Neil Manthorp Cricket
Ten consecutive home victories equals the all-time record set by India in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Like India, South Africa achieved these wins with the help of carefully under-prepared pitches that could only assist the home side.
Indian batsmen play spin better than any other side, even if the ball is turning out of dusty goat track, and they usually boast better spinners than their guests. So goat tracks it is.
South African batsmen cope better with damp “greentops” than most other sides and they certainly field a superior fast and seam bowling department. So mambas it is.
The difference between India and South Africa, of course, is that South Africa sometimes win overseas, as well. Indian cricketers may have some subliminal skills but they struggle to put up a decent showing against an average pub attack in unfamiliar conditions.
It may be difficult to believe, but there is not a single member of the South African team who would advocate the use of pitches like these. While Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock aren’t about to sign any petitions of protest, they would prefer a better-balanced surface because they are team men and the result of the match should not be affected by the toss of a coin.
However. Let us not be diverted by mere clay and grass. South Africa would have beaten any side in the world, on goat track or tarmac, playing the way they did at the Wanderers. It occurred to several seasoned observers that the match may have been the finest all-round team performance in a Test match since they started again in 1992.
“There certainly hasn’t been a better batting display, and the way Allan and Shaun exploited the conditions was scary. There really wasn’t a single player who could say they had a bad Test. It was definitely one of their best,” said Mike Procter.
Have they played better? “Umm, no, probably not,” concedes Pollock.
“It was a good team performance in Adelaide a couple of years ago but we didn’t win the Test – we dropped catches. No, this was pretty special. Any side would struggle against a performance like that.”
Gary Kirsten also struggled to remember a Test when so many players had performed so well. “In terms of the way we won, well, we sort of annihilated them, to be honest. We’ve had some great wins, like Sydney 1993 and Lord’s 1994, but this was just so total. It was a brilliant feeling to part of something that felt so powerful and in control. Shaun and Allan’s exploitation of conditions was the best I have ever seen,” he said.
Pollock, too, talks about the “feeling” having changed in the dressing room. In the last 16 Tests South Africa have failed to reach 300 in their first innings just three times. And they won two of those matches anyway. 400 is becoming a regular sight. Reminded of these figures, Pollock is unimpressed.
“Stats are one thing, but they aren’t everything. The important thing is that we now expect to score a lot of runs, we know we are good and we believe it. The old feeling of nerves and caution at the beginning of the innings has gone,” says Pollock. No one is privately holding thumbs and thinking “jeez, I hope we don’t collapse” these days.
South Africa’s bowlers have had this feeling of belief and confidence for years, of course, but if they “do a job” in the first innings they don’t worry about having to bale the batsmen out in the second innings. A poor man struggles to get rich but a rich man just gets richer. Such is the feeling now enjoyed by Donald and his fellow seamers.
The form of the top six batsmen usually dictates the fate of a team in a Test match and South Africa’s top order is not only relieving pressure on the bowlers, but also the lower order.
What a difference it makes to Pollock, Lance Klusener and Mark Boucher to arrive at the crease with 300 runs already on the board. “Absolutely,” says Pollock. “There’s a fun rivalry between the three of us to see what order we go in but, to be honest, it’s not important to any of us because we the team are playing so well.”
After such a crushing start to the series is there a feeling within the team that a similar fate could await England as that which befell the West Indies? “Well, we certainly intend to exert the same kind of pressure on them but I’d be very, very surprised if they reacted the same way the West Indies did,” says Pollock.
“The England side has plenty of young players who are determined to build their careers, and there is much more unity within their squad. I’d be amazed if they gave up, which the West Indies seemed to. Duncan Fletcher is a big influence, too.”
Nobody really knows what sort of playing surfaces await the teams in the next four Tests but, if they are green and juicy, then England could really struggle to avoid another whitewash. The next generation of South African Test cricketers may suffer as a result of the policy, but to be honest – who wouldn’t join in the celebrations? Far be it from me to apply the wet blanket to any party, let alone a good one. Roll on, St George’s Park. Go, Donald!