Submitted by rickeyre on
Mitchell Johnson. A devastating display with the bat in a losing cause was enough to have him breezing past Dale Steyn to break the ribbon first at the end of the six-Test reciprocal series between Australia and South Africa, conducted over the past three months.
Submitted by rickeyre on
For the sixth and final Test of the reciprocal Australia-South Africa dual Test series, I will be posting my daily best-on-ground (BoG) votes to Twitter, and posting a final roundup to this blog after the conclusion of the game. Suffice to say that Dale Steyn is now in the box seat.
A reminder that the Midwinter-Midwinter will be back in the Ashes of 2009 coming this July. Maybe I can be encouraged to dream up some other stupid award in the meantime...
Submitted by rickeyre on
A number of other projects have kept me away from my own blog lately. I promised at the end of the Sydney Test Australia v South Africa in January that I would continue the BoG points tally for my outstanding play of the Aus-RSA reciprocal Test series (for the hugely unprized The Kepler-Wessels) with the South African leg of the tour.
Submitted by rickeyre on
Here, belatedly, are my BoG votes for the final three days of that magnificent Third Test between Australia and South Africa at the SCG (for which I was present for the first five hours of Day Three):
Day Three:
3 pts - Mark Boucher;
2 pts - Peter Siddle;
1 pt - Morne Morkel.
Day Four:
3 pts - Ricky Ponting;
2 pts - Simon Katich;
1 pt - Mike Hussey.
Day Five:
3 pts - Peter Siddle;
2 pts - Hashim Amla;
1 pt - Graeme Smith.
Submitted by rickeyre on
It hasn't been easy coming up with a full set of 3-2-1 BoG points for the first two days of the Sydney Test, but here we go:
Day One:
3 pts - Dale Steyn;
2 pts - Michael Clarke;
1 pt - Mark Boucher.
Day Two:
3 pts - Michael Clarke;
2 pts - Mitchell Johnson;
1 pt - Paul Harris.
Submitted by rickeyre on
Two Tests down, four to go in the 2008-09 The Kepler-Wessels, the rickeyre.com BoG (best on ground) award for the reciprocal Australia v South Africa twin Test series which began in Perth last week and continued with the Feast of St Stephen (Waugh) Test in Melbourne over the past few days. Not surprisingly, South Africans dominate, with only Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel yet to register a BoG vote.
Submitted by rickeyre on
Congratulations to South Africa. Australia profoundly outplayed in this series. If SA can do a clean-sweep in Sydney they'll take number one spot on the ICC Test Rankings. Ricky Ponting is surely one Test, at most, away from retiring, or being retired, from the captaincy. Matty Hayden and Roy should start loading that fishing boat tonight.
With the early finish to the day, Graeme Smith gets two points in today's The Kepler-Wessels count, with Neil McKenzie grabbing one.
Submitted by rickeyre on
As the sun sinks on Australian Test cricket supremacy, time for me to catch up on the vote count for The Kepler-Wessels for the first four days of the Melbourne Test, which should reach its conclusion in an hour or so.
Day One:
3 pts - Ricky Ponting;
2 pts - Simon Katich;
1 pt - Dale Steyn.
Day Two:
3 pts - Peter Siddle;
2 pts - Michael Clarke;
1 pt - Graeme Smith.
Day Three:
3 pts - Jean-Paul Duminy;
2 pts - Dale Steyn;
1 pt - Paul Harris.
Submitted by rickeyre on
My thoughts on South Africa's brilliant First Test victory over Australia still to come, but here are my The Kepler-Wessels BoG points for days three through five:
Day Three (Friday December 19)
3 pts: Paul Harris (South Africa)
2 pts: Dale Steyn (South Africa)
1 pt: Jason Krejza (Australia)
Day Four (Saturday December 20)
3 pts: Graeme Smith (South Africa)
2 pts: Brad Haddin (Australia)
1 pt: Hashim Amla (South Africa)
Submitted by rickeyre on
OK, maybe it's time to start taking Mitchell Johnson seriously. He even has the DKL Seal Of Approval now after taking 7/42 on Day Two of the Perth Test against South Africa. It looked like the visitors were going to amble to the upper hand (sorry about the metaphor trauma there) until Mitch started to hum.
The Kepler-Wessels BoG points for Day Two:
3 pts - Mitchell Johnson (Australia)
2 pts - AB de Villiers (South Africa)
1 pt - oh god do I have to award points to Jacques Kallis? (South Africa).
