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AUSSIES HUMILIATED! Major selection calls after Proteas thrashing - RSA vs Australia 2nd Test, Day 5 Review · The Follow-On

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to St. George's Park.
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: The second test of a thrilling series between Australia and
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: South Africa is complete. South Africa are the victors. My
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: name's Courtney Walsh. I'm with Fox Sports Australia. I'm joined
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: as always by Dan Cherney, maestro for Codesports Australia, and
• 0:17
  Speaker 2: this is a joint Fox Sports and Codesports production of
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: The Follow-On.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: Dramatic day? Well, was it a dramatic day?
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: We certainly saw a lot of action here on the
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: final day, but In the end, it was what we expected,
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: with South Africa posting a very strong dominant victory, an
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: innings win, arguably in the.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Space of just over three days when you consider all
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: the rain.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: So a strong, strong response from what happened last week
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: at Kingsmead Stadium. Dan, run us through what it means,
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: or actually what happened today, more to the point, as
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: we look towards what shapes.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: As a thrilling conclusion in Cape Town next week.
• 0:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, Courtney, look, it started, it was always going to
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: be a fairly big ask for Australia, having already lost
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: four second innings wickets last, Yesterday, and of course the
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: one the previous evening, 13 wickets overall on day four.
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: Having said all that, they had a bit of good
• 1:05
  Speaker 3: luck because the clouds behind us, they opened and there
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: was a fair bit of rain in the morning.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: It was on and again, off again with the covers.
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: The first session was wiped.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Out, which didn't wipe out, from an overs perspective, a
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: full session's worth of overs, but it was enough to
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: push the day back.
• 1:20
  Speaker 4: And in the end, Australia was going to have to
• 1:22
  Speaker 4: survive about 80 overs, depending on how the light ended
• 1:24
  Speaker 4: up playing. They couldn't quite get there.
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: They survived what was around 55 or so. So they
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: got probably two-thirds or so of the way there. And
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: it raised a lot of the deficit. They almost got
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: to within range of forcing South.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Africa to bat again.
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: Losing in Bidenians in 31.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: Look, a couple of very good batting stories for Australia
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: from the wreckage. Travis Head, having only previously made... He
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: was 87 on out last night, so he made most
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: of them yesterday. But having only made one... previous Test
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: Century Abroad. Got his second one, his first since the
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: 2023 World Test Championship Final.
• 1:56
  Speaker 4: Did very well, he got there.
• 1:57
  Speaker 3: If you see our camera shaking, it's because the wind
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: is blowing, and it was a very windy day. Scott Boland,
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: considering what was an extraordinary match, and a shame that
• 2:06
  Speaker 3: it was in defeat because he deserves great applause. It's
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: five wickets with the ball, of course, having been included
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: at Nathan Lyon's expense. And then 40, Test High Scorer 40,
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: from no fewer than 166 balls. Previously, his high score
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: was 21, and previously he'd never faced more than 72 balls.
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: So he's gone effectively double his high score and more
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: than doubled his longest test innings in.
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: Terms of balls. Certainly, he would have exceeded that in
• 2:32
  Speaker 4: minutes as well.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: I didn't see the final summation there, but he batted
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: for more than a session, and it was the extended
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: session at that, finally departed.
• 2:40
  Speaker 4: Alex Carey provided.
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: Some resistance down the order, but unfortunately, the man who
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: couldn't provide resistance was Steve Smith. And that was probably
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: the most pivotal moment of the day, other than, well,
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: maybe with the exception of the head wicket. But it
• 2:53
  Speaker 3: was Steve Smith who fell to Cahiso Rabada. And of
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: all the places and all the bowlers in Port Elizabeth,
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: eight years on from their famous, infamous collision at this
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: very venue, Rabada had the last laugh yet again. It
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: wasn't a classic new ball wicket by any stretch. It
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: was a flick off the, an attempt to pull through
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: mid wicket on.
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: The top edge.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: And as you, you know, again, I'm not sure how
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: much the shaky camera is coming through to you viewers
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: back home, and if you do fall over.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Then we need to figure out why.
• 3:20
  Speaker 4: As I catch the microphone here.
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: But Matthew Breitsky took a juggling catch to the extent
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: that Temper Boomer, the South African captain, couldn't even watch
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: this fantastic footage of him from the broadcast. Temper Boomer
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: is literally standing facing away, like, you know.
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: Similar to me with this podcast podcast, by the way.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: I'm wondering if we're going to lose it in a second.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: I might even hold the camera here to see if
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: it works.
