View from South Africa: local knowledge swung the second Test South Africa’s way

THE real reason behind South Africa’s mastery of reverse swing was local knowledge of a recently re-laid pitch.

THE Australians have been fretting over the wrong pitch.

While Michael Clarke and others expressed concern over the Test strip at Port Elizabeth ahead of the second Test, it seems the real reason behind South Africa’s mastery of reverse swing was one of the side pitches at St George’s Park.

The canny Proteas were aware that one of the eight Port Elizabeth pitches had been re-laid with a different soil — and thus was more abrasive — than the other seven strips.

Did the Proteas fielders deliberately throw the ball into that specific pitch in order to expedite the reverse swing process? Quite possibly, wrote Neil Manthorp.

“Proteas players were seen regularly applying sweat and saliva to one side of the ball and, as will no doubt be pointed out, that moisture could very easily come with a little sugar or sun cream,” Manthorp wrote on the SuperSport website.

“BUT — the umpires check the condition of the ball after every over and these days they know exactly what they are looking for. Kumar Dharmasena and Richard Illingworth both played cricket at the highest level and had lengthy domestic careers. As soon as they saw how much the ball was swinging, they would have been extra diligent.

“The truth is far more mundane. There are eight pitches on the square at St George’s Park. One of them, right at the end, was re-laid with soil from Pretoria in an effort to produce a surface with more pace and bounce. It is much harder and more abrasive than anywhere else on the ground. Perhaps the ball landed there more often than was normal when South Africa were in the field. Nothing wrong with that.”

Chris Rogers and Peter Siddle inspect the ball during the second Test match.

Manthorp was quick to dismiss any suggestion of ball tampering a day after David Warner suggested the Australians would “try and bring up with the umpires” the Proteas’ practices in the field.

In the wake of South Africa’s devastating use of reverse swing on the fourth day at Port Elizabeth, Warner said the hosts threw the ball into the ground “better than what we did” and added “we were actually questioning whether or not AB de Villiers would get the ball in his hand and with his glove wipe the rough side every ball”.

Both practices are aimed at scuffing one side of the ball to achieve reverse swing.

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Michael Clarke lamented after the match that his bowlers “didn’t get a single delivery to reverse but the whole South African attack bowled spells of reverse swing”. That prompted respected South African columnist Neil Manthorp to predict an outpouring of ball tampering allegations — “not by Clarke or his team but by column writers and bloggers, attention seekers” — and Warner’s comments have only fuelled the fire.

Manthorp said the days of using foreign implements such as bottle caps to scuff cricket balls were over.

“The most important reason the Proteas were able to achieve what they did, however, is the same reason most sports teams have success — bloody hard work,” he said. “Faf du Plessis is the unsung hero of that final day, the designated ball polisher. He had the ball in his hands far, far longer than any other player, working tirelessly, uncomplainingly and with almost aggressive energy to produce leather shiny enough to put a smile on a drill instructor’s face.”

South Africa's Faf du Plessis said his side was supremely motivated.

DU PLESSIS himself provided a unique insight into the Proteas’ mindset after their meek defeat in Centurion. Wounded by “friendly fire” from the local media and fans, du Plessis wrote in his regular SuperSport column that the Proteas used the barbs as motivation ahead of their devastating display in the second Test.

South Africans consider Australia their greatest cricketing rival. Accordingly, du Plessis wrote that victory in the third and final Test at Newlands — completing a remarkable recovery from the first Test — would rate among the team’s greatest ever accomplishments.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t disappointing to see people — our own fans — writing us off, particularly as we’ve proved ourselves as a team over the past few years,” du Plessis wrote. “That is professional sport and I accept that you have to take the rough with the smooth. We were also comprehensively outplayed in the first test, so I can understand why people were so disappointed and wrote us off.

“The guys were saying that after all we’ve been through, with people predicting us losing 3-0 after that first test, that if we were to go on and win this series, it would rank right up there with the very best achievements.”

Meanwhile, the South African media scoffed at claims that Clarke could rival de Villiers as the world’s best batsman. The comparison is intriguing when judging both batsmen at the height of their respective powers, but Clarke’s current form woes — contrasted with de Villiers’ record-breaking feats with the bat — have put the debate on ice for now.

“Many believe the 33-year-old to be ‘the best batsman in the world’, but Clarke’s recent statistics do not suggest that, especially with the world’s official No 1 ranked Test batsman AB de Villiers registering a record 12th consecutive score of 50 or more in the St George’s Park second Test,” wrote Zaahier Adams in the Cape Argus.

“Clarke has not yet plunged to the depths of former Australian captain Mark Taylor who went 21 innings with a top score of 43 during 1996 and 1997, but after the 231-run thrashing in Port Elizabeth to the Proteas, the travelling Aussie media are starting to lose patience with the man they hailed not so long ago for returning the Ashes.”

Australia's captain Michael Clarke is having a poor run of form.

THE South Africans will make changes for the third Test given the injury to all-rounder Wayne Parnell. Ryan McLaren and Kyle Abbott have been called into the squad for Newlands and Telford Vice, writing for Business Day, suspects the hosts will lose very little firepower.

“The quality of South Africa’s fast bowling will not dip should Kyle Abbott crack the nod for the deciding third Test against Australia at Newlands, starting on Saturday,” Vice wrote. “Abbott, who replaced the injured Wayne Parnell in the South Africa squad on Monday, owns a sparkling record in Cape Town and is the leading wicket-taker in franchise first-class cricket this season. But he is probably third in the queue to fill the vacancy.

“He knows this from his experience with the South Africa squad last February, when he came in for an injured Jacques Kallis against Pakistan in Centurion. Abbott took 7/29 in the first innings, second only to Lance Klusener’s 8/64 against India in Kolkata in 1996 as the best figures by an South Africa debutant.”