Peter I was still fairly active during the last two tests and duly congratulated the Saffas on their wins in addition to picking out the egregious errors made by the staff in their headlines. Check with the editor. I think we've got the upper hand here well and truly, partly by virtue of winning yet another toss and also because the Saffas blundered in the field and we capitalised upon their mistakes. Captain Lard going missing hasn't helped. Umpires poor performance today matched the disgrace that is this pitch. Surely the curator will be sacked, maybe even sued by batsmen for this debacle. Boucher and Morkel had some luck but dug their side out of an even deeper hole. Hayden was lucky to be spared by the umpire.

SA batting poorly today. Where is their fighting spirit and killer instinct? They're handing the ascendancy to us as we look forward to the series in the Republic.

Not surprising that the bowlers are getting injured with three back-to-back tests. SA's sloppy fielding effort helped us get to 445 which might prove decisive given the nature of the pitch; it was a good toss to win. McKenzie is simply horrendous to watch while our bowling attack looked insipid. Smith has turned from being one-handed to no-handed - he can't keep out of trouble, reflexes couldn't handle the Johnson bounce. Funny way for the writers of the lead article to spell stabilise.

Amazing stuff by the Aussie tail but poor captaincy from Captain Lard to leak so many runs aided and abetted by some indifferent bowling and butter fingers. Amla, Kallis and Ntini's drop cost the Saffas dearly.

Surely Hayden's gone now. He shouldn't have played this test but the innings had no conviction about it. Hussey also struggled with his form demons before succumbing to Harris. Morkel bowled a very nasty spell at newcomer McDonald.

Currently I would rate SA ahead of India. The Indians beat us but at home and they lost to us last year on our soil. SA defeated India when they last went to the republic and could only draw with them at home after producing a bunsen burner to help win the last test match with their superior spin options. They were bowled out for 76 by SA on home soil. Additionally they did lose in Sri Lanka while SA hasn't gone down in a series since 2006. India is looking to be a rising force though it needs to replace some of its ageing stars with other bright younger players such as Gambhir.

Editor shouldn't it be revels in, not reveals, which is on your front page? My honest impressions in this series are that we were comprehensively outplayed in all major departments - batting, bowling, fielding, strategy and even captaincy. I believe we got our selections wrong and paid the price for taking some lame players onto the park. We weren't disciplined enough in our shot-making, our bowlers lacked penetration and SA appeared hungrier. The Proteas also were better in most of the key moments and won the majority of sessions.

Karma your team seems so organised and committed. They planned well and reaped the rewards and they're a more settled unit. I doubt there's any more need for quotas anyway, the non-white players are doing well. Duminy is so awesome, I found him refreshing and inspiring. We should take a leaf out of SA's book and pick some youngsters such as Hughes instead of the old stalwart Hayden.

And congratulations to all the SA fans on this forum, even the ones I get in stoushes with. BTW, the crowd tailing off was nothing to do with the state of the game, it happens during every Boxing Day test. Remember the past two days have been working days for a lot of people. There are also others away on holidays. But by test standards, the crowds have been good.

Congratulations to SA. We no longer have the band of superstars but they played the key moments much better and made gutsy comebacks in both tests. I think it's good for world cricket. Currently SA and India are better than us and we'll have to improve to defend the Ashes. Steyn deserved his MOTM award but Duminy was right up there as well. Captain Lard Smith also did a good job captaining and with the bat in both tests. Punter was a lone hand with the bat for us in Melbourne.

Editor Marsh has had a very poor domestic season. Rain is forecast for tomorrow.

I meant Punter obviously. He was unlucky to be out for 99. Great two innings from the skipper. MJ still providing resistance, along with Hauritz.

Steyn has earned his keep today while Puntr has been in sublime touch,

SA has started well with Hayden, Katich and Hussey all falling, even if Hussey was done in by Dar. It's now up to Punter and Clarke to steady the ship. Steyn is having a real impact on the match.

