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"They got ROLLED!" Aussies humiliated in final day against South Africa - RSA v AUS 3rd Test, Day 5 Review · The Follow-On

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello and welcome to the final episode of Fox Cricket
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: and Code Sports podcast, the follow-on on the road for
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: the tour between Australia and South Africa, which ended today
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: at New Orleans. My name's Courtney Walsh. I'm a senior
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: writer for Fox Sports Australia, joined as always by Dan Cherney,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: mastermind for Code Sports back in Australia. After what we've
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: seen today, Dan, we go home a little depleted. A
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: little bereft, the Australians got beaten after a very, very,
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: very strong performance by South Africa. Great comeback after the
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: loss in Durban to turn it around and win this
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Series 2-1. Can you tell us what unfolded today, firstly?
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: It was a very, very miserable day for Australia, who
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: were bowled out for, it was 111 inside, well, in
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: the end it took almost two sessions to get them
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: out eventually, but Truth be told, the match was just
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: about done within an over, the chase.
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: All over in six balls.
• 0:55
  Speaker 4: It was a bit like that. Two wickets down for
• 0:57
  Speaker 4: four runs.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: The loss of Matt Renshaw strangled down the leg side
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: and then Marnus Labershain shouldering arms. Then Travis Head went to...
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: became the third victim to Kehisa Obata. And then it
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: only got worse, remarkably, because Josh Inglis got run out
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: by Cameron Green, calling off a single.
• 1:11
  Speaker 4: That was never there.
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: Both Alex Carey and Cooper Connolly fell. Carey gone reverse
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: sweeping again.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: Connolly.
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: playing Hawley to this delivery from Simon Harmer, who ran
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: amok with six wickets. And then Mitchell Stark, on the
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: stroke of lunch, became the seventh man to fall. And
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: from there, it was really a pageant for South Africa.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: I mean, in some respects, the fact that it then
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: took them the best part of a couple of hours
• 1:36
  Speaker 2: to finally bowl Australia out, maybe only actually took more
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: than two hours because they went to a few minutes
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: into the extended into the tea, what would have been
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: the tea break.
• 1:46
  Speaker 4: To Green and.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Pat Cummins' credit, they did. bat on for quite a while.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: In fact, they went more than 11 overs without scoring
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: at all.
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  Speaker 4: H took an end. It's self-controversial.
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: Now, I don't want to harp on too much about
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: this particular element because by that point, it was already gone, really.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: But the fact that Cameron Green, first of all, at Stark,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: batted ahead of Cummins from a match-up perspective. They were
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: worried about the rough, about a right-hander facing the rough
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: with Simon Hammer bowling into the right-hander. And then Green
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: was shielded effectively by Stark and then by Cummins. Eventually,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: Harmer switched ends and got green. The very first ball
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: that he bowled to green in that net new spell. And,
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: you know, that was pretty much all she wrote. Cummins
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: and Lyon did hang on for another quite a while.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: They did better at most of the session, but it
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: was only going to be a matter of time. And
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: then Josh Hazel was the final man to fall. As
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: I touched on, Simon Harmer finished with 10 wickets. And
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: South Africa, you know, before we get to Australia, because
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: ultimately this podcast will be about Australia, let's pay the
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: proteas their dues.
• 2:41
  Speaker 4: This was a team that was pilloried.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: For having clawed their way to the World Test Championship
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: final on false pretenses, that they'd won two Test Series
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: against the likes of Bangladesh, the West Indies, Sri Lanka
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: and Pakistan. They didn't really belong there. They got there
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: just because of a soft draw, the quirks of the draw. Well,
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: they showed up Australia last year at Lords. And then
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: at the time, that was sort of said.
• 3:03
  Speaker 4: To be a bit of a fluke.
• 3:04
  Speaker 1: The conditions were maybe said that they batted when the
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: light was clear, they had the advantage, is what was said.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: Well, they've since gone to India and won there, which
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: is something the Australian team hasn't done for more than
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: 20 years. And they then have gotten, they haven't played
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: a test for 11 months because of the scheduling quirk.
• 3:21
  Speaker 4: And then first up, cold off a long break, nearly they.
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  Speaker 2: Did lose in Durban, but they've come from behind and
• 3:28
  Speaker 2: come from several precarious in-game positions, both in Cumberca and
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: also here in Cape Town. To win this series, they
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: won it comprehensively in the end, 2-1. They nailed the
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: key moments. Australia made plenty of missteps, but this is
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: a very good set-up in time this side. who have
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: a chance to become a great South African side if
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: they can defend their World Test Championship crown.
