Pat Cummins has declared, leaving Usman Khawaja stranded for just 5 runs for a first double Test and claiming 20 wickets in two days to complete a series sweep of South Africa in the third and final Test in SCG.
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Pat Cummins, I hope you are happy
By Simon Smale
He will be when the Test is won – that’s what matters in all this, after all.
Plus, Ussie was there for 368 balls.
By comparison, David Warner got his in 255 balls (360 minutes), Steve Smith in 311 (419 minutes) and Marnus Labuschagne in 350 (483 minutes).
Khawaja had 540 minutes there. More than enough time.
Usman was nervous?
By Simon Smale
Australia declare at 4-475! Play starts at 1.45pm AEDT
By Jon Healy
The main event
That’s just under half an hour away, all things being equal.
Just four hours and 45 minutes after the scheduled start of the game.
The statement has arrived. The Aussies are all in their whites, so Usman Khawaja will remain stranded on 195 not out and Matt Renshaw has stalled on a 95-run Test century on his return to the side.
Dunedin is wet
By Simon Smale
Thanks Simon & JM. Googling “cricket rain delays in Dunedin” based on a hunch turned up a similarly annoying online debate about its value as a Test venue, but no one provided meaningful statistics.
– The old timer
There have been 20 Test matches in Dunedin, split between Carisbrook and University Oval.
Incredibly, there have been 12 days lost to play, including two matches (against Pakistan in 1989 and India in 1998) which were abandoned after the first two days were lost to heavy rain.
In terms of days lost to tests played, that must be very high.
What are they talking about?
By Jon Healy
Statements? the weather? Nothing remotely cricket related?
Bad day, great photo
By Simon Smale
Questions are asked, decisions to be made
By Simon Smale
Is lunch necessary?
By Simon Smale
However, we must have the mandatory 40 minutes for lunch! Cricket…
– Tosh
It looks like the refs are still unhappy about the offside area so we wouldn’t be playing now in any case.
And the referees are leaving their chicken and rice there watching and supervising the drying operation.
Port of Spain? Or Rain Harbor?
By Simon Smale
ChatGPT says: It is difficult to determine the wettest cricket ground as the frequency of rainfall can vary greatly from year to year and country to country. However, some cricket grounds that are known to be particularly prone to rainy weather include the New Road Ground in Worcester, England and the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The Queen’s Park Oval has a reputation as one of the wettest cricket grounds in the world, with matches often interrupted or abandoned due to heavy rainfall.
– JM
Hi JM,
Port of Spain has a bit of a reputation for getting rained out – but in terms of the 61 Test matches that have been played there between 1930 and 2018, I can only see 5 whole days lost to rain.
Four of them actually came in a single Test in 2016 against India.
The New Road is also a bit wet – that part of England can be terribly wet all year round and, due to its position next to the River Severn, floods. Regularly.
Not wanting to go over the old terrain from yesterday’s blog, but both are beautiful terrains, just quiet.
The field is revealed
By Jon Healy
The main event
There are hints of blue passing through the clouds and nothing covers the field!
can we play today
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Khawaja bowls a record
By Simon Smale
Have there ever been four Aussie batsmen to score double hundreds in the same summer?
– Luke
This is the record that Usman Khawaja and Australia are chasing.
If you need a reminder of how the other three achieved their…
- Marnus Labuschagne, 204 in Perth
- Steve Smith, 200* in Perth
- David Warner, 200 in Melbourne
Time lost for change
By Jon Healy
if Australia make a couple of runs for 200, how much time is there for the turnaround? is this a factor in the statement speculation?
– AJ
The time between rounds in Tests is only 10 minutes, so it’s not that much wasted time.
Understanding speech
By Jon Healy
Jon’s opinion seems to be the opposite – much bickering in the liveblog box about this?
– Steven
I love Usman Khawaja (and Simon) as much as the next person but, especially with about half of today’s game lost to rain again, surely the Australian leaders can’t entertain the idea of fighting any further.
And 195 not out is a pretty good score.
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Jane McGrath’s day begins
By Jon Healy
Postponed from the usual time on the third day, the Jane McGrath Day ceremony is starting with the huge banner unfurling on the ground in the hushed tones of Samantha Jade to the Jane McGrath Stand.
And yes, there is still some rain around.
And it just turned into a rain.
What are the wettest cricket grounds in the world?
By Simon Smale
Here’s one for Ric Finlay or perhaps a reader poll: What is the wettest cricket ground in the world? Which terrain is the most meaningless place? (We expect it to be in NZ, but I could be wrong.)
– The old timer
It’s a good question, and I’ll try to get over to ABC Stat Ric Finlay to see if he has that information.
We know that the SCG has had a full 26 days off due to wet weather, while Old Trafford in Manchester has had 24 (plus two Tests abandoned entirely).
But like I said, I’ll try to get hold of Ric to see if he knows.
We love cricket!
By Simon Smale
Curse the gods of heaven
– Steven
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Go, take 20 steps. Simple
By Simon Smale
I think the Aussies should be beaten today, it will only take them a few sessions to get South Africa out twice. It is one-sided cricket at its best.
– Jeff
South Africa have yet to bowl more than 69 overs in an innings in this series.
Australia should have the bowlers to continue that trend and just have enough time to take 20 wickets, even if we lose the entire first session today.
If they don’t, I bet they wish they’d picked Scott Boland.
Guess how many ads they can fit on a full cover?
By Simon Smale
Isha on Fox had a good point about England having cover covering most of the ground, surely now the SCG should invest so we don’t lose good pitch drying conditions?
– Future sailor
She makes a good point, but the point is that the English field is a bit smaller than here in terms of playing area.
Test Championship
By Jon Healy
Imagine Australia getting destroyed by India in India and losing in the final of the Test Match Championship because this match is over
– Stu I
I would argue in this scenario, Australia would lose the Test championship final because they were swept in India, Stu.
Here’s the ranking…
Possible scenario A
By Simon Smale
It’s a gentleman’s game. Aus comes out to bat, SA stands around with hands in pockets while someone (non-bowling bowling figures are kept intact) bowls so Usman hits a six, then they declare and start bowling.
– Deb
I like this idea.
I also have a sneaky suspicion that even if that happens, Khawaja might get into a boundary rider and be out for 195.
This would be a possible scenario B.
