Graham
15-12-2008, 19:08
Telegraph.co.uk monday 15/12/08
Australia-South Africa Test series set to upstage India-England
It is hard to understand how Test cricket can be on its last legs – as the doomsayers keep telling us – while a contest as riveting as the one in Madras (Chennai) is grabbing the world's attention.
Yet for all its drama and resonance, the India-England series is about to be upstaged by an even bigger showdown: a three-Test encounter between Australia and South Africa, who started this week as the two highest-ranked teams in the game.
It is all very well for the Indians to crow over their recent triumphs, which include a 2-0 win over the mighty Aussies in Nov, but they remain contenders rather than champions. The only sure way to dethrone Australia is to break their 16-year unbeaten run at home.
That is the task that stands before Graeme Smith and his men when the first Test begins in Perth on Wednesday. And if anyone can do it, it is the South Africans. They have the form (eight wins and one draw in their last nine series), they have the bowling ammunition, and they have the right sort of technique, thanks to the high-bouncing pitches of their homeland.
The question is, do they have the self belief? Many fine South African teams have faced this challenge before, and shrunk away defeated. On their last visit, three years ago, their batsmen were undermined by Shane Warne's mind games, while their bowlers lost their nerve as soon as Matthew Hayden puffed out his gorilla chest.
This year, Australia look a little less intimidating. Warne has retired, Hayden's 37-year-old bones are creaking, and Stuart Clark – a fine replacement for Glenn McGrath – has just pulled out with an elbow injury that could yet spell the end of his international career. But they are still a hugely talented unit, and it will take one hell of an effort to beat them.
South Africa are expected to be at full strength, though they have had a number of niggles to contend with, including Smith's own sore elbow and the ankle injury sustained by giant fast bowler Morne Morkel when he fell over while delivering his first ball on Australian soil.
Great things are expected of Morkel and his fellow fastie Dale Steyn in this series, just as they were in England six months ago. On that occasion, however, it was the South African batsmen who took control of the series with some patient crease-occupation. They will need a repeat performance over the next three weeks, as it is hard to see the Australians being bundled out cheaply in their own backyard.
"We haven't lost here for a long period of time," said the Australian coach Tim Nielsen. "That's because we've played good, hard, aggressive cricket and we really do fight hard to maintain our standing in our own country.
"We enjoy playing in front of our own crowds, we love putting on a good show and entertaining the people, especially at this time of the year when people are on holidays. What better thing to do than to come to the cricket and watch Australia win?"
There are few themes in sport as absorbing as a dynasty in decline. And for all Nielsen's bravado, that is where the Australians find themselves this year. Every series becomes a rite of passage: if you win, the vultures fly another loop in their holding pattern; if you lose, they close in for a feast.
The next couple of years will be a fascinating period in Test cricket. Assuming that a new Warne does not emerge from the Melbourne suburbs, we can look forward to watching India and South Africa jockey with the Aussies for that top spot, while Kevin Pietersen's England attempt to claw their way up the table. Maybe it is the 20-over game that should be worrying about its future.
Australia-South Africa Test series set to upstage India-England
It is hard to understand how Test cricket can be on its last legs – as the doomsayers keep telling us – while a contest as riveting as the one in Madras (Chennai) is grabbing the world's attention.
Yet for all its drama and resonance, the India-England series is about to be upstaged by an even bigger showdown: a three-Test encounter between Australia and South Africa, who started this week as the two highest-ranked teams in the game.
It is all very well for the Indians to crow over their recent triumphs, which include a 2-0 win over the mighty Aussies in Nov, but they remain contenders rather than champions. The only sure way to dethrone Australia is to break their 16-year unbeaten run at home.
That is the task that stands before Graeme Smith and his men when the first Test begins in Perth on Wednesday. And if anyone can do it, it is the South Africans. They have the form (eight wins and one draw in their last nine series), they have the bowling ammunition, and they have the right sort of technique, thanks to the high-bouncing pitches of their homeland.
The question is, do they have the self belief? Many fine South African teams have faced this challenge before, and shrunk away defeated. On their last visit, three years ago, their batsmen were undermined by Shane Warne's mind games, while their bowlers lost their nerve as soon as Matthew Hayden puffed out his gorilla chest.
This year, Australia look a little less intimidating. Warne has retired, Hayden's 37-year-old bones are creaking, and Stuart Clark – a fine replacement for Glenn McGrath – has just pulled out with an elbow injury that could yet spell the end of his international career. But they are still a hugely talented unit, and it will take one hell of an effort to beat them.
South Africa are expected to be at full strength, though they have had a number of niggles to contend with, including Smith's own sore elbow and the ankle injury sustained by giant fast bowler Morne Morkel when he fell over while delivering his first ball on Australian soil.
Great things are expected of Morkel and his fellow fastie Dale Steyn in this series, just as they were in England six months ago. On that occasion, however, it was the South African batsmen who took control of the series with some patient crease-occupation. They will need a repeat performance over the next three weeks, as it is hard to see the Australians being bundled out cheaply in their own backyard.
"We haven't lost here for a long period of time," said the Australian coach Tim Nielsen. "That's because we've played good, hard, aggressive cricket and we really do fight hard to maintain our standing in our own country.
"We enjoy playing in front of our own crowds, we love putting on a good show and entertaining the people, especially at this time of the year when people are on holidays. What better thing to do than to come to the cricket and watch Australia win?"
There are few themes in sport as absorbing as a dynasty in decline. And for all Nielsen's bravado, that is where the Australians find themselves this year. Every series becomes a rite of passage: if you win, the vultures fly another loop in their holding pattern; if you lose, they close in for a feast.
The next couple of years will be a fascinating period in Test cricket. Assuming that a new Warne does not emerge from the Melbourne suburbs, we can look forward to watching India and South Africa jockey with the Aussies for that top spot, while Kevin Pietersen's England attempt to claw their way up the table. Maybe it is the 20-over game that should be worrying about its future.