Test cricket is under siege after South Africa’s latest humbling well within four days at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, says KEN PIESSE:
Cricketing knight Sir Ian Botham says Test cricket in the near future could be a four-country competition, so unimpressed is he by the depth of even the top-ranked countries.
‘You will always have England v Australia for the Ashes, but how many others?’ he said. ‘India yes, New Zealand yes… are there many more certainties? Probably not.’
Speaking after the latest humbling of South Africa, the third-ranked Test team in the world, Sir Ian said crowds and sponsors will soon rebel against the poor competition seen throughout this Australian Test summer.
Few expected the West Indies to compete across two Tests, but the Proteas were given every chance of maintaining their recent tour success Downunder.
Captain Dean Elgar said the inexperience in his top order ‘is killing us’, his own form also a problem.
‘We need to do a lot of reflection and move forward again. We have a lot to play for. 2-1 sounds a lot better than 3-0.’
His top six is as poor a unit as seen in Australia since the 1967-68 Indians.
The team’s failure to make even 200 on the best batting wicket of the tour was damning. The meek dismissals of many of its tailenders on the fourth afternoon showed a lack of pluck and team spirit.
Even topscorer Temba Buvuma fell victim to a wild slog, despite being well set.
Others in the top order were again found to be simply not good enough.
David Warner was a most deserved recipient of the man of the match award for his back-against-the-wall double century which seems likely to extend his red-ball career a little longer.
He played with much of his old aggression and made even South Africa’s champion speedster Kagiso Rabada look like a middle-aged Sunday afternoon trundler.
The third and final Test in the series starts in Sydney on Wednesday. The Aussies are certain to make at least two, if not three changes, with consideration being given to elevating wicketkeeper Alex Carey up the order to No.6 and playing five specialist bowlers, including two spinners.
KEN PIESSE has covered cricket and football for more than 30 years in Melbourne. Despite that setback, Ken has written, published and edited 86 books on cricket and AFL football to become Australian sport’s most prolific author.
His latest cricket book is David Warner, The Bull, Daring to be Different with Wilkinson Publishing, out now
www.cricketbooks.com.au
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