0Kothuthu luthuthu, ENgilani eluthulini

Kuba nto ndiza kuyithetha ndiya abinzwe phantsi phezulu ... kodwa mna ndiyavuya ukuba olu ngcelele Uthuthu ugqibele. Ilungile iOstreliya ukuba badlale ngcono kakhulu kunokuba bekugqitywa ngamalungu abo nase-England, kuba inxalenye enkulu, budemon ngokupheleleyo.

Ngokuqinisekileyo njengobusuku obulandelayo ngemini iiAussies ziqweqwedise umdlalo ophumeleleyo wama-5 ukuya kuma-5, Ukwaqubuda eNgilani ngenxa yenani elipheleleyo elibuhlungu alifanelanga kumgca wamanye amazwe. Iindwendwe ngoku kufuneka zibuyele umva, re-group and pick up the pieces from this poten­tially dis­astrous tour down-under.

‘Poten­tially’ is a word that is used with great care. Inquests have already star­ted into what went wrong and who must take the blame. It is import­ant of course to ‘learn les­sons’ but hope­fully this tour was but an aber­ra­tion for a once highly suc­cess­ful and cap­able team (ewe, ngenene!). Just as one swal­low does not make a sum­mer, enye flake ikhephu akwenzi ukuba ubusika. Fin­gers crossed it was just an unfor­tu­nate set of cir­cum­stances that all came togeth­er two wreak hav­oc on the vis­it­ing side. All bats­men lose form at one time or anoth­er – per­haps this was just the moment for every­one to slip up. Com­bine that with the best Eng­lish spin­ner for a gen­er­a­tion decid­ing to fin­ish on a low and you are already going to be strug­gling. Some play­ers have also clearly been in need of a rest – cap­tain­ing the side and open­ing the bat­ting is always a big ask and Alistair Cook has looked tired of late. Matt Pri­or and Jimmy Ander­son have for too long had too much respons­ib­il­ity laid on their admit­tedly broad shoulders. Then of course there was the unfor­tu­nate devel­op­ment in the case of Jonath­an Trott. Very sad and every­one wishes him well. It’s doubt­ful, kunjalo, that he will play inter­na­tion­al crick­et again. Ukuba ngaba uya kuba kumgangatho omnye. Some of the squad have also been at the start of their inter­na­tion­al careers – Joe Root has the neces­sary skills to make it at inter­na­tion­al level and is worth per­sever­ing with – but it will take time. Michael Car­berry will flour­ish at one day level but the test arena is a little above his skill set. Jonny Bair­stow is worth keep­ing on the fringes – although ques­tion marks remain about his abil­ity to deal with the short ball. Yena yokothula ukhetho lokuqala. Then of course Ben Stokes has stepped for­ward and grabbed his oppor­tun­ity with both hands. Runs and wick­ets when every­one else around you is los­ing their head is a fant­ast­ic accom­plish­ment. Def­in­itely one for the future and the one bright light to come gleam­ing out of the tour.

Oku kunjalo kulula kakhulu ukuba khangela olu tyelelo bathi bonke ilahlekileyo. It may well be – Eng­land might be a bus­ted flush – but there is hope yet as well.

Review of the tour – indi­vidu­al Eng­land and Aus­tralia play­ers and their series rat­ings (hayi amanqaku uyilahle kabini kunomyinge)

Alastair Cook - 246 runs, 3 half cen­tur­ies, amanqaku aphezulu 72 - AVG ye 24.6

Cap­tain Cook led from the front and set the tone for the dis­mal show from the entire team. Poor bat­ting (albeit meas­ured against his incred­ibly high stand­ards) njengokuba. Eng­land expect and need him to lead from the front. Akazange 3

Michael Car­berry – 281 runs - 1 half cen­tury, amanqaku aphezulu 60 - AVG ye 28.1

lesibini eliphezulu run wayenama eNgilani (nangona idlale uvavanyo engaphezulu kwama Stokes ngasemva nje naye libalekela amanqaku kwikholam) – reg­u­larly flattered to deceive and likely that age and poor shot selec­tion through­out the series will mean he doesn’t play at test level again. Can do a job at one day level 4

