Aussies are clear but Proteas muddled as first Test approaches

While Australia are settled enough to have announced by mid-morning on Wednesday that they will be fielding an unchanged XI from the last Test they played, against England in early January, the Proteas were still debating whether to go the route of seven specialist batsmen or four pacemen and spinner Keshav Maharaj, or even six batsmen and an all-rounder when the first Test starts in Durban on Thursday.

The Aussies come to South Africa riding high on the confidence gained from their 4-0 Ashes triumph and will be unleashing a potent bowling attack on a South African batting line-up that is going to have to shake off the rust of injuries and some morale-sapping experiences in the limited-overs losses to India.

To counter the firepower of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood, coupled with the teasing off-spin of Nathan Lyon, it would make a lot of their anxious supporters much happier if South Africa were to go the route of seven batsmen, but captain Faf du Plessis confirmed on Thursday that this is far from certain.

“We’re still pondering whether to play seven batsmen or six batsmen plus four seamers. The Durban pitch has definitely slowed down due to the nature of the square and it might take a bit of turn and, if anything, the bounce will be more tennis ball like. Against India we wanted to use pace to put them under pressure, but Australia are a similar team to us and they play in the same conditions.

“When we play seven batsmen it means we have three seamers and the spinner [Keshav Maharaj], which seems a touch thin. The fact that Theunis de Bruyn can bowl a few back-up overs of medium-pace is a push in the right direction for him. If we tend towards a batting all-rounder then it will be Theunis, but if we need someone to bowl more overs then we would tend towards Wiaan Mulder,” Du Plessis said, while revealing that Temba Bavuma is definitely out of contention because has not recovered fully from his fractured finger.

It has been eight series ago that the home side last won a rubber between these two great rivals, Ricky Ponting’s team winning 2-0 in 2005/6, and Du Plessis said there is a great hunger in the Proteas squad to become the first South African team to beat Australia on these shores since the wonderful 1970 side’s momentous 4-0 triumph under Ali Bacher.

“It’s strange, one would expect home conditions to suit the teams but it hasn’t. The last series here [2013/14] was very close and we really want to put our peg in the ground to change that. But I think it will be a really tough series and it is the most competitive series we play.

“Australia are a very good team when they’re on top and we have to try and limit those moments and our ability to absorb the pressure at those times will determine how well we do. We must make sure we do not lose wickets in clusters and we have to keep the run-rate down when they are batting,” Du Plessis said.

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