The Tour to Australia is never an easy one. This is why only
3 teams have comeback with Test series wins in that part of the world in the
last 20 years. West Indies(1992/1993) won 2-1 in a 5 Test series, South Africa (2008/2009) won 2-1 in 3-Test
series and England(2010/2011) won 3-1 in a 5-Test series.
South Africa goes to Australia as favourites for the 1st
time in over 100 years. They have a settled Test side. Each member of the team knows their role. It
is also a successful side being ranked number one in Test cricket. South Africa is
unbeaten away from home since they lost 2-0 to Sri Lanka in 2006. They have not lost a Test match away since February 2010 in India. That is a
very long time ago.
Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers,
JP Duminy, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn all played in that successful tour of
Australia back in 2008/09. They know what it takes to win there.
Jacques Rudolph was not in that successful team of 2008 but
he was there in 2006. South Africa lost that series 2-0 but Rudolph will
remember it fondly as he constructed an all-important 102 not out on the last day of the
Perth Test. This time around Perth will be the venue for the 3rd and
final Test in the series.
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| THE SAVIOUR: A happy Jacques Rudolph of South Africa leaves the field after playing a match-saving knock of 102 not out on the final day of the first Test against Australia in Perth |
Take your catches,
field well
If you play Australia the last thing you want to do is give
any of their top batsmen a life-line. Gibbs knows this with Steve Waugh. Batsmen like Ponting, Clarke and Hussey will
make you pay for any dropped catch of their bat. Those 3 hold the key as they
bat for a very long-time. If they give you a chance take it. The rest of the
batting order is very weak and lacks experience.
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| Hope we do not see him bowl |
Bat well
This might seem obvious but it is true. Coming up against
Australian fast bowlers will be a tough challenge for any batting line-up. Smith,
Alviro and Amla need to protect the rest of the batting order from the new
ball. The last thing you want is to be 50/3. We also need to consolidate our
position. If we get to 15 minutes before a break or end of the day’s play make
sure we do not lose any wicket. Immediately after losing a wicket we also need
to consolidate and bat cautiously. This is to avoid losing wickets in clusters
like it happened in the Newlands Test last time.
If you want to beat Australia you are going to have to get
big totals with the bat, 400-plus scores. This requires your batsmen to score
centuries and big centuries. You will not achieve that by getting 30s and 40s.
It also means getting batting partnerships. When England beat Australia 3-1
they scored over 500 runs 4 times during that Ashes series.
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| This is what we are defending |
South Africa are very good Test side. They have a solid
batting line-up and one of the best bowling attacks in world cricket. The only
reason they are not totally dominating Test cricket right now is that they
sometimes only play well 2 sessions out of 3 in the day. This is what keeps
teams in the game against them. They can bowl well for 2 sessions, have a team at
150/7 but in the last session of the day bowl badly and concede 100 without
taking a single wicket. End the day at 250/7. All that hard work for 2 sessions
gets undone. Tahir needs to backup his fast bowlers well. He will be targeted
just as England did. Right now he is the weak link in the attack. Play well the
entire day.
If the Proteas can play good Test cricket for 15 days they
will win this series comfortably. I predict 2-1 win for South Africa.
South Africa Test squad to Australia back in 2005/2006 - Check how many are still in the team.
