Australia Story

[Nottsboy118]

I've decided to start a story, and I don't think anyone has done one with Australia yet, so here it goes!

An Allan Border medal will be given to the best Australian cricketer of the year (TM and ODI votes will be worth the same amount), there will also be a Test Match trophy for the best Test player of the year (voted for by the staff) and a ODI trophy for the best ODI player of the year (voted for by the staff)

The touring squad for the five ODIs against South Africa has been announced:

Ricky Ponting (C)
Michael Clarke (VC)
Nathan Bracken
Stuart Clark
Callum Ferguson
Brad Haddin (WK)
James Hopes
David Hussey
Mike Hussey
Mitchell Johnson
Brett Lee
Peter Siddle
David Warner
Shane Watson
Cameron White

D.Hussey, D.Warner and P.Siddle can all be counted as surprise inclusions, they will all be hoping to take their chance when/if it comes. R.Ponting is giving the captaincy as expected and M.Clarke is appointed as vice-captain.

[Nottsboy118]

The team for the first ODI against South Africa is:

D.Warner
S.Watson
R.Ponting
M.Clarke
M.Hussey
J.Hopes
B.Haddin
M.Johnson
B.Lee
S.Clark
N.Bracken

D.Warner opens as he is the only official opener in the squad, and S.Watson joins him as the other opener. Four seamers are picked along with a second all rounder in J.Hopes. The rest of the team, is as expected.

[Nottsboy118]

Australia lost the toss and were put into bat.
Things started badly for Australia as Watson was bowled in the first over for a duck. But Warner (70) and Ponting (57) then put on a very impressive 126 run partnership. But when Warner's wicket fell, the wickets kept coming with Hopes (23) the only other player from the top seven to get to past 17. Which left Johnson (24*) and Lee (26*) to put on a 47* run partnership for the 8th wicket, and bring Australia to a score of 238-7.

Lee (1-46) and Bracken (2-47) apllied the early pressure before Johnson (4-65) as first change struck, bowling Smith (10) for a small total. Amla (29) fell soon after, Watson (1-33) the bowler. Duminy (69) and de Villiers (44) then shared a 79 run partnership before Johnson got both their wickets. The wickets kept coming until the last over when South Africa had one wicket and needed 6 runs. Brett Lee was then given the ball and was dispatched for two fours in his first two balls by Zondenki (10*). Soth Africa finishing on 241-9.

Allan Border Medal

3.R.Ponting - 57
2.M.Johnson - 4-65
1.D.Warner - 70

[Imager36]

Your attachment link is invalid, btw, but good to see another story!

[Nottsboy118]

Your attachment link is invalid, btw, but good to see another story!

Thanks for telling me

[Nottsboy118]

The team for the second ODI is:

D.Warner
S.Watson
R.Ponting
M.Clarke
M.Hussey
J.Hopes
B.Haddin
M.Johnson
B.Lee
S.Clark
N.Bracken

Every player retains their place in the team. Australia will be looking to improve, and win this ODI.

[Nottsboy118]

Australia lost the toss and were assigned to bowl by South Africa.
Lee (2-51) and Bracken (1-39) started very positively picking Amla (5) and Smith (8) up inside the first ten overs, which only went for 28 runs. Dunimy (53) and de Villiers (71) then put on a 128 run partnership, but at a very slow pace, especially Duminy. Clark (1-39) broke the partnership. Duminy didn't last much longer going 6 runs after de Villiers. South Africa had a late go, but it didn't amount to much and South Africa finished their fifty overs at 222-6.

For the second innings in a row Watson (9) didn't last long, but Warner and Ponting again put on a hundred run partnership. Ponting was bowled just short of his fifty with over twenty overs to go. But Clarke walked to the crease and scored a beautiful half century. 225-2 was the final score, in what proved to be an easy win for Australia.

Allan Border Medal

3.M.Johnson - 2-39
2.M.Clarke - 53*
1.D.Warner - 118*

[Nottsboy118]

The team for the third ODI is:

D.Warner
S.Watson
R.Ponting
M.Clarke
M.Hussey
J.Hopes
B.Haddin
M.Johnson
B.Lee
S.Clark
N.Bracken

Australia announce the same team for the third game in a row, however S.Watson has been instructes to improve his batting, and B.Lee has been told to sort his economy out.