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: But yeah, no, it was an extraordinary moment, but it
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: was a critical one. And Steve Smith, for all the
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: hullabaloo about the hype heading into the series and his
• 3:53
  Speaker 3: outstanding catching performance in Durban. He hasn't yet reached 30
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: in four innings.
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: He had this neck stiffness.
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: He ended up coming in at number seven at a
• 4:01
  Speaker 3: long wait. He's about at number seven today because of
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: the head bowler partnership. The best pick of the bowlers,
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: before we sort of turn our attention more to Cape Town,
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: but the pick of the bowlers for us today was
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: Jan Mulder.
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: He was outstanding.
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: And, you know, you think of Marco Jansen and Rabada
• 4:15
  Speaker 3: providing the fire, and they did.
• 4:18
  Speaker 4: They certainly did. And Simon Harmer did well with the spin.
• 4:21
  Speaker 3: But in the absence of Andres Nukia, a tremendous performance
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: from Bjorn Mulder, who just got the ball to nip
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: away consistently.
• 4:29
  Speaker 4: Got through the gate.
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: A couple of times.
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: Got head chopping on, but bowling through the gate. There's
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: one other there as well. Just a brilliant piece of
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: bowling overall from Mulder. He's been a real, you know,
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: not one of the high-profile stars in South Africa side,
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: but no one went into this series from an Australian
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: perspective saying, speaking to say, hey, I think Jan Mulder's
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: going to be this major threat, but he has proven
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: to be so across two tests, and, you know, if
• 4:52
  Speaker 3: the conditions have a bit of grass on the wicket,
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: and he's also, you know, obviously more than nuisance value
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: with the bat, given he has a test-high score of 367,
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: he may yet prove to be very much a handful
• 5:03
  Speaker 3: in Cape Town, particularly given what.
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: He'll be playing, I can imagine, with that point injury.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: So a couple of things I thought were really important today.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: We know that Australia were well behind yesterday. It was
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: a debacle, really dismal. Just a performance that well below
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: the standard this team has set. Even with the struggles
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: with the top order, you generally find one that will
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: make a decent innings.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: They might scratch the 250, 275.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: The bowlers we know have been so brilliant and dug
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: them out. I thought today was important because, Travis said,
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: as you said, not just the first century against South Africa,
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: the first since.
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: at the World Test Championship Final overseas at the Oval
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: in 2023.
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: I thought it was important because he stood up and
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: laid a marker after a really disappointing performance yesterday from
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: the collective.
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: He was the vice-captain, he's a senior figure in this
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: team now, eight years on from.
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: Basically coming in at the tail end of the Sandpaper
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: Gate saga, he was the next man in. He stood up,
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: I thought, and batted really solidly, used the tempo well,
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: I think that sort of suggests we'll see what happens.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: And, you know, we don't know where he'll bat in
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: the future.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: But I do think that that's four centuries now from
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: nine tests as an opener. And the way he batted
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: today I thought was as much of an opener and
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: yesterday as what we've seen. He blunted the ball. He
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: got through that difficult period where he struggles. And I
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: thought it was a really good, solid effort. You talked
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: about Boland.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: I think that, you know, just showed, again, center market
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: to the rest of the top order.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: Put a bloody price on your wicket. You know, you
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: can bet on this. And that's not me quoting myself.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: I'm actually quoting Vernon for the lander who was, you know,
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: who was quite critical of the Australians yesterday when he
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: said they batted without much guts.
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: It was a gutsy performance from Bolan.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: And I also thought it was important for Kerry, even
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: though it didn't work in the end. He'd been out
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: of form in the last couple of tests. You know,
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: not playing with the same, but he batted and he
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: was the last man there at the end.
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Made 30-odd. Now, it's not a massive, thing in the
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: total and this is in.
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: A losing tide but there's about three or so there
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: that I thought showed some significant resilience and.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: The momentum has gone South Africa's way but.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: At least it was a they dug their toes in
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: today I thought and at least meant they're.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Walking away with something to hold on I think.
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: Too agree I mean put it this way if you'd
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: flipped the match obviously it wouldn't have worked from a
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: follow-on perspective but say say Australia had made it first
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: and made what they made in this in his 270
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: odd or something whatever it was and Then South Africa
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: had made nine for 420.
• 7:30
  Speaker 4: Then Australia in the third innings of the match had
• 7:32
  Speaker 4: been violent for 99 to lose by innings.
