View from South Africa: Rattled media talks tough on eve of Port Elizabeth Test

ON the eve of the second Test in Port Elizabeth, the rattled South Africa media has come out firing, telling the tourists, ‘We’re still No. 1’.

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ON the eve of the second Test in Port Elizabeth, the rattled South Africa media has come out firing, telling the tourists, ‘We’re still No. 1’. Neh Neh!

Rob Houwing, Sport24’s chief writer, takes some comfort that South Africa is mathematically still fairly secure at the top of the world ranking.

Nevertheless he notes the team are “very close to a crossroads in terms of the health of their Test line-up.

“Whether a pretty rapid turnaround to game two ... is a good or bad thing from a Proteas point of view should be apparent reasonably early in the Port Elizabeth fixture,” Houwing writes.

“But the overwhelming local hope will be that Graeme Smith’s charges are chastened by what happened up north and ready to do their customary thing of warming to a series the longer it goes on.”

Houwing also can’t resist a dig at the cocky Aussies: “Remember, for all the imperious talk both in the Aussie camp and media, the tourists are still ranked No. 3 on the planet”.

And, at the same time, he warns against his readers getting their hopes up of a bounce-back win — while sticking in his own imperious sledge of Mitch Johnson.

“A more realistic scenario, perhaps, is for the Proteas to aspire at the very least not to lose in the Friendly City ... and then target a levelling victory at Newlands, where the strip may seam handily for Dale Steyn and company without offering too much spitefulness for Mitchell Johnson’s cruder form of assault.”

News_Image_File: Come back Jacques, we miss you. Actually, they miss you.

SUPERSPORT’S Mpumelelo Mbangwa asks how the South African selectors will replace the leadership and fighting spirit recently retired Jacques Kallis.

“The King is gone. King Kallis, that is. With his departure went a certain stability that he provided to the Proteas side for nearly two decades. It is important that the South African Test match team moves on and figures out a way to still be successful without that great player.

“It is now that their character needs to come to the fore, so as to show that the ability to get up off the canvas after having been knocked down is something that they possess and can call on at will.”

News_Rich_Media: Test great Ricky Ponting says not since the West Indies terrorised world cricket has he seen a bowler as fearsome as Mitchell Johnson.

Neil Van Der Linde of news.24.com enjoyed Mitch’s ‘Force de Frappe’ — a French term for the use of weapons of mass destruction (yeah, we had to Google it too) — as a fan, if not as a South African.

“It’s not everyday that you see 150km/h whoppers being sent down with insane accuracy. A highlight package of his brutal spells closely resembles a war movie with an American soldier being stuck a barrage of poisonous Vietnamese pygmy arrows.

“Don’t be surprised if a few SA players experience bomb-shock driven terror attacks, through dreadful nightmares, where a fiery red ball bounces into their heads, torsos, arms and more.

“The Aussies are currently a well-oiled machine riding on a wave of confidence. The amount of Test cricket, and the annihilation of the English, make them even better prepared and formidable.

“Kudos to Darren Lehman and his coaching team for taking a sinking ship and turning it into a war-vessel by just sticking to the basics. The Aussies currently play with a four seam attack, thereby relying heavily on their top quartet to do the damage. Perhaps there’s a lesson to be learned from this approach. One that the SA selectors should take to heart before the beginning of the next test.”

Van Der Line concludes with some comforting advice for home fans: “Don’t cry: it’s just cricket so don’t worry too much when we get thumped. Even in the losses a good time can be had by all.”

News_Image_File: The ‘green mamba’ at St Georges Park.

MEANWHILE, SPORT24 warns that the batsmen in the second Test are set to face a fearsome ‘green mamba’ of a pitch: “Unless some more work is done on the pitch at St George’s Park, the Proteas and Australia face the prospect of playing on a very lively wicket ... Pictures taken on Wednesday showed a LOT of grass cover on the pitch.

“South African seamers Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and Morné Morkel will like what they’re seeing, but Australia’s Mitchell Johnson will also no doubt prove to be a handful.”