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  Speaker 4: And they'll give themselves every chance.
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  Speaker 2: They've got home series to come now against Bangladesh and England,
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: which they will enter as warm favourites for both of
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: those series. I think they then got a trip to,
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: I'm going to say Sri Lanka after that. But they
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: are very well placed, South Africa, to defend their WTC crown.
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: And thoroughly deserved. They've got players who have elevated their
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: games to the new level. Marco Jansen, he is a
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: superstar now. There's no ifs, buts, or maybes about it.
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: He's the number one ranked test bowler in the world,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: number one all-rounder, and he proved across the facets of
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: the game. Timber Boomer has established himself as one of
• 4:17
  Speaker 2: the finest batters in the world as well. Kahisa Rabada,
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: obviously a superstar and ran through Australia early today. And
• 4:24
  Speaker 2: then they've got this incredible support cast. Simon Harmer has
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: become a gun-off spinner.
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: At 37 years of age.
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: Well, it's not he's become a gun-off spinner. I mean,
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: he probably has been a gun-off spinner, but he's finally
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: had a sustained run of matches.
• 4:35
  Speaker 4: They picked him.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: You know, with Gutsaly ahead of Keshav Maharaj, who's taken
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: more than 200 tests. We could spin their mainstay spinner
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: for a decade. Has an outstanding record himself. Bjorn Mulder,
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: you know, all-round performance in this series.
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: Very good with the ball. Very, very good with the bat.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Ryan Rickleton standing up, having been demoted down the order.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: You know, cameos.
• 4:53
  Speaker 2: Marcus Ackerman coming in for his first couple of tests and,
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: you know, being outstanding in this test and going a
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: long way to setting the tone in both innings, really,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: to help his.
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: Side win this match. So, South Africa and it was
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: great scenes.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: You know, they did a little lap of honor afterwards
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: and it felt like almost, now we're from a footy background,
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: I suppose, but it felt like the old premiership lap.
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  Speaker 4: Of honor now.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: And this, and by the way, they were also had
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: earlier as the presentation was going on, we are the
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: champions and it does have very much.
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  Speaker 3: We are from an AFL footy background and you.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Do see that we're the champions, the lap of honor
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: and everyone stuck around the color of the crowd. It
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: was up and about the stands were full today here.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: It was a magic sort of atmosphere. if you're on
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: the winning team.
• 5:33
  Speaker 2: Fun fact about Way of the Champions, everyone thinks that
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: the last line is of the world. There's no actually
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: of the world. People just sing of the world. It's
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Way of the Champions and fade to silence. But I
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: think the thing with that point you make, Courtney, where
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: either the world's been the Way of the Champions is
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: that they weren't afforded the chance to celebrate their crown
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: last year on home soil because they won it obviously
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: in June in London and then they didn't play a
• 5:53
  Speaker 2: home test all summer. They haven't played a home test
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: until this series since that World Test Championship final. So
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: this allowed them to sort of, you know, they franked
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: that performance with this series win and they were able
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: to get that double celebration. The Mace has actually been
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: quite conspicuous throughout the tour. It's been floating around, it's
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: been sort of on show and it was good from a,
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: I suppose, from a plot consistency perspective that South Africa
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: having finally played a home test with the Mace were
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  Speaker 2: able to confirm their status as the World Test Champions
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  Speaker 2: and more than that, the number one ranked side in
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  Speaker 2: the world according to the official ICC test rankings which
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: is separate to the World Test Championship but obviously intertwined
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  Speaker 2: to a degree.
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  Speaker 4: So that was them.
• 6:34
  Speaker 2: Courtney, look, we're an Australian show, we're an Australian podcast
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  Speaker 2: and people will be waking up in Australia. I mean,
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: they'll unlikely be waking up knowing that Australia collapsed because
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: they saw the collapse because it happened in prime time,
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: which is, it happened free on KO Sports. That's right.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: The first couple of hours. Where, what do you make
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: of it?
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  Speaker 4: What are the, and the recriminations and what are the
• 6:55
  Speaker 4: big talking points from that?
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Just seeing Pat Cummins afterwards and he spoke in a
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: press conference about And he was asked at one stage,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: this one hurt? And it was clear that it really
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: did hurt. And I think it will hurt for a
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: lot of reasons. Firstly, they let them off the hook
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: for mine. They were in positions where, you know, they
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: promised to be ruthless coming into this, that they needed
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: to make the big matters, you know, make the moments
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: count to seize control. After fighting back in Durban, they
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: were in a position of dominance in Kibaha last week
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  Speaker 1: and absolutely let.
