The SA team will face the tourists in the first of three Tests starting in Durban on Friday.
Australia cricket coach Andrew McDonald during a training session. Picture: Gerhard Duraan/Gallo Images
Despite South Africa missing some first-choice pace bowlers, Australia coach Andrew McDonald believes the tourists need to brace themselves to face a powerful attack in the first of three Test matches starting in Durban on Friday.
While Australia have their own injury concerns – all-rounder Cameron Green has been ruled out of the first Test with an abdominal strain – the SA team are missing multiple pace bowlers due to inujuries, and though it remains unclear whether experienced speedster Kagiso Rabada will be available, others have been ruled out.
Nonetheless, McDonald felt the home team had enough depth, including multiple spin bowling options, to place the tourists under pressure.
He believed, however, that the tourists had enough firepower to ensure the series between the world’s top two teams in the world rankings would be tightly contested.
“It’s going to be high quality cricket. It’s going to be demanding and I think it’s going to test every area in every game,” McDonald said.
“If you look at the South African attack, the left-arm pace, left-arm spin, right-arm spin, high speed. There’s a lot of skill sets that we’re going to have to navigate through there.
“But equally, if you look at our attack, we’ve got some good bases covered. So I think both bowling attacks are primed and ready to go, besides the obvious injuries to South Africa, and like always it’s about how we can get the runs we need, and I think both teams are going to be challenged with that.”
Lower-order batters
With both teams supported by strong bowling attacks, McDonald felt the batters might make the difference.
And while both sides were relying on their top orders to lay solid foundations, he believed the lower orders of each side could make the difference.
“That’s what we probably need to get to work on as a group, the batting unit,” McDonald said.
“And I think that goes for lower-order batting as well. I think that could be a real pivotal area of this series, from eight down, I think you need to conjure up some lower-order runs.
“And your ability to knock over the tail as well with the ball, I think that’s an area we definitely want to focus on.”
