For all the changes to the Australian team and international cricket since the fateful 2018 South Africa tour, one theme runs consistently from that episode to the one about to begin at Kingsmead.
asserted
theme → run → Kingsmead
Australia will lose the series if they cannot find a way to put substantial runs on the board.
asserted
they → lose → board
It was, fundamentally, the growing dominance of the Proteas’ 2018 bowling attack that pushed the team then led by Steve Smith into increasingly desperate measures to try to avoid defeat – and that was a group which had entered the tour having made big runs in their previous assignment against England at home.
asserted
which → grow → home
This time around, Australia’s batting looks vulnerable if not outright poor, weakened by several years of battling seaming pitches and the inability of players like Marnus Labuschagne to live up to past achievements.
asserted
batting → look → achievements
Add to that the abdominal injury that ruled out Cameron Green – the sole centurion from the August home series against Bangladesh – and there is much uncertainty about where runs will come from.
asserted
runs → add → where
Head coach Andrew McDonald pointed to the team’s need to bat with a sustained Test match tempo.
asserted
McDonald → point → tempo
“There’s been conversations about where we can improve ... there has been a lot of work, a lot of thought,” he said.
asserted
he → improve → thought
“We have played in conditions that haven’t been favourable to the bat.
asserted
that → play → bat
So you know the numbers are slightly lower than what you would expect, but the flip side of that is the bowling numbers have come down.
asserted
numbers → know → that
“If we get some flat periods in this series, it’ll be the ability to go big, put the scoreboard pressure back onto the opposition, and yeah, we feel as though there will be periods potentially across this Test series that those conditions present.
asserted
conditions → get → that
It’s about maximising those.
asserted
It → ’ → those
“We have been playing fast-forward cricket, if you want to call it that, in the conditions that we’ve been in.
asserted
we → play → that
So the ability – it’s more mental, really – just to get back into that tempo of rolling through the overs, knocking them around, building totals.
asserted
it → ’ → totals
We have seen that when we have had flat surfaces, we have had the ability to do that as well.
asserted
we → see → that
So I think that’s the challenge – not to get caught up in the speed of the game.”
asserted
that → think → game
Though Smith is refreshed and highly motivated to perform on this trip, he cannot do it all on his own.
asserted
he → refresh → own
Travis Head, recently afflicted by a pattern of drag-ons that he has attributed to medium pace bowling on slow pitches, will be vital at the top.
asserted
he → afflict → top
“For me, it’s all about risk and reward,” he said.
asserted
he → ’ → risk
“Reward of runs against risk, and what may look high risk to people in the box watching the game or at home sometimes feels low risk to me in the middle.
uncertain
what → look → middle
So it’s that balancing act.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
It’s not always going to look good.
asserted
It → go → ?
That is hardly a good-looking dismissal ever in the game.
asserted
That → look → game
“Everyone looks pretty ugly when they get out.
asserted
they → look → ?
It’s what the build-up of that looks like, and most times I feel like I’ve got control.
asserted
I → ’ → control
I’ve got that balance right.
“Sometimes people go too hard.
asserted
people → get → ?
Sometimes people go not hard enough, and there’s always criticism the other way if you’re five off 50 balls.
asserted
you → go → balls
So yeah, you’re always trying to balance that, and I’m just trying to keep percentages in my favour as much as I can.
asserted
I → try → favour
”
What’s likely to be a turning pitch in Durban has left the Australians to delay their team selection until close to match day.
asserted
’s → ’ → day
Cooper Connolly, Nic Maddinson and left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann are all in contention to play, with a range of configurations open to Pat Cummins and company.
asserted
range → play → Cummins
The Proteas, led ably by Temba Bavuma, will likely be missing Kagiso Rabada as he recovers from a hamstring tear.
asserted
he → lead → tear
Spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer will be significant factors at Kingsmead on a surface likely to take turn.
asserted
Maharaj → take → turn
The hosts will also have vivid memories of the 2025 world Test championship final at Lord’s, where Aiden Markram – a veteran of the 2018 bout – made the match-winning runs that Australia could not.
uncertain
Australia → have → runs
“They’re not as in your face,” Bavuma has said of this Australian side.
asserted
Bavuma → ’re → side
“They still play their cricket hard.
asserted
They → play → cricket
They’ve still got guys like Travis Head at the top, who look to put you under pressure.
asserted
who → get → pressure
“And then they still have that quartet of a bowling attack always putting you under pressure.
asserted
quartet → have → pressure
But they’re probably not as brash and in your face as if I think of 2016 when we toured Australia.
asserted
we → ’re → Australia
They made you feel uncomfortable.”
asserted
you → make → ?
The tale of this series will largely be told by how comfortable Australia’s batters can get.
asserted
batters → tell → series
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday.
asserted
News → send → sport
The Aporia