[Nottsboy118]

Australia lost the toss and were put in to bat.
Warner (63) and Watson (108) started the innings with a fantastic 124 run partnership. However in the space of 28 runs Warner and Ponting (9) both fell victim of Morkel (2-58). Watson then reached his century, but fell only 8 runs afterwards. Which left Clarke (51*) , who scored his second fifty in a row, and Hussey (19*) to bring the innings home. Australia finished on 258-3.

The Australian bowlers provided a masterclass in ODI bowling in this innings. The highest South African partnership was 38 between Amla (22) and Duminy (29) . Bracken (4-33) made the early breakthroughs bowling all of the top three batsmen. Clark (3-23) then took the next two, and then Johnson (1-22) and Watson (2-22) took three of the remaining five wickets. South Africa finished on 130 all out.

Allan Border Medal

3.S.Clark - 3-23
2.N.Bracken - 4-33
1.S.Watson 108 and 2-22

[Nottsboy118]

The team for the fourth ODI is:

D.Warner
S.Watson
R.Ponting
M.Clarke
M.Hussey
J.Hopes
B.Haddin
M.Johnson
B.Lee
S.Clark
N.Bracken

The team remains the same for the forth game in a row. Australia go into this game knowing a win would win them the series. Both targets from the last game were achieved , so there is nothing left to improve for the time being.

[Nottsboy118]

Australia lost the toss and were ordered to bat by Graeme Smith.
Warner (11) didn't reach a fifty for the first innings this series, this was followed by average scores by both Watson (31) and Ponting (15) . This meant Clarke (89) and Hussey (72) needed to have a big partnership, which they did. 129 runs seperated Watson's and Hussey's wickets. Clarke was caught out 11 short of his century. Hopes (17) , Haddin (7) , Johnson (7*) and Lee (2*) all added a few quick runs at the end. The final score was 260-7.

Smith (64) and Amla (103) blew the bowlers away at the start and they never recovered. Johnson (2-38) the only player who could hold his head up. Every other bowler had an economy of over over 5.50 runs an over. Some good death bowling restricted the ease of victory, but it was never in doubt after about the twenty fifth over. Bad Peformance. South Africa finished on 261-6.

Allan Border Medal

3.M.Hussey - 72
2.M.Johnson - 2-38
1.M.Clarke - 89

[Nottsboy118]

The team for the fifth ODI is:

D.Warner
S.Watson
R.Ponting
M.Clarke
M.Hussey
J.Hopes
B.Haddin
M.Johnson
S.Clark
N.Bracken
P.Siddle

P.Siddle replaces B.Lee, after a string of bad pefromances left him with statistics of, 4 wickets at an average of 43.50. No other changes were made for this game, which was the decider.

[Nottsboy118]

Australia won the toss and elected to bat.
The innings started badly, as in only the fifth over Australia were 13-2. However there was a revival which Watson (31) , Hussey (33) , Hopes (26) and Haddin (28*) all contributed to. But Clarke (129*) was due the praise, after his incredible knock, gave Australia hope of a series win. Australia were 259-5 at the end of their innings.

Another fine peformance from the bowlers in this ODI. Bracken (2-38) , Johnson (3-35) , Clark (3-53) and Watson (2-26) tore through the South African batting line up, only allowing two players passed twenty runs. Duminy (45) and Kallis (44) offered the resistance, but it wasn't enough. South Africa were bowled out cheaply, 186 all out the final score.

Allan Border Medal

3.N.Bracken - 2-28
2.M.Johnson - 3-35
1.M.Clarke - 129*

[Nottsboy118]

Australia therefore won the ODI series against South africa!

Allan Border Medal Standings

ODI Tour of South Africa:

5.R.Ponting - 1
5.M.Hussey - 1
5.S.Clark - 1
4.S.Watson - 3
4.N.Bracken - 3
3.D.Warner - 6
2.M.Johnson - 7
1.M.Clarke - 8

Overall Standings:

5.R.Ponting - 1
5.M.Hussey - 1
5.S.Clark - 1
4.S.Watson - 3
4.N.Bracken - 3
3.D.Warner - 6
2.M.Johnson - 7
1.M.Clarke - 8

[Nottsboy118]

The touring Squad for the World Twenty20 Tournament has been announced:

Ricky Ponting (C)
Michael Clarke (VC)
Nathan Bracken
Stuart Clark
Brad Haddin (WK)
James Hopes
David Hussey
Mike Hussey
Mitchell Johnson
Brett Lee
Peter Siddle
Adam Voges
David Warner
Shane Watson
Cameron White

There has only been one change from the ODI winning squad, C.Ferguson out and A.Voges in.