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: South Africa off the hook.
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: You know, from 6 for 110... to get to where
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: they got to off the hook.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Here, again, they were in a position of dominance at
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  Speaker 3: the end of day two.
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  Speaker 4: And day three.
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  Speaker 3: And day three. So they were absolutely in the ascendancy.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: To be parity and have six weeks at hand going
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: into day three with an established pair at the crease.
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: And we know that Josh English did well to make
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: his century carry better than anyone to make his 80.
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: But they were in a position of dominance and they
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: got rolled and got rolled quickly. Six for 59, and
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: that meant that it was only 100 runs. Still 100
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: runs in front by New. And then they had a
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: real chance against the South Africans.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: They, again, had them running. They had, what, four.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: Wickets in hand? Yeah, four down for 140.
• 8:14
  Speaker 4: So, effectively, four for 40.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: Four wickets down with a lead of 40 heading to
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: the fourth day of a test. And a lot of
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: the key, you know, several of the key protagonists are
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: already out, including Tebba Viverma. I mean, it's hard to
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: believe we're standing here two days on from, you know,
• 8:26
  Speaker 2: Nathan Lyon getting Timber Boomer late in the day and
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: the jubilation of Australia.
• 8:29
  Speaker 4: And they looked, the foot was on the throat. They
• 8:32
  Speaker 4: couldn't slam it down.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: And they got, I think, you know, we saw some
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: moments of individual brilliance again, which has been characteristic. Renshaw
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: was outstanding in Durban. He was very good here again
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: in the first innings. Travis Head was very good in
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: the losing cause. But by that stage, well, you know,
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: this is in Kibaha, that stage was effectively gone.
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: You know, the test was gone.
• 8:50
  Speaker 4: He made the century.
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: Very, very good moment from Josh Inglis.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: I thought that is something that we can look forward
• 8:55
  Speaker 1: to for the future.
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: Again, we're not sure where he'll bat.
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: But there were different moments. They didn't, I think, bowl
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: as well as what they can. Now, that was conditions.
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: Whether it was, I think, the poise or the discipline
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: of the South Africans, there was a bit said about
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: some loose, hot cook shots that they played, and absolutely
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: they did, but we talked about this last night. It
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: was a bit through, so they played loose shots and
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: lots of wickets, but they still made a match winning
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: second innings. They got enough runs on the board against
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: that tactic, So, you know, I thought Pat Cummins, you know,
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: he said, actually felt like a ball pretty well. And
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: he probably didn't have a lot of luck. It was
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: one of those ones where the luck didn't quite fall
• 9:29
  Speaker 1: their way either. But sometimes you make your own luck.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Lower order runs were said to be very important coming
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: into this series.
• 9:37
  Speaker 4: And Australia got them in the first test. Massive, huge help.
• 9:40
  Speaker 4: Cummins and Lyon particularly.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: Although in that test, if you have a look, Jansen
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: still outscored them.
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: That's a good point, actually. So in each of the tests.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: I'll have to just double check here, because Nathan Lyon
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: batted pretty well at the end, but I'm almost certain,
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: absolutely in the second test when Harmer and Jansen went chaotic,
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: but I think in each of the three tests, the
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: lower order the runs favoured the South Africans I.
• 10:02
  Speaker 4: Suppose Scott Boland's runs he was batting at six anyway.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: Well that's right he was acting as a follow on
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: sorry the night watchman so you know comprehensively beaten and
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: a lot questions, or maybe not comprehensively beaten, but the
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: manner with which they were beaten is so deflating, and
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: to have two significant collapses, the first innings in Kabeha,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: the second innings here, when it was all to.
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: Play for, you know, that rings alarm bells for me.
• 10:32
  Speaker 4: Massively, massively.
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: They've bottled it, and clearly there's still a huge opportunity
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: to come over the next nine or twelve months. This
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: is not a team that will This is not a
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: team that will be overhauled massively because there's enough big
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: cricket coming up that they can't and won't overhaul massively.
• 10:48
  Speaker 4: And until two hours ago, they were still the number
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: one ranked test team in the world.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: But change is coming to a degree. Maybe let's run
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: through the batting card in terms of who was most
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: culpable today. And I suppose, well, let's be obvious. Clearly,
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Marnus Labuschagne is going to be dropped.
