cricketing career with the domestic season with  Nashua Titans.He is also a handy batsman lower down the Order who set the SA Spectators with fire and enthusiasm when he comes to crease you can either expect a Big hit or a early dismissal he has a typical Style of batting.In the second match of the recently concluded tour in Australia Steyn had a 180 run Partnership with JP Duminy who scored a Double ton.Steyn scored 76(191).

 He is currently a lethal weapon in test cricket with having the record of having second best strike rate behind George Lohmann.

Coming to his negatives he is a kind of aggressive bowler who very often have face to face conversation with Batsman which has resulted in some problems I can never forget the Spat he had with Gayle when Chris Gayle hit him his delivery to a Six.But we cannot forget the ODI series where he damaged the entire WI Line Up Uprooting many sticks(Devon Smith was the first victim)and it is hard to believe that one of them broke unable to withstand Dale’s igneous  Pace.

On the whole he is an everlasting Package that South Africa has Produced.

I would like to attach the Video for the readers to see those rippers.

For those who are crying about the death of Test Cricket, where are you? What are you watching? Sorry, SL and Pak, but I couldn’t survive even 5 overs of that Test match. While Paul Collingwood and Ravi Bopara added some excitement to a mostly boring match, with the result of the result still undecided, there is still some life in that one. But this one is a cracker of a Test match, with today’s play worth every minute of the Sunday afternoon/evening.

Jacques Kallis turned the tables for South Africa today with an inspired spell of bowling, one which he hasn’t produced for some time. This is what South Africa have been missing for some time – an in form Kallis. If he can pitch in 80-100 odd with the bat, this match may be South Africa’s. Four Australian wickets fell in matter of 5 overs and the Aussies were slowly but surely lost grip on this Test. The only disappointment for me was Dale Steyn. I was expecting a fiery over to Peter Siddle after what Steyn received from the latter yesturday.

After wrapping up Australia for 207, the hosts put up a solid start. If Smith didn’t throw his wicket away with that mistimed shot, the outlook would be almost euphoric. The task is yet a good ask – 276 runs from 90 overs with 8 wickets – that’s a health 3 odd runs an over and some strokes of luck. I’ll be rooting for South Africa! Go Kallis! Go South Africa!

Side note: The umpiring has been pathetic to say the least. Fellow blogger Soulberry and Som have done a better job – one with concern and the other with humor – in describing just how hopeless the umpiring situation is. Blind as bat Bucknor is with Billy Bowden, who is slowly but surely loosing my respect. Given the way things have gone, one would think the series is being played in Australia for they have had the benefit of some of the most ridiculous referrals. The umpire referral system is a joke – we have three huge egos clashing instead of two. Interestingly, they seem to have a ploy of sticking to togather in their “crisis”. Can we stop the referral system and move on, please?

How long will Dale Steyn remain a top bowler, and continue to play for the South African national team? Will he remain a great bowler after 30?

Strengths:

Clean bowling action.

Strong, wiry, non-bulky, non-Brett Schultz frame

Some abilities as a swing bowler.

Reasonable Stamina.

Weaknesses:

In the short-to-medium term, nothing.

Is a shortish fast bowler, and skids on to the batsman.

Puts a lot of pressure on to himself on the follow through.

Bounce is not a weapon.

Similar to Allan Donald, does not have loop to his bowling. The ’skim the surface’ guys last longer than the ‘hit the deck’ guys.

Opportunities:

Swing. Can definitely convert himself into a crafty, Damien Fleming-esque swing bowler when the extreme pace has deserted him.

Sports Medicine. And South Africa is well nigh the best in the cricket world in that.

A handy bat.

Threats:

The assembly-line of fast bowlers for the Saffers.

Morne Morkel. In the long term, Morkel with his height and bounce will be a greater threat than Steyn at 30 (and will be better at playing the Ntini role). And he is a better bat.

Skiddy bowlers, unless they are Malcolm Marshall, never were the same after they were 30.

Final Analysis –

Steyn will retire / will be sacked with 300 wickets or so, at around the age of 31. He might well end up being remembered as an all-time great, in line for being the third best skiddy fast bowler of all time after Malcolm Marshall (who of course is the greatest fast bowler of all time IMHO), and Waqar Younis.