For most of 2022, Kagiso Rabada reigned supreme for South Africa, plucking 47 wickets at 22.25 and striking every six overs.
In his brutal dismantling at the hands of Australia’s top order in Melbourne and Sydney, there have been elements of conditions and match situation at play, but also a strong sense of the home side taking advantage of a small but discernible drop in Rabada’s threat level.
Usman Khawaja pulls for another four.Credit:Getty
It’s not that Rabada has bowled badly, inaccurately or with any lack of enthusiasm or commitment – far from it. Instead, the Australians had noticed a trend down in Rabada’s pace relative to previous meetings, and on a couple of surfaces friendly for batting, they have stolen every possible advantage.
There are echoes here in how England, then coached by Duncan Fletcher, took down Glenn McGrath’s great offsider Jason Gillespie, in a critical subplot of the epic 2005 Ashes series.
At the time, it seemed to many that England were taking a risk by attacking Gillespie, given how recently he had enjoyed the series of his life: nabbing 20 wickets at 16.15 in Australia’s drought-breaking series win in India in late 2004.
But in reality, England’s leaders took an honest and unmerciful look at how, over the following months, Gillespie’s pace and effectiveness had slipped away just enough to make him vulnerable: a shift unnoticed by many as Australia hammered New Zealand, Pakistan and New Zealand again.
Over those three series, Gillespie took eight wickets at 22.6, seven at 36.85 and then seven at 45.71, all the while seeing his strike rate slip.
When he got to England and found himself under attack by Kevin Pietersen in the white-ball games and then by most of England’s batters in the Tests – notably on day one of the Edgbaston match when McGrath was injured – he struggled to respond.
It took a season in the Sheffield Shield and remedial work with mentor Jeff Hammond to get Gillespie back to somewhere near his best, albeit for only one more Test series, in Bangladesh in 2006.
As far as Rabada was concerned, Australia needed to find a new way to handle him, irrespective of how fast or slow, well or poorly he was bowling. In Australia in 2016 (15 wickets at 22.4) and then South Africa in 2018 (23 at 19.26), Rabada had been the dominant force in a pair of Proteas victories.
While reverse swing had been a prominent weapon for Rabada, he had also troubled the Austrlaians with pure pace and conventional movement. Attempts to counteract him had been more to do with goading Rabada into a code of conduct offence than taking him on with strong intent when batting.
That positivity, preferring to look upon Rabada as an avenue for scoring rather than a threat to be negated, also mirrored how, under Mark Taylor, Australia were determined to score runs against the West Indies on the epochal 1995 Caribbean tour.
If not all Australians in that series enjoyed wholly fruitful returns, the attitude was critical, and helped put enough pressure on the West Indies over the series to see Mark and Steve Waugh, plus Greg Blewett, put on the huge runs that sealed the Frank Worrell Trophy’s destination.
Back to the present. In Brisbane, an extremely sporting pitch made life difficult against all bowlers – and when Rabada bounced out David Warner with his very first delivery of the series, it looked like the South African might be set to sparkle yet again.
Australia has attacked South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.Credit:AP
But even though he took wickets at the Gabba, eight in all, the Australian approach was decidedly aggressive and decisive – they were not going to be left wondering if Rabada could be challenged.
This has carried on, in far more favourable conditions for batting, at the MCG and SCG. It’s been an ensemble effort, with Travis Head doing the job in Brisbane, David Warner in Melbourne and then Usman Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne in Sydney.
Of the hosts, Steve Smith has been most respectful to Rabada in terms of scoring rates and regions, but was able to thrive on others. Similarly, all batters have paid due deference to Anrich Nortje, preferring to absorb his speed rather than attacking it.
In all, the batting “team” efforts of Australia to go after Rabada as the spearhead of South Africa’s bowling group have been a significant contributor to the series outcome, much as Gillespie’s targeting by England helped take the urn away 17 years ago.
Sports news, results and expert commentary. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