• 11:02
  Speaker 4: I mean, everyone knows it. They're not going to concede
• 11:05
  Speaker 4: it today because you don't announce someone's going to be
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: dropped straight after a test. But he's obviously going to
• 11:09
  Speaker 4: be dropped.
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: And it was an awful moment.
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: It was awful, yeah.
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: No one wants to see someone go like that.
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: Given way too many opportunities, as it proved, clearly they
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: had faith that he would come good. The manner in
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: which that it panned out was, you know, Simon Cadditch
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: in particular has been very, very, very, very strong in
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: his comments in the sense that I think, look, it's
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: very easy to say Martins is terrible, he should be dropped.
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: I think Cadditch articulated why where the misstep has been,
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: and the fact that this is a guy, Simon Katich,
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: who has several times in his test career been dropped
• 11:45
  Speaker 2: and come back.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Yes, and he made that point. He knows it more
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: than anyone else. Well, sorry, as well as anyone might.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: He understands what it's like to be going through a
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: tough period, to be dropped at the right time with
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: what he said was actually the best decision in hindsight,
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: and find a way out of it.
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: The art of that.
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: So, look, it was a very tough situation for Martins
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: to be finding himself in with the early wicket and
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: then to be coming in first over it.
• 12:08
  Speaker 4: Far from ideal. I mean, where you'd say Marnus, ultimately,
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: I'm actually less, you're less blaming for these.
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: It's where he, it's all the 30s that didn't become
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: 50s and all the 70s that become 100s is what actually,
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: what ultimately led to this precipice. And the precipice has
• 12:22
  Speaker 2: been reached and it was just, it was just in
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: free fall by the time it came to this test. Notwithstanding,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: it did look in slightly better spirits in the last
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: couple of days, but obviously it ended awfully. Look, it's
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: hard to be overly critical of other batters individually, too
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: much individually. The Carey reverse sweep, Look, he's had such
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: a vexed history.
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: With this shot.
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: At times, it's been quite fruitful for him. And there's
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: a guy who made a brilliant century in Sri Lanka
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: with this 150, I think it was, in Sri Lanka
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: with this shot. He had success against spinners from other
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: nations as well. Even in the first innings, he made
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: it look quite good. But just given the moment to
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: pick out Gully, it seemed... Look, it always looks worse.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: It probably was an injury. And I think I still...
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: I still, ultimately, Alex Kerry's just got to be judged
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: that a little bit harsher because he's batting at six.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: If he's batting at seven, I think that's in the conventional,
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: traditional wicketkeeper slot, you probably cut him a bit more slack.
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: But at six, you've just got to judge him that
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: tiny bit higher.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: And I think in the end, you know, he's probably
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: got a pass mark at absolute best from this two.
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: I think no more than a five out of ten.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Cooper Connolly, look, they had big concerns about his ability
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: to play spin and it played out.
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: And ultimately.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: I defended him a couple of days ago because I
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: thought he was okay a couple of days ago, but
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: today it was not.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: I mean, he just poked at one that he just
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: didn't need to. Look, again, second ball, so you didn't
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: have time enough to sort of see how... And you're
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: always vulnerable in your innings, but it was not an
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: innings to give you any degree of confidence. He has
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: now left himself very vulnerable to being straight back out,
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: and you'd think probably on team balance he probably will
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: be because they clearly don't back him to be a
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: top-order player just yet.
• 13:51
  Speaker 4: Maybe one day. Green will.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: You never know, but Green will probably be bowling test-wise
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: come Perth.
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: It's encouraging to see him in the Nets.
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: Bowling late last week.
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: And also, realistically, in Perth, you're not going to be wanting.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, they didn't really trust Connolly with the ball,
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: to be honest, yesterday. But they're not going to be
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: leaning towards a spinning all-rounder there either. When you weigh
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: up the Webster-Connolly discussion, Webster had not done enough to
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: warrant holding his spot, certainly with the bat, with the ball,
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: he'd been serviceable, but not incisive. Connolly, you know, this way,
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: if you'd said that Bobby Webster's kept his spot, if
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: you'd told me before the test that Bobby Webster was
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: going to just keep his spot over Cooper Connolly... and
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: that Webster would make 29 a duck and take a onefer,
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: and you'd be like, oh, that's about right.