Incredible day for SA to slip the noose again. Australia bowled waywardly at times and the catching was not up to scratch but kudos to he emerging Duminy and the beleagured tail for a sterling performance.

Wow, Duminy!!!! Saffers must be very proud of him. Such a temperament, such a classy player. They have found one, surely time is nearly up for McKenzie.

Good effort from the SA tail, much pluckier than they've been of late. McKenzie has been Australia's best player in this match! Well done to Siddle even if he was aided by some injudicious shots.

Australia did well to push the score to just below 400. SA must rue their inability to clean up the tail. Much improved effort from Steyn in this innings. Morkel is still wild and Ntini is expensive.

dhillon, Marsh has had a poor domestic season to date.

Msprint, I think Hayden maybe should have bowed out graciously after the NZ series when he had played his 100th test. Even if he makes some runs in the second innings or in Sydney, there's no guarantee that he will ever be consistent again and he's never been that productive in England so I can't imagine that rising 38 things will change. McKenzie fluffing the Punter chance has proven very costly for SA.

Hayden's career is in great peril now.

Stuart Clark has decided he wants to ensure he fully recovers and will not expedite his return. He's not rushing to be back for the series in Saffaland. It looks like Australia will only swap our spinners around unless Symond's knee fails to come up to scratch. I hope everyone has a very merry, safe and productive Christmas.

I'm sorry for your loss Dazzler. The Harris sledging comments relates to him telling the batsmen he can't bowl to lull them into a false sense of security. Maybe it paid off on a few occasions. I hear that Symonds did sledge Duminy so the youngster did well to survive the baptism with aplomb.

The selectors seem to be in a total quandary when it comes to spin bowling and they're chopping and changing between ordinary commodities.

Nrvs, my comments about SA's weak tail still stand but the sporting gene comment has always been a wind up and people fall for the bait. To be honest, SA has always produced very talented cricketers and has done exceptionally well to be consistently in the top two or three since readmission but I feel at times they have underachieved by collapsing at key moments. I think it's been a lack of self-belief in the face of a dominant opponent but this victory should erase their chasing demons forever. With more non-white players than ever coming through the ranks, they should only improve. AB had been my favourite Protea for a while now so I enjoyed is innings but I thought it was quite touching to see a great partnership between a talented coloured boy Duminy and an Afrikaner. The calm they showed was symbolic. We have a lot of work to do before Boxing Day and Punter criticising his teammates is not helping matters. At least Captain Lard seems to command respect atm. I hope Saman enjoys my wonderful city - Melbourne. The weather looks very promising for the first day of the test which is expected to attract a bumper crowd according to the progress of ticket sales.

Well done to the Saffas, they thoroughly deserved their victory; they were superior in all facets of the game. Excellent work from JP and AB today while our bowlers were fairly ineffective on the flat pitch. I hope Saman has a safe trip home and savours the victory. It should be an excellent series with us having a tough job ahead now to come behind for the first time at home in a couple of decades.

Well done to SA for some sterling batting but it may be their weak tail which is the undoing of them. Well done to Captain Lard on a courageous innings. If he was a bit slimmer he may not get fatigued quite so easily but he did well to beat the pain barrier. It's been a great test match but Steyn let his team down a bit given his reputation. Kallis has had a great match and AB has as well. For us there has been none better than M.Johnson.

Meanwhile in NZ, they're scoring at snail's pace.

England's bowling is looking as sick as SA's over in Mohali. Even Dravid is making runs.

The lead is well out of SA's reach. Steyn couldn't stand up for them. Maybe they have to look at Tsotsobe for the Melbourne test. At least Morkel hasn't been as profligate and looks more dangerous at times.

On the evidence of this test, India is a long way ahead of SA in terms of being the next best behind us. This SA team is ordinary in a lot of respects. Will Steyn see out the series? Last time he came here he left the field in tears. I think he'll be doing it again.