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: Gee, if that's your lingering memory from a match and
• 7:37
  Speaker 3: you're playing a deciding test against the reigning World Test
• 7:39
  Speaker 3: champions at a venue where the last time you were
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: out you had.
• 7:43
  Speaker 5: Perhaps the most infamous scandal in the sports history, you know,
• 7:47
  Speaker 5: last time out, gee, that's a pretty tough situation to
• 7:50
  Speaker 5: be in. Now, it's clearly not a great situation either
• 7:52
  Speaker 5: at the moment, but you're right. There is enough to go,
• 7:55
  Speaker 5: you know, there are, parts from the wreckage that can
• 7:58
  Speaker 5: be salvaged.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: I thought Head was significant. His overseas record had been poor.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: I think, look, you never say things are never in concrete,
• 8:09
  Speaker 3: but I think for the time being, can we just
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: sort of stop this discussion about Travis Head moving back
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: down to number five?
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: I mean, put it this way.
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: There have been plenty of guys over the last couple
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: of years in Australia for Australian chess cricket who've been
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: able to succeed at number five when they've had a chance.
• 8:22
  Speaker 4: Head is one of them.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: So, too, is Cameron Green.
• 8:24
  Speaker 4: Made his entry.
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: At his second-most recent start in Darwin and a 50
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: in Mackay as well.
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: Obviously, made 270 runs at number five last week.
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: Funnily enough, he didn't end up batting at five.
• 8:34
  Speaker 4: In either innings this week for various reasons.
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: And struggled.
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: And did struggle.
• 8:40
  Speaker 3: We know Alex Carey's had some success at five. We
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: know Josh Inglis, who is going to be fit for
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: the next test, as is Cameron Green, has had some
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: success at five. Even McGuire, during the past, has had
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: some success at number five.
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: Obviously, he's retired now.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: So.
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: But you know what no one's been able to do
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: other than Travis Head in recent times?
• 8:57
  Speaker 4: Make runs as an opener.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: Since the last five years, so in.
• 9:00
  Speaker 6: Pat Cummins' time as Australian captain, since he took over
• 9:03
  Speaker 6: after the head of the 21-2 Ashes, after the Tim
• 9:06
  Speaker 6: Payne saga emerged, scandal emerged, 12 test entries by Australians
• 9:10
  Speaker 6: as openers into the test cricket.
• 9:13
  Speaker 3: Six by Ozma Khawaja, who's retired.
• 9:15
  Speaker 4: Two by David Warner.
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: Also retired. Four by Travis Head in just nine tests.
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: So can we please... Stop suggesting that Travis Head goes
• 9:22
  Speaker 3: down the order. To me, it's a folly. I get
• 9:25
  Speaker 3: the rationale, but it's just, that makes no sense that
• 9:28
  Speaker 3: you would be trying to move a winner in a position.
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: Where you have struggled for ages to find another winner.
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: To Carey, I think, interesting situation, because again, he ended
• 9:37
  Speaker 3: up ending up eight today. Two reasons for that. One,
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: the night watchman bowled you, the night watchman in both innings.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: And two, because they had this weird thing where they
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: didn't want to move Carey from six. and they wanted
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: to move Webster into the position where Smith had been.
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: It didn't really make sense, if I'm being frank.
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: You step back, Webster's ended up coming in at number five,
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: ahead of Boland, and then Smith's end up coming in
• 9:57
  Speaker 3: at seven. So Kerry's come down at eight, and he
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: ended up being stranded. And it's a reminder of partly
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: why they actually moved Kerry up, because they thought too
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: often he was being stranded.
• 10:04
  Speaker 4: He's too good to be left hanging.
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: But in recent times, he hasn't been making the runs
• 10:08
  Speaker 3: at six. The more and more I think about it,
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: I think in the long run, he shouldn't You split
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: the difference and he probably is a seven.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: The old keeper spot.
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: I think he's just not quite, not maybe, look, at
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: a six he could probably make it, but I think
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: in the long run you probably want to see him,
• 10:25
  Speaker 3: you want to see him at seven, because I think
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: it's the best of both worlds. Look, maybe he's a six,
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: but again, wasted to a degree at eight. He did
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: bat nicely. Gee, he lives dangerously with those sweeps, which
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: he's got a long-standing difficult relationship with that shot, a
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: Vex relationship.
• 10:37
  Speaker 4: I'd say.
• 10:38
  Speaker 3: But, you know, a nice, some glorious shots.
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: Through the offside.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: Look, in the end, there was a brief period because
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: of the light.
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: They thought, gee, maybe they can hang on here.