Kev­in Pietersen – 294 runs - 2 half cen­tur­ies – top score of 71 (AVG ye 29.4)

Scored the most amount of runs in the Eng­land side but came in for sub­stan­tial cri­ti­cism. Pieterson is able to play the long and patient innings when he puts his mind to it – but rarely both­ers – even if it is what is needed. It is a major weak­ness of a bril­liant play­er but he won’t ever change so there is no point try­ing to make him – at least you know what you get with him 5

Ian Bell - 235 runs - 2 half cen­tur­ies – top score of 72 (AVG ye 23.5)

Bell is becom­ing Mr Depend­able for Eng­land. Played a couple of use­ful innings includ­ing car­ry­ing his bat in one. Eng­land can’t keep rely­ing on him to res­cue the side 5

Joe Root - 192 runs - 1 half cen­tury – top score of 87 (AVG ye 24); 32 LOPHULISO, 5 maid­ens, 98 runs, 0 iiwikethi

Dropped for the final game but clearly remains in England’s plans going for­ward. Has the tal­ent and the tem­pera­ment to suc­ceed and the man­age­ment need to decide where his best pos­i­tion is in the bat­ting order. Shame he couldn’t con­trib­ute more with the ball. 4.5

Matt Pri­or – 107 runs - 1 half cen­tury – top score of 69 (AVG ye 17.83)

Anoth­er dis­mal series and the select­ors showed they are not afraid to drop a seni­or pro like him. If there was a ready made replace­ment it’s likely Prior’s days would be ser­i­ously numbered but at the moment no one is lay­ing down a ser­i­ous chal­lenge. He will be back in the sum­mer 4

Ben Stokes - 279 runs – 1 cen­tury – top score of 120 - (AVG ye 34.87); 116.5 LOPHULISO, 15 maid­ens, 492 runs, 15 iiwikethi (32.80 runs nganye tim)

Com­fort­ably England’s best play­er – third in the over­all runs scored list (hav­ing played a test less than the oth­ers) and second highest wick­et taker – the one shin­ing light in a very dark series for Eng­land. Still a little rough around the edges but Eng­land have a real dia­mond on their hands 8

Stu­art Broad – 155 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 42 - (AVG ye 15.5); 161.5 LOPHULISO, 24 maid­ens, 578 runs, 21 iiwikethi (27.52 runs nganye tim)

It was always dif­fi­cult for England’s bowl­ing attack to make any real in-roads into a dom­in­ant and cock-sure Aus­trali­an side, espe­cially when their bats­men nev­er man­aged to apply any lever­age by scor­ing a decent total. ngasemva Stokes, Broad was England’s best play­er. Decent amount of wick­ets and a few runs 6.5

Jimmy Ander­son – 41 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 13 not out — (AVG ye 4.1) ; 190.3 LOPHULISO, 43 maid­ens, 615 runs, 14 iiwikethi (43.92 runs nganye tim)

Like his fast bowl­ing part­ner, Ander­son suffered from no sup­port from the bat­ting line up and is clearly in need of a rest. England’s man­age­ment need to send him home and make sure his bat­ter­ies are re-charged for the home tests – he will still take plenty of wick­ets in Eng­lish con­di­tions 5

Graeme Swann - 36 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 19 ongaphumiyo (AVG ye 6); 142 runs, 21 maid­ens, 560 runs, 7 iiwikethi (80 runs nganye tim)

Dis­ap­point­ing final series for the best Eng­lish spin­ner in a gen­er­a­tion and failed to con­trib­ute a mean­ing­ful score with the bat either. Swann must be remembered for his pre­vi­ous endeav­ours and not this final hur­rah 4

Tim Bresnan - 34 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 21 (AVG ye 8.5); 62.3 LOPHULISO, 14 maid­ens, 206 runs, 5 iiwikethi (41.2 runs ngoothinti nganye)

Just a couple of tests for Bresnan to prove him­self after a lengthy lay off. Con­trib­uted noth­ing with the bat but bowled eco­nom­ic­ally at times. Always looks good when oth­ers around him are play­ing well too but an un neces­sary lux­ury when the side is strug­gling. Ijuri lulile kwindawo yakhe ecaleni - 4.5

