South Africa have five Tests to get things right before they take on Australia
Peter Robinson
Whatever the claims of men such as Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara (not to mention wonderful bowlers like Courtney Walsh, Allan Donald and Shane Warne), it is difficult to dismiss the credentials of Steve Waugh as being simply the best cricketer of his age.
Waugh is in many ways the archetypal Australian cricketer (superimpose his face on a photograph of an Australian team circa 1930 and the argument for reincarnation becomes eerily plausible), and he also embodies almost all the virtues of the modern player. Tough, uncompromising, physically brave and shrewder than all of English cricket combined, he has already secured himself a place in the game’s history as one of the great players and one of the great captains.
But just how much he means to Australia might become evident in the last two Tests of the Ashes series, which he will miss through injury. With the rubber already decided, the natural tendency of the winning side would be to take its foot off the accelerator. Waugh has made it a point to disabuse his team of the notion of a “dead” Test match. It will be instructive to see how Adam Gilchrist manages in Waugh’s absence.
All of which brings us to South Africa’s home-and-away series against Australia this summer, South Africa’s warm-up for which begins with the tour to Zimbabwe next month. The squad for Zimbabwe will be announced on Monday and, notwithstanding the extraordinary decision of the United Cricket Board’s general council to overlook the quite obvious claims of Hugh Page to be a national selector, the process of building towards Australia at the end of the year will have begun.
It is no disrespect to Zimbabwe, and to India who come to South Africa in October, to consider these two countries as appetisers ahead of the main course. Although the official Test championship runs over a four-year period, no one doubts that the clash between South Africa and Australia this summer will establish who is currently at the top of the pile.
No one should doubt, either, that Australia will start with two advantages, the significance of which may well become apparent as the contests unfold. The first is an accident of scheduling which has South Africa visiting Australia first, or playing away. South Africa have never won a series in Australia and if the Australians gain an ascendancy at home, they are a sufficiently ruthless team to make this count for them when they come to South Africa.
Australia’s second point of advantage lies in the fact that they are a more settled team than South Africa, particularly in the middle order. All things being equal, Australia will expect to line up Waugh, Waugh and Martyn at four, five and six. South Africa, on the other hand, are still trying to find the pieces to fit together.
It is probable that Neil McKenzie will be somewhere there on his first full tour to Australia; it is also possible that Jacques Kallis could be shifted down to five with Boeta Dippenaar at three. Herschelle Gibbs has hinted that he wouldn’t mind moving down the order, although given his circumstances he really should be pleased just to be in the side in the first place.
There is also the possibility now that Daryll Cullinan will make his third tour of Australia. If this is the case, and there is no reason to assume that it isn’t given that players cannot be allowed to pick and choose in which series they want to play, it will constitute an act of no little personal courage, given Cullinan’s track record in Australia.
All of this will become clearer as the season progresses, and there is no reason to believe that South Africa will go to Australia on a hiding to nothing. But it will be an immense task, not least because the real secret behind Australia’s success is their ability to simplify a game that is too often overcomplicated by coaches, critics, experts and the players themselves.
Australia have been successful because they have all the basics in place. Their seam bowlers stick to one side of the wicket, allowing them to bowl to attacking fields. They have, in Warne, a man who changed the way people thought about Test cricket and, with 18 wickets in three Tests against England, still capable of holding his own at the highest level. Their batsmen understand the need to score runs, and score them quickly enough to keep the game going forward and their fielding matches South Africa’s for efficiency interspersed with moments of genius.
South Africa have five Test matches two against Zimbabwe and three against India to ready themselves for the challenge. Let us hope that not a single opportunity is wasted.
Peter Robinson is the editor of CricInfo South Africa