Oz pacemen fire early warnings

THIS was not one of those tour matches where the visiting team were going through the motions as can so often be the case.

There were no short bursts from the bowlers before heading off the field for a massage or an ice bath, no shirking responsibility in the field; balls were chased hard and if a dive was needed, one was made.

The Australians were deadly serious about getting into some kind of match rhythm ahead of the fourTest series against South Africa that starts in Durban next week.

Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins have all had three and a half weeks off, having last played ODIs against England, so for them yesterday’s first day of this three-day affair in Benoni was the perfect run around. They each got to bowl three spells ranging between four and, in Starc’s case, six overs.

Although understandably still short of the intensity with which they are likely to bowl in Durban, there was sufficient menace about them to suggest the Proteas batsmen, who’ve struggled for much of the summer, are in for a difficult few weeks.

Whether Theunis de Bruyn will be the player to whom the selectors look for a solution to those ills will be one of the big discussion points when Ottis Gibson, Faf du Plessis and Linda Zondi meet next week.

What they will know from his most recent performances at franchise level for the Knights is that he is in form and he maintained that here with a classy innings of 46.

His partnership of 82 with the resolute Zubayr Hamza, who scored 44, was the SA ‘A’ team’s best period of the day, but it did come at a time when the Australians were searching for some rhythm.

With the exception of David Warner, who arrived yesterday, the team playing here is very much their pick for the Kingsmead Test.

Of the trio, Starc was probably the most inconsistent, struggling to find his line and length. He won’t be overly concerned though, as it was more about getting overs into his legs. He bowled 14 yesterday and they’ll stand him in good stead as he increases his intensity before Kingsmead.