The article focused primarily on the Australian team’s disastrous outing at Newlands, Cape Town against South Africa, and what needed to be done.
Having acquired an iconic and awesome reputation for his writings on the sport of cricket, it is an irony of sorts and quite bizarre that in his last article before he died Saturday in a hotel room in Cape Town, South Africa, he wrote: “Mind you, a lot can happen in a week. It just did.”
The article focused primarily on the Australian team’s disastrous outing at Newlands, Cape Town against South Africa, and what needed to be done.
“Australian cricket is lucky that it has a few days of respite between the dumbfounding events at Newlands and its next engagement. The break gives coaches, selectors and captain the breathing space needed to collect their thoughts,” said Roebuck.
“The second Test gives the incumbents an opportunity to redeem themselves and the selectors a chance to study the trends,” he added.
He also said that there was no point in ditching players in response to public demand, as who knows, the replacements might not be any better, or ready.
He predicted that Shaun Marsh would not be playing the Johannesburg Test because of a recurrence of his degenerative back problem, and said Usman Khawaja deserved the opportunity to take his place in the squad.
He also describes left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, as the most frustrating cricketer in the country, someone who bowled without pace or swing at Newlands.
“Since his inspired bursts in the Ashes Test in Perth he had not taken enough wickets to justify his retention. Nor has he scored enough runs since his blistering 123 in Cape Town 32 months ago to be deemed a handy lower-order batsman. Hopes have been dashed he might lead the attack until the next generation is ready,” Roebuck said, a day before his tragic demise.
He reveals that the collapse in Cape Town was no fluke.
“These Australians have been weak against swing because they chase the ball rather than play it under their chin. Some get into poor positions. Apart from technical flaws, the collapses raised even more fundamental issues. How long can Shane Watson continue as a front-line bowler and opening batsman? History provides few instances of a cricketer able to sustain both workloads. The time is ripe to put him in the middle order,” said Roebuck.
He mentions the technical flaws of opener Phillip Hughes (bat still slides sideways and his shoulders are square); Ponting (missing straight balls because he is hurried and out of position); Brad Haddin (reckless and has a single match to turn around his fortunes) and Johnson (the most likely player to be dropped).
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