• 10:45
  Speaker 3: There was this moment where Josh Hazlewood was a very
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: nearly run out as they were trying to keep the
• 10:51
  Speaker 3: strike carry. In the end, Hazlewood got exposed to Michael
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: Janssen and nicked off. And that was always going to
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: be the case.
• 10:58
  Speaker 4: Eventually, if things last long enough, Josh Hazlewood, obviously, you know,
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: a bunny.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: So we've had, we're tailing, we've had Pat Cummins come
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: in to do the press conference afterwards, Timber the Boomer
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: And, look, he has a difficult position.
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: I asked him what happens in the next 24 hours,
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: and his response was, this one, you know, it sits
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: with you. Like, it's going to, you know, it will hurt.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: You know, they'll go back. Hopefully, they'll look at themselves
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: in the mirror, and that's basically what he said. And
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: then we'll rebound. We'll get ourselves together.
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: We'll get to Durban.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: We'll put in the hours and the nets, which is
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: what you expect him to say, by and large. I guess, again,
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: the fascination is going to be on who comes in,
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: what happens, and Marnus, he was asked about Marnus and
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: again touches on the frustration of making it through the 30s.
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: He said Marnus is doing the hard stuff. He's getting
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: through the infancy of the innings and then he's getting
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: himself into the 30s and losing concentration or playing that
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: shot that caused all the condemnation yesterday. What I thought
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: was quite interesting is that Tim Maluma was coming in
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: and he talked about, well, you know, I'm not one
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: to talk about, you know, I can get away to
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: starts and then try to follow along. He did magnificently
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: here when the man of the match with that unbelievable
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: 179 that really turned.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: The tide here.
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: But he was the one that spoke about, well, you know,
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: it's a confidence thing. It's a mental thing.
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: It's not so much a technique thing.
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: So, you know, I don't know what it means. I
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: sense that he'll play. in Cape Town.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: I think he will get another chance, but I'd love
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: to know what.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: Your reading is of that.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: I mean, clearly, you know, well, maybe they told him
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: he's playing.
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: I'd be surprised.
• 12:39
  Speaker 4: I'd be shocked if they rushed to any decisions.
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: I have more faith, I have more confidence that he's
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: going to play than I did 24 hours ago, having
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: heard Pat Cummins talk. I think the fact that he
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: accentuated the positives of that, whereas perhaps with some of
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: the others, he was less... what's the word, less definitive around,
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: I have to say, he wasn't asked directly about Webster,
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: I think he was asked directly about Maddison, maybe in
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: one of his radio interviews. Clearly, Green looks like he's
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: going to be available, and I think he automatically comes in.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: I mean, he's got 100 second most recent start, 50,
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: even if he can't bowl, which I don't think he
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: will be, I think he has.
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: To play as a form batter. And given the batting,
• 13:17
  Speaker 4: it's just gone so badly.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: He actually faced bowling today in the Nets.
• 13:19
  Speaker 4: From Michael Nisa, I believe.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: Which I'm not so sure he'd done before.
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: No, I don't think so.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: He had throw downs, but not necessarily facing bowling.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: I mean, look, it's going to be Steve asked to
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: come in off a layoff, but nonetheless, I think he
• 13:30
  Speaker 3: has to play. You're right, Labashain, and Pat is right,
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: Labashain has been doing the hard part. And put it
• 13:36
  Speaker 3: this way, who would you have more faith in to
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: make runs for you in the next test between Labashain
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: and And Nick Maddison, well, you're probably saying Manas Labesha.
• 13:46
  Speaker 4: I mean, unfortunately, Maddison looks all at sea. I mean,
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: remarkable stat. Maddison has not... Sorry.
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: Maddison has unfortunately been dismissed by Rabada three times for
• 13:56
  Speaker 3: eight runs with an average of 2.66 against him. Manas
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: has never been dismissed by Cahisar, Rabada and Tess Cricket.
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: So he's 108 balls against him.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: He was all good.
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: For him yesterday.
• 14:06
  Speaker 3: He got out to Simon Harmer with a poor decision,
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: but not so much.
• 14:12
  Speaker 4: But clearly, he wasn't as... And he was technically challenged,
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: but not to.
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: The degree that others have looked completely all at sea.
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: So he's getting the starts. It's beauty is in the
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: eye of the beholder here. Everyone is eternally frustrated. If
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: this was the end of the series, I think they
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: would just move on with it. There'd be no question
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: about it. But they're not going to... As we said yesterday,
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: they're not going to fly someone in. So I think
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: the calculus ultimately comes down, because I don't think they
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: can have Connolly.