• 14:34
  Speaker 4: That's sort of what he's been doing. So in the end,
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: it was pretty much... Like-for-like. It was a wash. What
• 14:38
  Speaker 4: do they call it? What do they call it in American...
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: I can't remember what it's called. So there was that.
• 14:44
  Speaker 3: Inglis.
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: Oh, the run-out.
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: Sheesh.
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: That was awful.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: The nightmare at Newlands continues.
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: That was awful. I mean, you know, what did they say?
• 14:52
  Speaker 4: Any great collapse... It had to have a run-out.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Funny, until yesterday, there hadn't been a run-out in the series,
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: and there were three in the last 15 dismissals. Three.
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: What were they thinking?
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: I mean, pressure does funny things. I think it was
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: Green's fault, looking back.
• 15:05
  Speaker 4: He called Inglis through.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: And Inglis, who'd actually affected the run-out yesterday and has
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: been pretty good as.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: A ground fielder, was caught short.
• 15:13
  Speaker 3: A bit of media shy.
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: Head, look, this will only serve to.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: Re-energise that whole debate about Head the opener because it
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: will ebb and flow on every innings today.
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: When he looked all at sea, Rabada was moving it.
• 15:29
  Speaker 4: The overheads were favourable to.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: Start with, which certainly did help them compared to, say,
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: some of the conditions in Australia, with the exception of
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: night one when, 11-0-1, when Stark ran riot.
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: But, look, loose shot, but that's also, that's Travis Head.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: And I still believe that he's the best man, his
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: best position for the team, balance of the team, is
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: opening because I think he can still succeed as an opener,
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: as we've seen, four tests, four test runs in 10
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: tests as opener. Whereas I don't think others can. And
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: I think we have seen that others can succeed at five.
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: So I think he's more easily replaced at five. Is five,
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: is opening his best spot competitive five?
• 16:04
  Speaker 4: Probably not. Is it his best spot for the context
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: of the team, the balance of the team?
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 16:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, we've sacked about half of them, Courtney. No, look,
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: you're not serious.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: No, I'm not so, I mean, I'm not so sure
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: there'll be drastic changes leading into New Zealand. You know,
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: I can see absolutely you might look at a number,
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: like we'll definitely look at a number three Now, whether
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: there's been calls for Steve Smith to go to number three,
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure that'll happen. You know, whether we bring
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: in a new opener, head goes down to five. Well, no,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: I think it is head and wrench. So maybe we're
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: looking at, say, a Maddison at three or perhaps a Constis.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: I'd be stunned if you're Maddison.
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: Not Maddison, sorry.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: A Patterson at three or a Constis or someone like
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: that at three. Perhaps Smith, Green. But maybe it is
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Steve Smith that goes to three.
• 16:51
  Speaker 4: You tell me.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: Smith has seemed pretty reluctant to go to three. And,
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: you know, he had that brief. I just, I can't
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: see it. I'm not saying that it won't be a
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: talking point. I'm sure it will be a talking point
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: as it has been, you know, semi-regularly for, well, pretty
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: much since Mata started to go into his decline three
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: years ago.
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: So that'll be a talking point.
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: On Smith, I think it's worth, before we finish up,
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: I think it's very much worth touching on Smith and
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: the whole, well, first of all, the toss, which Pat Cummins, look, he.
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: Didn't say definitively that it was a mistake. Again, we
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: will never know the counterfactual. They thought it was going
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: to do a bit more. In the end, Australia was
• 17:28
  Speaker 4: in a strong enough position to match, which the toss
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: should not have been the determining factor.
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: I personally think it was an error still, but they
• 17:35
  Speaker 2: almost got away with it.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Interestingly enough, Timber, the boomer, did say that they would
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: have absolutely battered, and it did mean that the conditions.
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: Today were favourable.
• 17:45
  Speaker 4: Very much so for Simon Harmer.
• 17:46
  Speaker 3: For Simon Harmer.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: Having said that, Australia's still got plenty of time on
• 17:51
  Speaker 2: a fourth day where we get to bowl, and was
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: unable to make the same sort of incisions.
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: That South Africa was. So fourth-day wicket, fifth-day wicket, obviously
• 17:58
  Speaker 4: there's an element of.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: And also just the skill of Harmer, the release point
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: relative to Lyon, is he getting more revs on the
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: ball than Lyon?
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: These are hard things to quantify.
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: Smith, though, the discussion around, and all the scuttlebutts, for
• 18:13
  Speaker 2: want of a better term, around.
