Johannesburg – Faf du Plessis hopes South Africa’s recent 5-0 drubbing of Australia in the One-Day International series will leave some mental scars when the teams meet in three Tests Down Under in November.
The South African team left for Australia on Sunday evening, with Du Plessis believing the confidence gained by those players in the Test squad who participated in the One-Dayers will stand the team in good stead.
“Most important for me is that the players are in form, regardless of the format. It’s a tough place to play Test cricket, so taking confidence from the One-Day series here is important,” said Du Plessis.
South Africa will play against Australia in three Tests, starting at the Waca in Perth on November 3.
“Beating Australia, the way we did, really convincingly, not giving them a sniff, will leave a bit of a scar on them mentally. However I appreciate, it’s Test cricket, a different format, they will have a different team, probably a more mature team (than their One-Day squad). So it’s important to start well in that first Test and remind them that we are in the same space as the one-day team, then I think we’ll have a really good tour.”
South Africa will have to deal with a stronger bowling line-up than the Australians brought for the One-Day series, with the leaders of their attack; Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood set to return for the Perth opener.
“Starc is a huge bowler for them,” said Du Plessis.
“We’ll need to make sure we get good prep in with left arm quicks. He’s obviously someone who can crank it up and get it close to 150km/h and then obviously he’s very good with reverse swing."
"We’ve got to make sure that as a Test team we get back into the rhythm of being patient with really good disciplines. The success for our Test side has been about that….we are prepared to knuckle down and when the opportunity arises to put pressure on the opposition we do that very well.”
The series includes a first for the Proteas under lights at the Adelaide Oval from November 24. Their preparations for the series will start at the Adelaide Oval next Saturday when South Africa play a two-day match under lights against a local invitation team.
“It is very exciting for all of us,” said Russell Domingo. “Obviously it’s a first for most of us, but some of the guys who went with the SA A team in August got to play with the pink ball, although that was during the day only.”
Tour Schedule:
Oct 22-23 vs Cricket Australia Invitation XI, Adelaide Oval (day/night)
Oct 27-28 vs South Australia Invitation XI, Glenelg
Nov 3-7 First Test, Perth
Nov 12-16 Second Test, Hobart
Nov 19-20 vs Victoria, Melbourne Cricket Ground (day/night)
Nov 24-28 Third Test, Adelaide (day/night)
SA Squad: Dean Elgar, Stephen Cook, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis (capt), JP Duminy, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Rilee Rossouw, Kyle Abbott, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dane Vilas.