Energy sapped out of team

THE ball tampering scandal has clearly affected the newlook team in the fourth Test, according to key Australian figures.

Paceman Pat Cummins and bowling coach David Saker conceded the energy had been sapped out of the Australians as the Proteas edged closer to a historic Test win.

Cummins, who stepped up in the absence of Mitch Starc, bagged 5-83 but was unable to stop the Proteas’ 488 first innings total.

“It’s been tough, especially those couple of days after Cape Town. But the day before the match we spoke about that it’s still a Test match for Australia, let’s find a way,’’ Cummins said.

“We spoke about energy and all those kind of things. It’s been reasonable and obviously there’s always something else to think about sometimes in the field.

“I know when it started yesterday it was a bit weird not seeing Davey [Warner] and [Steve] Smithy and Bangers [Cameron Bancroft] out there, but I think we’ve been pretty good.”

Saker said the controversies of the last week had clearly rattled the team.

“It’s obviously one of the factors. We’ve just taken on board to try to really care for each other this week,” he said.

“After the week we’ve had there’s a lot of disappointment in the room that we can’t put something together, but we’re not thinking too much about what’s happening at home.

“We’re thinking about the people that are part of our team that we’ve lost.”