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: The communication of Steve Smith's injury. Was he ready to go?
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: Did the team think he was ready to go? Interesting
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: answer from Pat Cummins. He effectively said that Smith had
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: thought he was ready on match eve. And that gave
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: the impression that the Aussies were pretty surprised when he
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: pulled out. He used the word disappointed that Smith pulled out.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: Not disappointed at the way it panned out per se,
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: not having a go.
• 18:42
  Speaker 3: He was careful not to attack.
• 18:44
  Speaker 4: Smith and the sequence of events. But to a degree,
• 18:48
  Speaker 4: it's like what wasn't said. I don't know how the
• 18:50
  Speaker 4: way you perceived it, Courtney.
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: Because he had the chance to sort of go and
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: rehash the whole situation, and particularly given the reports, you'd
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: think Pat would have had the chance to go and say, no,
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: we were fine, there was no issue.
• 19:02
  Speaker 4: Clearly there was an issue. Yeah.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, look, any situation where Josh Inglis has been
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: tapped on the shoulder at quarter to nine to say, actually,
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: you're playing, shows that there was an element of surprise.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: They may have put him on notice saying.
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: Just prepare just in case. Mm-hmm.
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: But they were clearly confident that he was going to
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: play the night before. Now, you know, I can understand
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: that he might wake up.
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: The next day and be sore. That can happen. And
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: that's clearly what did happen.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: But, yeah, I mean, the flip side is if he's
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: in that team and they bowl, it's another day for
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: him to recover.
• 19:37
  Speaker 3: Bad on day two, bad on day five. You know,
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: do we see Australia? It's a what if.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: It's a very hard one. And I'm absolutely certain that...
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: There was no sense... from me of Pat Dean. You know, Pat,
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: I think, was just very diplomatic.
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: Which he tends to be. I mean, that's his long word,
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: as they say.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: And as you said, of course, we want the best
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: batsman in the world to play.
• 20:05
  Speaker 3: It makes absolute sense. He did say, of course, that
• 20:08
  Speaker 3: Inglis did come in and make 100.
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: Which is true. And again, this is where.
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: And Green made a good, solid 65.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: And then Baxley batted pretty well today. In defensive, very,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: very defensive. But tried to just... They just batted for
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: the draw as long as they could.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: And it's funny how history will view this match because
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: people will remember back to the supreme emotion of day
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: one and the morning one.
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: Smith's out. They're bowling. They're none for 145. Off with
• 20:33
  Speaker 4: their heads. And then.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: In the end, they've actually still got a 100-run first
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: innings lead and had South Africa on the ropes at
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: four for 140. It's actually come undone at the end
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: of the match as much as anything. And Inglis, as
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: you said, a man who replaced him beyond a century.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: So the nuance is important here. It's not black and white.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: But ultimately, all told, they end up 2-1 losers. And
• 20:57
  Speaker 2: these are the moments in which generations' legacies are defined.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: And this group of players, with the exception of Nathan Lyon,
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: who did what we did here in 2014... this group
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: of bowlers will now almost certainly end their careers without
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: a series win here. Now, that is not quite as
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: big as BGT or an Ashes, in part because there's
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: no trophy, you know, no perpetual trophy. And India and
• 21:17
  Speaker 2: England just elicit that a little bit more emotion than
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: South and South Africa does.
• 21:20
  Speaker 4: But it's a huge wasted opportunity, it is.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: And I think if, particularly if one of England or
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: India doesn't go to plan as a totality, it will
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: be hard to, it will be hard, this would have
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: been a, put it this way, say they'd drawn in
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: India and won in England and won here, this would
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: have been a great sweetener to say they've just about
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: done it. Whereas losing here means it's an extra threshold
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: to sort of claim to get to that World Test
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: Championship final, which itself is now going to be an
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: uphill challenge.
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: Exceptionally hard to get to, I think.
• 21:49
  Speaker 4: So there's a lot of moving parts.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, we could go on about this, Courtney, but
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: we've got a lot of work to do.
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: Yes, we have got a lot of work to do.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Look, thanks so much for being with us through the tour.
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: It's been a great pleasure to be able to talk
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: about it each day, Dan.
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: Thanks for coming on. It's been.
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: Awesome to have you on the follow-on. Looking forward to
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: the summer and what's to come. South Africa, far too
• 22:08
  Speaker 1: good today. Too good overall. Australia had their moments, but
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: not able to clinch them. New world number one ranked
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: test team, the Proteas.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: All the best.