Captain Pat Cummins wants a clean sweep of South Africa to guarantee Australia a place in the World Test Championship for the first time.
A 3-0 series victory would reinforce Australia’s ranking as the top Test nation and be a buffer for a difficult series in India against the second-placed Test side early next year. South Africa have won their last three series in Australia but their batting this time is decidedly thin.
Test captains Pat Cummins of Australia and Dean Elgar of South Africa at the Gabba on FridayCredit:Getty Images
“We are obviously in a really good position at the moment, but this is a really big one,” Cummins said on Friday before the first Test at the Gabba beginning on Saturday.
“Going to India, it’s tough; winning in India is tough, obviously we are going to be throwing everything at it, but winning at home, if we win these three we are basically guaranteed a spot in that world Test championship. So every game has a lot of context, especially six months out from the final.”
Australia were on course to make the inaugural World Test Championship two years ago before losing the last two Tests against India to lose the series and miss the event.
New Zealand beat India at Southampton to take the first official Test crown.
Next year the World Test Championship will be played The Oval in early June before Australia’s five-match Ashes series.
Following a quad strain Cummins comes back into the team which won the second Test against the West Indies at the expense of Michael Neser in the only change, with Scott Boland retaining his place as Josh Hazlewood continues his recovery from a side injury.
Scott Boland retains his place in the Test team.Credit:Getty Images
South African captain Dean Elgar was giving nothing away about the make-up of his team, but it is expected to contain four fast bowlers: left-armer Marco Jansen, the experienced Kagiso Rabada, tearaway Anrich Nortje and clever seamer Lungi Ngidi, along with highly regarded spinner Keshav Maharaj.
The highlight of the series will be the clash of the heavy-duty pace attacks and at first glance the Gabba appears to have rolled out the perfect stage with a green-tinged pitch.
However, Cummins and his South African counterpart, Dean Elgar, are wary of what can be false offerings.
“The last couple of years it’s played a bit different to how it has in the past,” Cummins said. “It’s a funny one the Gabba. Even if it has got grass on it, you do really need to bowl well. It’s got a bit of bounce normally here. You can get carried away with the seam, but you still need to hit the stumps.”
Elgar seemed surprised by how green the pitch was on a ground where South Africa has never played Test cricket before but claimed his inclination in Australia is to bat first.
“It looks like this grass we’re standing on at the moment,” Elgar said as he conducted a press conference on the Gabba outfield. “But in saying that the green colour doesn’t scare us.
Kagiso Rabada bowling in a tour match against Australia A at Allan Border Field last week.Credit:Getty Images
“This is one of the wickets where if you get in you can really capitalise but from a bowling point of view you know there’s a length you really need to hit, and you can get some rich rewards. The wicket does look a little friendly for our bowling unit which is nice.
“We come from SA where the wickets are pretty green and juicy. From a personal point of view, I don’t really shy away from that and I know our batters don’t shy away from that either. It should be interesting.”