Monty Pan­esar – 4 runs — top score of 2 (AVG ye 1); 70.5 LOPHULISO, 9 maid­ens, 257 runs, 3 iiwikethi (85.66 runs nganye tim)

Usu­al flood of runs from the bat of Monty! With Swann hav­ing closed the cur­tain on his inter­na­tion­al career it’s likely Monty will be the first name the select­ors turn to in the future giv­en the lack of ready-made options. Eng­land put a lot of faith in the play­er after his recent off-field issues but Aus­tralia decided to get after any twirler that came their way; Monty was no excep­tion. 3.5

Jonny Bair­stow – 49 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 21 (AVG ye 12.25)

Picked ahead of Pri­or for the final two tests but failed to put a mark­er down with either bat or gloves. Occa­sion­ally showed glimpses of hav­ing what it takes to suc­ceed at this level by counter-attack­ing against a rampant oppos­i­tion. Is likely to remain on the fringes of the side as a keep­er-bats­man simply because there are no stand out altern­at­ives. But the man­age­ment must stay awake at night pray­ing for Matt Pri­or to redis­cov­er his form of old. 4

Enye uvavanyo izimanga:

Jonath­an Trott – 19 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 10 (AVG ye 9.5)

Tor­tured bat­ting dis­play in his one test – fol­lowed by announce­ment that he was depart­ing the tour. Eng­land missed the once rock of the side – fin­gers crossed he can comeback – but it’s a long road ahead

Gary Bal­lance – 25 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 18 (AVG 12.5)

Very dif­fi­cult time to make his debut in a side (bat­ting line up espe­cially) devoid of any con­fid­ence. Must be giv­en a prop­er chance to succeed.

Chris Trem­lett – 15 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 8 (AVG 7.5); 36 LOPHULISO, 5 maid­ens, 120 runs, 4 iiwikethi (AVG ye 30 runs ngoothinti nganye)

Not bad bowl­ing stats hide the fact that he has lost a yard of pace since last on Aus­trali­an shores. With the emer­gence of Stokes to sup­port Ander­son and Broad in the bowl­ing unit and Onions chomp­ing at the bit back home his days would appear numbered.

Scott Borth­wick – 5 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 4 - AVG 2.5; 13 LOPHULISO, 0 maid­ens, 82 runs, 4 iiwikethi (20.50 runs nganye tim)

A brave decision by the select­ors to pick a leg-spin­ner (the first leg­gie since Ian Salis­bury played his last test in 2000 (nxamnye Pakistan) – espe­cially giv­en the Aus­trali­ans’ determ­in­a­tion to get after any spin­ner presen­ted to them – Borth­wick at least claimed a few scalps. Eng­land must decide who their spin­ner is going to be (Monty; Ker­rigan or Borth­wick) yaye intonga nabo ngenxa isixa ophucukileyo ixesha ukubona ukuba ngubani kuthatha ntoni (ukuba kukho kuwo). Borth­wick must play the next test if con­di­tions suit.

Boyd Rankin - 13 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 13 (AVG ye 6.5); 20.5 LOPHULISO, 0 maid­ens, 81 runs, 1 wick­et (81 runs nganye tim).

Has so far suc­ceeded at one day level – needs more time to see if will devel­op into a main­stay of the side but will face con­sid­er­able oppos­i­tion when the side is back on home soil.

Ke kaloku ngenxa Australia!!!