• 14:35
  Speaker 4: So I think the calculus ultimately comes down to.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: and there's a few moving parts, but it probably comes
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: down to Labuschagne v Inglis, in my view. Because I
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: think Green definitely comes in. I think Maddison definitely goes out.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: And then the question is, who opens? Well, probably Renshaw,
• 14:49
  Speaker 3: because Green can go to the middle order. But then,
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: or alternatively, Maddison could open at a stretch. I think
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: that's unlikely, though. I think the question will be, do
• 14:59
  Speaker 3: you prefer Green to come in about in the middle order,
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: keeping Maddison at three? Or do you say, we bring
• 15:05
  Speaker 3: Green in about at three, and Inglis comes in to,
• 15:09
  Speaker 3: I suppose, fill the Renshaw position. Renshaw goes up to open.
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: And then there's the extra discussion around seven to 11.
• 15:15
  Speaker 3: I mean, particularly Webster v. Connolly, which I think will
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: definitely be a live discussion point on the back of
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: Webster's struggles in this match. It'll cut, clearly the pitch
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: will come into it. And I think the other thing
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: that will come into it is whether they go into
• 15:27
  Speaker 3: the four quicks again. And I think there's a pretty
• 15:30
  Speaker 3: fair chance, I mean, they get, I mean, Scott, Pat Cummins,
• 15:33
  Speaker 3: when he say, I can't imagine loving anyone more than
• 15:35
  Speaker 3: I love Scott Bolin or words to that effect. They're
• 15:37
  Speaker 3: not going to drop Scott Boland. Scott Boland's going to
• 15:39
  Speaker 3: play the next test. I mean, it would be absurd
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: for him not to. And the only decision, I think,
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: would be if one of the other quicks doesn't pull up.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: I think, you know, you couldn't possibly bring Nathan Lyon
• 15:50
  Speaker 3: in for Scott Boland. I mean, on what planet could
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: you do that? Unless they get a wicket, which... You know,
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: they're expected to be really dry, which they don't typically
• 15:59
  Speaker 3: get in Cape Town, not once in October.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: So, no, I think that's right.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: And look, just on Linus, that phrase, weighted runs, now,
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: I know it's a different sort of meaning. He did make, what,
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: 75-odd runs in Australia, made 360-odd runs for the test.
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: So he's made more than 20% of the runs that
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: Australia put out in his test. It's such a vexed
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: thing because he had the chance to bat and to
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: bat and to.
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: We got the 14 in the first thing, and then
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: the 39 in the second.
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: So it's 50.
• 16:30
  Speaker 3: Nonetheless, the 237s in the first test, the test where,
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: you know, as I said, Steve Smith hasn't got to
• 16:37
  Speaker 3: 30 once in this series, minus he's done it three times. So,
• 16:40
  Speaker 3: I don't know.
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: It's like.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: Call it a Rorschach test.
• 16:46
  Speaker 3: You can sort of, you know, and look, the public
• 16:49
  Speaker 3: sentiment undoubtedly will be to call for Marnus's head. I'm
• 16:53
  Speaker 3: no doubt, we probably will run a poll and I
• 16:57
  Speaker 3: have no doubt that it will be running in excess
• 17:00
  Speaker 3: of 80% of people will want Marnus to be dropped
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: because people are over him.
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: And I think we completely get that.
• 17:06
  Speaker 3: But at the end of the day, they're coming to
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: a test in which they decide that they don't have
• 17:11
  Speaker 3: a thousand options. They've got only the guys who are
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: on the ground. But Josh Inglis, who is unproven as
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: a top five.
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: Sorry, he's out in Sri Lanka.
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: But pretty unproven as a test player. He didn't do
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: very well against England last summer. He's coming off injury
• 17:26
  Speaker 3: as well.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: It's going to be.
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: A big call to leave Marnus in or out. But
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: I think right now I probably have him in.
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: Look, we're getting blown away here. The Aussies were blown
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: away here as well. But we have got Cape Town
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: to come.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: FaceTime.
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much as always for your insight, Stan. It's
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: a pleasure to have you on as a joint combination.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: We're going to go and do some writing after this,
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: but thanks as always for joining the follow-on podcast, the
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Fox Sports and Coast Sports Podcast.
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: We'll have both of.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: Us writing for our respective websites today.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: Signing off, though, from St. George's Park. Cannot wait to
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: get to Cape Town.