Steve Smith will be a key player for Australia when they take on the Proteas in a Test series Steve Smith will be a key player for Australia when they take on the Proteas in a Test series. Photo: Richard Wainwright/EPA
Johannesburg — Australia and South Africa start a three match Test series in Brisbane on Saturday.
Stuart Hess looks at a few areas of interest ahead of what is always an intriguing match up.
SOME 100s PLEASE
You have to go back to February for the last time a male Proteas batter scored a Test hundred. In fact in the last 18 months, there’ve been just three centuries by Proteas batters and one of those, Quinton de Kock, has since retired from the format. Marnus Labuschagne scored three hundred in two Tests against the West Indies recently. The Proteas have all spoken of the difficult conditions they’ve encountered — which is fair — but they will be aware that Australia usually provides a more balanced battle between bat and ball. So some hundreds would be nice. The bowlers would certainly appreciate it.
6-5 or 7-4
The composition of the Proteas starting team is the main topic of conversation between interim coach Malibongwe Maketa, skipper Dean Elgar and the selectors. If there are good batting conditions at the Gabba, expect six frontline batters — including wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne — while should conditions aid bowling, the Proteas are likely to lengthen their batting order. Either way the pressure is on the batters, who have not delivered on a consistent basis in the last two years.
WARNER
From his missus to his manager, to his form, his future and the captaincy that he once wanted but is no longer interested in fighting for, David Warner has been unable to dodge the spotlight. Given some of the abuse he’s dished out over the years, there’ll be little sympathy for him from the Proteas. However he averages 52.26 against them and has scored four centuries in 12 Tests, so they know the threat he is. If they can knock him over cheaply in Brisbane, there’s the chance that he may not be able to play his 100th Test, which would be at the MCG. That should serve as extra motivation for the Proteas quicks.
MARNUS AND STEVE
The one has scored three hundreds in his last four innings, the other has a double hundred in one of those innings against the West Indies. Both are relishing the prospect of facing the powerful Proteas attack. For Labuschagne it's about playing a Test for the first time against the land of his birth — at his home ground to boot — while for Steve Smith, South Africa has been the one team that has reigned him in. He averages just 41.53 against the Proteas from nine Tests which is his lowest for any side he has played at least three matches against
WTC
Elgar has stated that qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final isn’t at the forefront of his thoughts ahead of the Australian series. “We’ve got to focus on the first game, the second game and the third game.”’ South Africa sit at second on WTC log, behind Australia and a series win Down Under, coupled with another on home soil against the West Indies in March, would virtually secure South Africa a spot in the World Test Championship final.
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