Chris Rogers — 463 runs, 2 cen­tur­ies, 3 half cen­tur­ies, amanqaku aphezulu 119 (AVG ye 46.3)

Along with his open­ing part­ner Dav­id Warner Rogers time and time again got his side off to a good start with con­sist­ent per­form­ances – two tons and two half cen­tur­ies says it all 7.5

Dav­id Warner – 523 runs, 2 cen­tur­ies, 2 half cen­tur­ies, amanqaku aphezulu 124 (AVG ye 52.3)

Exactly the same as his part­ner Rogers, with only a few runs sep­ar­at­ing them. Has more than repaid the select­ors’ faith in him fol­low­ing the off-field antics 8

Shane Wat­son — 345 runs, 1 cen­tury, 2 half cen­tur­ies, amanqaku aphezulu 103 (AVG ye 34.5); 47.4 LOPHULISO, 17 maid­ens, 122 runs, 4 iiwikethi (AVG nganye tim ye 30.50)

Use­ful con­tri­bu­tion with the bat but able to bowl a few use­ful overs and keep the pres­sure up as well by tak­ing of wick­ets 7

Michael Clarke - 363 runs, 2 cen­tur­ies, amanqaku aphezulu 148 (AVG ye 36.3)

Two out­stand­ing and con­sec­ut­ive tons sur­roun­ded by mediocre totals; no mat­ter – he strained every last sinew out of his entire team to demol­ish and demor­al­ise Eng­land and claim a 5–0 white­wash 8.5

Steven Smith - 327 runs, 2 cen­tur­ies, amanqaku aphezulu 115 (AVG ye 36.33); 11 LOPHULISO, 1 maid­en, 58 runs, 1 wick­et (avg per wick­et 58)

Her­al­ded as the series Smith came of age – are his runs down to his bril­liance or col­lect­ive ineptitude on England’s part. Yi 50/50 call in my opin­ion – if he does the same when facing the South Afric­an pace bat­tery when over­seas then I’ll keep my trap shut 7

George Bailey — 183 runs, 1 half cen­tury, amanqaku aphezulu 53 (AVG ye 22.87)

Lowo obuthathaka(Ish) link in the Aus­trali­an side with a dis­ap­point­ing series over­all  5

Brad Had­din — 493 runs, 1 cen­tury, 5 half cen­tur­ies, amanqaku aphezulu 118 (AVG ye 61.62)

Derided as a jour­ney man (ngokwam), Had­din was simply at the top of his game and knocked his crit­ics for imper­i­ous sixes. Eng­land simply had no answer to him. He was the joint top play­er of the series — 10

Mitchell John­son — 165 runs, 1 half cen­tury, amanqaku aphezulu 64 (AVG ye 20.62); 188.4 LOPHULISO, 51 maid­ens, 517 runs 37 iiwikethi (AVG ye 13.97 runs nganye tim)

Simply out­stand­ing. Eng­land just couldn’t cope with his pace – although again this says as much about the oppos­i­tion than it does John­son. But you can only bowl at what you are presen­ted with and he lapped up the tasty morsels with great aplomb. More than one quarter of his overs was a maid­en too. Excel­lent effort for a quick. Joint top play­er for Aus­tralia and over­all 10

Ryan Har­ris – 117 runs, 1 half cen­tury, amanqaku aphezulu 55 (AVG ye 19.5); 166.2 LOPHULISO, 50 maid­ens; 425 runs, 22 iiwikethi (19.31 runs nganye tim)

Bril­liant Ginger to Johnson’s Fred, what his fel­low quick didn’t deal with Har­ris picked up. A per­fect foil for John­son and man­aged to stay fit as well. A few use­ful runs and again gave very few runs away with 50 maid­ens 9

Peter Siddle - 38 runs, amanqaku aphezulu 21 (AVG ye 5.42); 156.4 LOPHULISO, 48 maid­ens, 386 runs, 16 iiwikethi (AVG ye 24.12)

Ukuba uFred Ginger wakha isigqibo sokuqesha engaphezulu ngoko Siddle bekuya kuba yi. His bowl­ing danced around the pitch as his tar­gets dis­played the foot­work of club crick­eters. If John­son or Har­ris didn’t get you then Siddle would – a bril­liant triple act – leav­ing Eng­land with no chance 8

Nath­an Lyon – 60 runs - encotsheni ngamanqaku 18 ongaphumiyo (AVG ye 10); 176.2 LOPHULISO; 42 maid­ens; 558 runs, 19 iiwikethi (29.36 runs nganye tim)

Rather over-shad­owed by the pace trio Lyon still picked up 19 wick­ets and was an integ­ral part of the bowl­ing attack 8