Saman must be mortified by Steyn's terrible bowling. Doesn't augur well for the rest of these clashes. So much for their much vaunted pace attack. I think Mitchell Johnson handed Morkel and Steyn are clinic on fast bowling. The South Africans ooze confidence but can't back it up. Looks like being the usual romp for us. When will you send us a team with more spirit AND ability? It's one thing to bash minnows but another to perform against the best. The Proteas have received a salutary lesson. Now we demand and expect more respect and they should show some humility after their bowlers were humbled by our tail.

At least AB has done his country proud with his stunning catches. He's a breath of fresh air and a wonderful talent is de Villiers.

Saman must be disappointed to spend all his money to go over and see his team not stand up yet again in the key moments. The superior sporting gene has kicked in again. We have produced tailenders who can bat, SA's #8 onwards are bad beyond belief. Someone needs to teach Morkel, Harris, Steyn and Ntini the very basics about batting; arguably the worst tail ever to represent them. For the crowd's sake let's hope the Proteas can show some fight tomorrow instead of collapsing at the mere hint they might sniff an ascendancy. They are mentally very weak.

I think we should be able to do it fairly easily from here. SA collapsed badly in the first innings and I've been saying for some time that they have nobody below Boucher who knows how to hold a bat. It's too costly. Their bowlers haven't quite got it right either allowing too many easy runs and us to escape from jail several times. Poor start to Duminy's career.

We threw away wickets and could have been better placed, but at 3/15 Punter would have taken our current position. The Saffers caught well. Smith overbowled Kallis I thought.

I think we got out of jail as someone commented. After having in theory our best three bats out for 15, SA should have been looking at a sub 200 dismissal of us, despite the excellent batting conditions. Harris was the surprise packet which proved you need variety in your attack. Punter went too hard, too early as he often does. Ntini bowled well early but Steyn appeared a little nervous and struggled without any hint of swing at the venue. Kallis bowled atrociously for such a seasoned player who should have been helping out the young pups in Morkel and Steyn. The former did well considering his radar is often a bit awry.

Siddle on current form might be at least as much a handful as Clark who benefited in SA from some really lively pitches. The wickets for him have recently dried up.

Saman, Jerome Taylor was great but I don't think the bowling was as decent as you suggest. Gillespie and Franklin were ordinary at times.

Heboric said South African golfer said the Aussie crowds appreciated him more than his own which is why he bypassed the SA tour. Sehwag is so exciting.

Siddle replaces Clark for the first test. Great innings by Taylor for the Windies and redemption for Strauss who looked likely to be dropped after failing against SA.

The Indians actually did all right in Perth, winning the test and breaking our long winning streak. Poms certainly have the upper hand over a strangely ineffective India.

Penny it is Melbourne weather. I second Marklatham's opinon of the audacity of some to contend that they are superior to the locals of a country to which they've been lucky enough to be allowed into to ply their respective trade. Steyn has started all right in the warm-up match, Harris took a wicket in his first over.

Peter Captain Lard seems to take Plan A out onto the field and when things turn pear-shaped he appears to lack alternative strategies. He doesn't seem to come up with ideas from 'left-field' and just doesn't set imaginative fields in the way that perhaps a Stephen Fleming or Mike Brearley might have.

Peter it's late Friday night and absolutely pissing down here and I'm relaxing after a hard day's work and knocking back dinner with colleagues at a local Indian restaurant. SA cricket we do enjoy discussing cricket here but the average saffer is easily distracted when race and politics come into the equation. There are two test matches in progress with the poms proving especially feisty after losing their way a bit with the bat. Let's hope that Mother Nature allows the Dunedin test to resume tomorrow.

Saman it's fashionable to dismiss KP as being intellectually challenged yet again today he showed more than a touch of tactical acumen with his astute and timely bowling changes. In contrast Captain Lard is too one-dimensional in his 'thinking'., Toothchipper that last comment is might hubristic and symptomatic of the arrogance I've referred to. As for my age, I'm not as Jane Austen would say "in my first bloom of youth' but not particularly old either. Let's leave it at that.

