@maxbjourno
Well that first Test wasn’t too shabby, was it?
Last week’s three-day bonanza in Cape Town had a bit of all that’s great about Test cricket.
Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla and Michael Clarke all crafted excellent Test centuries, with Clarke’s monumental 151 standing out for his aptitude as much as his attainment.
Dale Steyn, debutant Vernon Philander and, more surprisingly, Shane Watson, at times bowled beautifully in three very different ways on a wicket offering just enough for the quicks.
No masochistic Englishman is satisfied without a decent batting collapse and, lo and behold, we were treated to two!
South Africa’s disintegration from 49/1 to 96 all out was nothing compared to the wreckage that was the Australian second innings position of 21/9 about an hour later.
Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon – batting at nine and eleven – nudged them beyond a record lowest score and up to a still ridiculous 46 in a performance described in typically brilliant Australian parlance as ‘’very ordinary’’.
The damage was done and the home side cruised to a victory target of 236 on a wicket that didn’t warrant anything like the batting carnage that had gone before.
So we reach our final scheduled Test of 2011 at the Wanderers in Johannesburg and our last at the present Sofa Towers.
If the two sides were struggling to recall how tough the longest form of the game can be, Cape Town should have been a more than adequate refresher.
18-year-old pace bowler Patrick Cummins could earn his first baggy green tomorrow having played more Twenty20 matches than First Class, List A and One Day Internationals combined.
Peter Siddle and the unfathomable Mitchell Johnson both flattered to deceive in decent bowling conditions at Newlands and one could well make way for Australian cricket’s latest saviour, with Siddle most vulnerable if it comes to a last-in-first-out policy.
The tourists are also without the steadying influence of Shaun Marsh at number three. His knackered back allows Usman Khawaja to slot into a side now overcompensating with a uniquely hilarious bravado that masks some deep wounds and insecurities.
36-year-old Ricky Ponting has, to be blunt, just about had it. Trademark shuffling around at the crease did for him twice in Cape Town as aging eyes and reflexes can no longer conceal a longstanding technical flaw.
It will still be a big decision to drop the former captain – talent is hardly queuing up for a place - and, at his age, there is little chance of returning once the inevitable happens, possibly straight after this series.
There’s something quite sad about such a great player slipping out of Test cricket in almost undignified fashion; like Schumacher pottering round the midfield in Formula 1, or that once energetic dog you had now consigned to a flea-bitten basket by the fire.
But, hey, it’s called Test cricket for a reason, and that’s why we love it.
We’re gearing up for what should be another cracker on the Sofa and will be on air tomorrow morning from 8.15am GMT.
Join us, won’t you?