AUSTRALIA TOUR OF SOUTH AFRICA, 2018

Smith charged up for fiery challenge against South Africa pacers

by Tristan Holme • Published on

Steven Smith is looking forward to a "fiery series" for the batsmen during the four Tests versus South Africa. © Getty

Steven Smith is looking forward to a "fiery series" for the batsmen after Australia slipped into South Africa to begin their preparations for a four-Test series next month.

With the Proteas distracted by their one-day international woes against India, not to mention a three-match Twenty20 series that is still to come, focus is yet to shift towards the prospect of another iconic Test series. Yet the contest should not take long to draw attention once it begins in Durban on March 1, given the two impressive pace attacks that will be on display.

South Africa's recent Test series victory over India was achieved on the back of the 43 wickets taken by Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel, with the bonus emergence of Lungi Ngidi. Meanwhile Australia's pace trio of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins claimed 66 wickets to secure a 4-0 thrashing of England.

Smith believes that the two pace batteries should capture the imagination of viewers but also get the batsmen excited. "You love going up against the best bowlers in the world and South Africa have in particular, two guys with pace - Rabada and Morkel. They're quality bowlers, along with Philander who challenges your defence consistently. The batters should be looking forward to this series - you love going up against those sort of challenges. I think it's going to be a fantastic series for the viewers to watch," Smith said in Johannesburg on Saturday (February 17).

Beyond that obvious face-off, there is context to the series for both sides. While South Africa are still to win a home Test series against Australia in the post-isolation period, Smith's team sense an opportunity to complete a resurgence that began the last time that the two sides met.

That series in 2016 saw South Africa win the first two Tests and induce what Smith termed "a low point for Australian cricket", as well as a moment that might define his captaincy. Sweeping changes were made for the third Test, which Australia won before producing a string of more favourable results.

"I think we've made some really good strides in the last year," said Smith. "I thought we played some pretty good cricket in India without winning that series. We had moments where we could have won the series, and we were disappointed that we couldn't convert those chances into wins. But we made good strides there. Obviously the summer back home was fantastic to win 4-0 (against England). This series is going to be another good challenge for us. Both fast bowling lineups are really good so it's going to be a nice fiery series for the batters and it might be tough work as well. So I think we've come a long way."

While Smith said he had caught "bits of pieces" of the South African summer on television, one topic that did not pass his notice was the pitches. The Test series against India was dominated by talk about the surfaces, starting with a spicy wicket at Newlands and finishing up on a Wanderers pitch that was rated as "poor" by the ICC and cited as "dangerous" by some of the players. The Australians will begin their series in Durban and Port Elizabeth, before moving on to Newlands and the Wanderers.

"We saw some of the wickets that looked quite difficult for the batters," noted Smith. "For us it's just about playing what's in front of you, whether you've got a flat wicket or a green wicket that's doing something. You've just got to adapt and do the job. That's my message to the boys - you don't know what you're going to get in each Test at each venue, and it's just about playing the way you need to for each set of conditions."

Smith said he had also been impressing upon his players that "one good series doesn't make a team", and highlighted the need to improve Australia's away record. The toughest challenge for both sides could be retaining energy levels after a taxing summer. South Africa's season began in September with the visit of Bangladesh, and although the postponement of the Twenty20 Global League provided some respite in November, the Proteas have been engaged non-stop since the Boxing Day Test against Zimbabwe, with injuries providing the only form of rest period.

Australia have been similarly busy since the Ashes began on November 23, and both teams will play Twenty20 internationals - on two different sides of the world - within 10 days of the Test series starting. Naturally both countries have picked very different squads for the formats in order to provide their Test players with the rest that Smith admitted he desperately needed.

"I was (feeling weary) until two weeks ago when I got a bit of a break," he said. "I actually feel really good now - I feel refreshed. For a bit of that time (off) I actually didn't feel like picking up my cricket bat, but then five or six days ago I wanted to do it again, which probably means I'm ready to go. We've obviously had a pretty big summer, so the chance to have a rest and get ourselves up for this series has been important. All the guys are champing at the bit to get started now."

© Cricbuzz

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