Nrvs, I'm not considered an awful person but I tire of the South African attitude of coming over to 'save' our economy. Many come here believing they're superior to us. Some of the saffas on the site intimated that before. I have nothing against you per se but I'm serious with the assertion that Australia is a dry continent which doesn't need a whole lot more people coming here. Many recent surveys have indicated that people want ALL immigration stopped. And our shortage of water is a serious problem. Unemployment is also likely to further rise according to economic forecasts with the global crisis. And I think it's disingenuous of saffas to suggest the government doesn't subsidise education in any way. Many I've met have gone to government schools and only pay part of the cost of their education. And it's no different here. We invest a lot less in education than in the UK and students have to pay for all their stationery, uniforms and at private schools the fees are steep. In the UK, for instance many of the students have their lunches subsidised by the government and their stationery is provided. Taxes are relatively high here and there's also the odd bit of corruption as well. Dhoni and Yuvraj need a big partnership to dig India out of this hole, especially as they will be batting last.

I find ball-dominated test matches preferable to run-fests on flat decks. Unlike Kallis, Dravid doesn't have another discipline to fall back on.

Peter I've been to SA. The point is, if the whites are inevitably going to flee they might as well all do it now rather than upping stumps when they're in the prime of their lives. It seems the ANC wants a black nation and it's pointless to swim against the tide. SA is a basket case but I don't see why we have to be the recipient of so many of its detritus. We're frankly sick of white Africans invading our shores with their arrogance; they're not a popular ethnic minority here. Perhaps you should head off to the UK, Canada and NZ or other European countries with white majorities as it seems you prefer to live with whites. Captain Lard stuggles in our conditions as was proven yet again today against a minnow bowler. I'm interested in the Eng/India series and KP's bowling changes are appearing to be masterstrokes to date. He looks a more natural skipper than Captain Lard who is one-dimensional in his thinking. He lacks a plan B and imagination. Or course being manifestly unintelligently means he's at a distinct disadvantage trying to pit his 'mind' against the more cerebal types such as KP and Dhoni.

So Saman you live in France? I think the pitch is meant to be conducive to runs. the team up against SA is largely a second XI so it's fairly weak. Amla's consistency is very impressive.

Perhaps Crimson, the whites who continue to leave should leave earlier so that the SA government doesn't have to help pay for their education only for them to ump stumps. We're not all white anyway, increasingly more Africans and Asians are coming to our shores. It seems the toss is vitally important on these type of tracks. India will rue losing it not being able to maximise their spinners' effectiveness. I doubt we will become an economic powerhouse due to our geographic position and relatively small population. Geographers say we've already reached our population limit due to our aridity so we'd prefer you didn't come Crimson. And unemployment here is on the rise with businesses, especially those in the car industry increasingly going to the wall Saffas who go to the UK (even whiteys) apparently are more likely to return.

BTW Crimson our economy doesn't need you to save it but SA's economy is in dire straits. You're not really welcome. Our water's running out, crime is on the rise, as is unemployment. People are voting to slow down immigration with some voting to cut all immigrants except non-white refugees. We can't afford more people. Poms will be happy to remove Sehwag early.

Crimson's finally admitted - SA is a basket case. The whole of its population will one day find its way over to a decent country. Well done AB and I notice a Saffa born bowler in Coetzee picking up some scalps.

Saman many SA people emigrate here, though some who go to the UK return from there. Punter said he'll play on for many, many more years. I see where Captain Lard's old technical weakness came to the fore as he failed against an average WA team.

Heboric that was below the belt, Punter is not into crack. Saman, not surprised you're enjoying Perth, you'll be the next Saffa to emigrate.

