Johannesburg – Allan Donald believes it’s imperative South Africa play four seam bowlers if they are to emerge victorious in the Test series against Australia.
The Proteas head Down Under today and will begin preparations this week ahead of a three-Test series that includes the first day/night Test match in which South Africa will be involved at the Adelaide Oval from November 24.
The first Test will be played in Perth from November 3, and, while the Waca is no longer the fast bowling paradise of yore, Donald, who was South Africa’s bowling coach when the team won there in 2012, feels the key to the tourists winning is picking four quicks.
“That’s how they will get 20 wickets,” said Donald, now a bowling consultant for the Knights franchise in Bloemfontein.
Who those four seamers will be, and how the team and the attack is balanced will provide a few headaches for coach Russell Domingo, captain Faf du Plessis and the selectors over the next fortnight ahead of that first Test. “You’d say right now Dale (Steyn), Vernon (Philander) and Kagiso (Rabada) will start, but then do you include Morné (Morkel), who hasn’t had a lot of cricket of late?” Donald asked.
Morkel got through 26 overs for the Titans in their Sunfoil Series match against the Warriors in Port Elizabeth last week picking up 3/54. He only bowled four overs in the second innings as the Warriors claimed a comfortable win on Friday.
“You look at Morné who’s just played the one game, Vernon as well… it does make those two warm-up matches before the first Test vital. Not only are you looking to get overs in the guys’ legs but it may also determine the make-up of the attack,” said Donald.
Of course, playing four seamers and a frontline spinner does upset the balance of the starting team and means there’ll be room for just six front line batsmen, which must include wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
That is a risky structure. If four seamers are essential in Perth, then so is a spinner.
Although tracks in Australia, especially those outside of Sydney, don’t usually aid spin, the bounce at the Waca is very much to the spinners’ liking.
In South Africa’s two victories there on the last two tours, Paul Harris in 2008, with five wickets, and Robin Peterson in 2012, with six, were very influential.
“Ja, Robbie loved the bounce there. You won’t have them spinning out the Australians but they do a good holding job, and if there is something like the bounce in Perth, then there is a role (for the spinner),” said Donald.
South Africa have selected Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi, the former a likely consequence of his own good start to the local season – he picked up 13 wickets in the Dolphins’ win over the Warriors in the opening round of the Sunfoil Series – and Australia’s recent struggles against Sri Lankan left-arm tweaker Rangana Herath.
Given Australia’s recent problems against spin, particularly on the subcontinent and against Pakistan in the UAE, no one is expecting the pitches at the three venues to turn much.
Their strength lies with their battery of quicks and the decision to rest Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood for the one-day series here in South Africa is indicative of the importance the Australian selectors have put on the Test matches.
“Starc and Hazlewood change that team completely,” said Donald, who worked with the Australian team as a bowling consultant on the tour to Sri Lanka recently.
“It’s going to be a hell of a test for the South African top order.”
South Africa’s batsmen may study the scorecard from the last Test in Perth and smile, though.
Six centuries were scored by Australia and New Zealand last year with David Warner and Ross Taylor each going on to make double hundreds. South Africa have never played a Test in Hobart, which hosts the second match of the series, but once more it is a pitch which offers early assistance for the seamers and then flattens out later.Australia have lost just one of 12 matches there, and that defeat came five years ago when New Zealand, led by some fine bowling from seamers Doug Bracewell and Chris Martin, won by seven runs.
Of course, the Test in Adelaide has many excited, but conditions may not be what they were for the inaugural day-night Test there last year between the Australians and the New Zealanders.
Then the pink ball was still very new and initial studies had shown it lasted longer on a grassier pitch – something the Adelaide Oval wasn’t known for.
The quick bowlers dominated in conditions aiding seam and swing and the batsmen had difficulty picking up the pink ball, particularly around sunset.
On the recent SA A tour to Australia, the pink ball was also utilised in the first of the four-day matches and the South Africans noted that it swung more than the red ball and got softer much quicker, too.
Last year, spinners took eight wickets in the day-night Test, indicating there is a role for the slow bowlers under lights in whites.
Any way you slice it, this will be a close series.Those South African players involved in the one-day success recently will take confidence with them, but as Donald said, an Australian line-up with their top quick bowlers back, in home conditions, will be a vastly different challenge for Du Plessis’ team.
Tour Schedule:
Oct 22-23: v Cricket Australia Invitation XI, Adelaide Oval (day/night)
Oct 27-28: v South Australia Invitation XI, Glenelg, Adelaide
Nov 3-7:1st Test, Perth
Nov 12-16:2nd Test, Hobart
Nov 19-20: v Victoria, Melbourne (day/night)
Nov 24-28:3rd 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, Morné Morkel, Rilee Rossouw, Kyle Abbott, Keshav Maharaj, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dane Vilas
– The Sunday Independent