With the brief limited overs series’ out of the way, the attention turns to the even briefer Test series for South Africa and Australia with the tourists getting their preparation underway with a four-day tour match against an SA A side in Potchefstroom from today.
While for the most part, the next four days are about readying the Australians for the two-match Test series that starts in Cape Town next Wednesday, the SA A side contains a couple of players who will also be keen for a workout. The Cape Cobras pair of JP Duminy and Vernon Philander have both been included in a side that will be captained by Alviro Petersen, who was dropped from the Test side last week for Jacques Rudolph.
Duminy and Philander are by no means certain of starting the Tests. Philander, while he has performed well in the SuperSport Series for the last three seasons, is probably still behind Lonwabo Tsotsobe when it comes to the third seamer spot in the Test XI. That doesn’t mean a good performance at Senwes Park won’t put Gary Kirsten and Graeme Smith on notice for the Newlands Test, just that Tsotsobe bowled pretty well in the ODIs and it would perhaps be unfair to drop him.
Still, Philander may look back at the last time the SA A side faced Australia in Potchefstroom and see how Imraan Khan of the Dolphins scored a hundred against them, which, along with his excellent form in the SuperSport Series in 2008/09, was used as the reason for elevating him into the starting team for the final Test at Newlands where South Africa triumphed by an innings over Australia in four days.
Duminy is a slightly different matter. Though his innings in the final ODI at Kingsmead last week was disappointing, he has a very good record against Australia and two substantial innings for the A side may yet see him sneak into the starting XI for next week’s first Test. In fact, if AB de Villiers’ hand injury hasn’t recovered sufficiently, Duminy’s chances of finding himself in the middle order at his home ground can only increase.
For the likes of Marchant de Lange – one of a couple of youthful Titans quick bowlers who have grabbed the selectors’ attention in the early stages of the season – and Dean Elgar (Chevrolet Knights), Stiaan van Zyl (Cape Cobras) and Pumelela Matshikwe (Highveld Lions) the next four days will provide valuable experience and a gauge as to where they are in their development. For Petersen, it is as selection convener Andrew Hudson stated last week a chance to show that he is not done at international level and that he is deserving of another shot.
The Australians have taken a great deal of confidence out of their 2-1 triumph in the one-day series and the focus for them is to get into some Test rhythm. Besides celebrating the one-day series win, they’ve spent most of the last few days defending Michael Clarke, who came in for a bruising attack from former Test opener Simon Katich late last week. Mike Hussey stood front and centre defending ‘Pup’ saying if players wanted to be a part of the Australian team then “you’ve got to go with the captain and we respect the way he wants to take the team.”
How Clarke gets on with the captaincy will be one of the intriguing sub-plots to the ‘blink-and-you-could-miss-it’ Test series. For the next few days, he’ll be concentrating on getting the likes of Ryan Harris, Trent Copeland and Nathan Lyons acclimatised to South Africa.
Squads
Australia: Shane Watson, Phil Hughes, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke (capt), Mike Hussey, Shaun Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris, Trent Copeland, Peter Siddle, Nathan Lyon, Michael Beer, Usman Khwaja, Pat Cummins.
SA A: Alviro Petersen (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Marchant de Lange, JP Duminy, Dean Elgar, Thami Tsolekile, Pumelela Matshikwe, Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Stiaan van Zyl - The Star