Are Saffas too soft? So many of them are succumbing to injury. Captain Lard lacks the intestinal fortitude to even play a warm-up because of a sore elbow. He must have become accustomed to soft living and needs to toughen up and emulate our Punter.

Looks like Morkel is a big chance to miss the test. South Africans lack toughness.

Bowden is an exhibitionist; his antics get in the way of the real cricket.

Morkel broke down today in attempting to bowl his first delivery on Aussie soil. Amla got a ton, Kallis batted slowly, Tsotsobe was the most impressive of the bowlers while Zondeki bowled poorly.

Good gesture from the players to donate money to the Mumbai victims. NZ/Windies should be an interesting series while Australia should blitz the Africans. India should win at home though hubris could be a problem.

The Cronje movie was never going to be a disinterested production given the author of the project. AB is a real little allrounder - good at a range of sports and a talented crooner from all reports. It's a pity that the SA team is besmirched by the likes of Captain Lard. Editor I agree with Bliksem that the pugilists should keep their grievances with one another private.

Karma I did know that Steyn and Harris returned to the nets. Nonetheless, the latter was seen grimacing in pain with his thumb, while Steyn only bowled off a limited over. That's as of today. Captain Lard has been ruled out of tomorrow's match as well, probably due to a combination of his corpulence and elbow problems. Is editor aware that McGrath has tipped the Baggygreens to beat the Proteas three nil?

Saman, once in oz, you'll never want to go back to SA. You'll be the latest to emigrate. I agree that the twin series concept between Aussies and Proteas is a little annoying. It would be preferable if they came to us for five tests and a couple of years later we went over there.

438 he still has Lee, Clark and Johnson to contend with. How do people think Morkel will go? All the talk is of Steyn but if Morkel remains fit the bounce he generates may be a factor on our pitches.

438 have you checked Captain Lard's record in oz? He will be psyched out. Prince thought KP was a poor choice as captain but then again KP disagreed with Ashwell getting the nod for the Sri Lankan tests in 06. Perhaps tit for tat!

Well editor it's a misleading headline then. One throwaway line like that doesn't deserve headline status.

And editor what is the relevance of the headline Warne and braii? The article doesn't contain anything about that.

438, there is a history of opposition teams arriving with gun bowlers who subsequently break down. Maybe Steyn should rest for the SA leg when the Proteas will have more chance of winning. Editor I'm not sure I agree with you on the all-pace issue. Most of the news reports here and local intelligence suggests that the pitch is bouncy but has taken a lot of turn this summer. Tom Moody thinks three quicks will be enough and that we must employ a spinner for variety. Captain Lard looked radically out of shape during the soccer session yesterday. His footwork will be leaden.

Steyn is injured already, it's what often happens to foreign bowlers who come downunder. Captain Lard is looking out of shape. The Saffers are talking themselves up. What is new?

KP will save England, there is something indefinably inspiring about him. He has the X factor. SA must rue the day their most talented player flew the coup.

I don't think Smith played at all in SL in 2006 - you have that wrong. He had an ankle injury and was sidelined along with Kallis.

KP missing home so much is more an indication of how Saffers prefer living in, and playing for, - England

I think JP should play in the tests ahead of Prince and Amla. And what's this about making tons consistently at provincial level? When was the last time any of SA's test incumbents played at domestic level on a consistent basis? JP would put more pressure on the opposition than the selfishly slow Prince as well.

I think you'll find AB de Villiers has a bit of talent in the music field as well. Apparently he sings, plays guitar and writes his own material. He and Brett Lee teamed up as a duo to entertain hotel guests in SA.

The Proteas did very well overall but I think that Smith is selfishly taking credit when he did nothing towards securing victory for his side.

Sami is poor, would be a bonus for you that he's missing.

KP was ok but nothing special. Came in when the swing had disappeared and played selfishly. Had an average strike rate compared with some of the other top players in the tournament. Never looked like taking a game by the scruff of the neck. Think he gets overrated.