South African captain Graeme Smith said on Monday Australia do not have the strength in depth to rest key players, after their second-string bowlers were carted around the ground by Sri Lanka.
Smith, preparing to take on Sri Lanka in the triangular series one-day match on Tuesday, said the Australian attack without pace spearhead Glenn McGrath had been exposed.
The host nation chose to rest veteran McGrath from Sunday’s match at the Sydney Cricket Ground and Smith said it showed as Sri Lankan opener Sanath Jayasuriya smacked 114 off 96 balls.
”It shows how important McGrath is to their set-up … McGrath and [Brett] Lee,” he said. ”I know McGrath hasn’t got many wickets, but they’ve really bowled well up front this series and created pressure.
”It just maybe shows the depth is just like ours; it takes a while to get those guys up to a level they need to be.”
Australian all-rounder James Hopes was hammered for 65 runs off six overs by the Sri Lankans, while debut bowler Brett Dorey was substituted by captain Ricky Ponting after being smashed for 35 runs off four overs.
Smith questioned why the Australians continued to ignore Jason Gillespie, despite his poor form in Australia’s Ashes tour of England.
”I know he struggled through the Ashes, but he’s a world-class bowler, and certainly it has been a surprise that he hasn’t even been spoken of much,” he said.
Smith said selection policies should be consistent.
Opener Phil Jaques, who blasted an Australian one-day debut record of 94 against South Africa in Melbourne on Friday, was also left out of Sunday’s team with Simon Katich brought back from injury.
”It’s a bit harsh on the boy, but I guess they’ve backed Simon Katich from the start and it’s important to have a degree of consistency,” he said.
”Consistency was a strength of ours through our success winning 20 games in a row in the last six to eight months; now we’ve lost a lot of those guys going home and it takes a while to build that experience and confidence at this level.”
Wicketkeeper-opener Adam Gilchrist was also on a rest break during Sunday’s match and is due to return for Australia’s clash with Sri Lanka in Adelaide on Thursday when he will take over as acting captain.
On Monday, Australian selectors announced that Ponting would now be rested and replaced by batsman Brad Hodge.
Ponting defended the policy of resting players.
”These rests have been done before and we have found that when the guys have a chance to have a break, the results indicate it is good for them,” he said.
South Africa’s series has been plagued by injury to Jacques Kallis, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini and Charl Langeveldt, reflecting in their results, with just one win from three matches.
But they can redeem themselves when they play Sri Lanka on Tuesday, while the Sri Lankans, with two wins from three matches, will move to the top of the tri-series table if they win.
Smith said he realises he is overdue a good innings and needs to get a solid start.
”I’m a key batter in the side more than anything else, and from my point of view that’s disappointing, I’ve got a lot of starts,” he said. ”It’s one of those things where you’ve been feeling good for a while, but haven’t really got anything — I know if I can get to 20 or 30 tomorrow, then something big is waiting.” — Sapa-AFP