“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up”, said the inspirational Nelson Mandela.
In which case, Australia have to do some elaborate dreaming, as the visiting South Africans have tamed the Emus and Kangaroos on their past three visits – a record deserving of respect.
The Proteas have outstanding fast bowlers and Australia have three middle-order batters in red-hot form. Whoever wins that battle wins the series.
The leader of the visitors’ attack, Kagiso Rabada, is a proven performer, with 257 Test wickets at a strike rate of 40, under that of two storied predecessors in Dale Steyn and Allan Donald.
Lungi Ngidi is enhancing his reputation as a fine quick. The pair will spearhead an incisive attack that also includes the express Anrich Nortje and the young, tall and impressive Marco Jansen.
Life for the Australian top order will look and feel very different to how it did recently against the inexperienced West Indian attack. Genuine pace and bounce tend to sort out men from boys and the sound of summer for batters of both teams will undoubtedly be buzzy chin music.
South Africa pace bowler Kagiso Rabada.Credit:Getty
The South Africans, proud of their recent record in Australia, will want to keep fanning the flames. They will be keen to make it a “four-peat” over their arch-rivals.
There is some history between the two teams and not much love lost. Everyone will be watching the action closely from the first ball and it won’t only be about the cricket being played.
South Africa are remarkable performers in the cricket world. The one thing that sets them apart from most other cricket nations is that they produce quality fast bowlers.
For teams to win in all conditions, they must produce bowlers who get inside the rhythm and processes of the opposing batters. Bowlers with extra pace and bounce do that.
The obverse is that with genuine pace bowlers at the domestic level, selectors get an inkling of which batsmen can handle themselves well against international teams.
The fact that South Africa is still internationally competitive continues to surprise me. At the end of each era, I have thought that must be the end of the production line, but each time they have proven me wrong by throwing up another batch of talented young cricketers.
The strength of their domestic cricket is the foundation on which they build strong teams. There is an outstanding schools program that leads into a domestic first-class structure that has a long history of producing players with pride and pedigree.
For many years, it was a six-team competition, but that has undergone a number of changes this century. They now have two divisions that are decided by promotion and relegation.
South African cricket great Graeme Pollock.
They have lost a phalanx of distinguished batsmen in AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, so the current lot are inexperienced in Australian conditions and will rely heavily on Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma.
History tells us that scrounging a few extra runs is a lot easier than scrounging wickets; look at what India achieved on their last Test tour for a recent example.
In captain Elgar they have a capable and experienced leader and acting coach Malibongwe Maketa will have prepared their squad well. The Australian team will underestimate them at their peril.
Pre- and post-apartheid, South Africa has produced some superlative cricketers. My career coincided with them being banned from international cricket, so I didn’t play in Tests against them. But, I was privileged to have played against some of their champions, such as Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards, both titans of the game.
As a teenager, I saw Pollock bat for South Africa in the Adelaide Test of January 1964. He shared a 341-run partnership with the uber-competitive Eddie Barlow.
Pollock was tall and hit the ball hard. He had made his maiden Test hundred in the previous Test in Sydney as a 19-year-old, still the youngest South African to have done so.
The other things that stood out about Graeme were his timing and placement; he rarely hit the ball to a fielder. A wide stance restricted his footwork somewhat but, because of his reach, he changed the ball’s length by simply rocking forward or back.
Graeme played pace well and was devastating against spin. What amazed me was how few scoring shots he needed to make big scores quickly. The cut, the hook or the pull and the cover drive were his bread and butter, while the hoick to cow-corner was the ultimate insult to even the best of bowlers.
Barry Richards during his playing days.Credit:Fairfax
I first encountered Richards when I joined Somerset as a 19-year-old. Little did I know that within two years I would be working and playing with Barry when he played a season of Sheffield Shield for South Australia. Watching him at close quarters and coaching with him between games was most helpful in my development as a batsman.
Sadly, the international careers of Pollock and Richards (and many brilliant cricketers) were cut short by apartheid.
Mike Procter and Clive Rice were both exceptional all-rounders. Vintcent van der Bijl was the best tall fast bowler I played against until I came up against Joel Garner. Vintce, like Joel, was tremendously awkward to bat against, but a gentle giant off the field, also like Joel.
Post-apartheid South Africa has continued to develop top-class cricketers and has successfully integrated the game into the broader population.
‘The one thing that sets [South Africa] apart from most other cricket nations is that they produce quality fast bowlers.’
Since their return to international cricket in 1991, they have achieved remarkable success and continue to unearth exceptional cricketers.
The best of these was Jacques Kallis, who has been compared to Sir Garfield Sobers. I am biased because as an impressionable teenager, I saw Sobers when he first toured Australia in 1961.
Sobers was all athleticism and grace, whereas Kallis, great cricketer and athlete that he was, was all muscle and brute force.
Sobers was in a class of his own and forever will be.
Jacques Kallis left Test cricket with a wonderful record.Credit:Getty
South Africa produced many other top-flight players; Gary Kirsten, who was very strong on the off-side and made a mountain of runs; the stylish and gracious Amla, who scored over 9000 Test runs at an average of 47; and Graeme Smith, who intimidated bowlers with his size and often made runs when most needed.
Smith also become one of South Africa’s best-ever leaders, despite being thrust into the role as a callow 22-year-old. His strength as a leader coincided with South Africa becoming one of the best travelling teams ever. Smith led South Africa to a record 54 Test victories.
De Villiers easily rates as a modern-day superstar. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do with the bat (wand!) in hand and he’s up there in the Pollock and Richards league.
South Africa have also paraded a long list of terrific fast bowlers who have historically underpinned their success. Makhaya Ntini, Donald, Steyn, Shaun Pollock, Morne Morkel and the current champion Rabada all need no hyperbole.
Rabada and his emerging comrades in arms will test the Australian batting line-up like few others.
It should make for compelling viewing.
Mandela sagely said: “After climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.”
