Wizards of Oz all willing to smoke the peace pipe
AUSTRALIAN coach Darren Lehmann wants clear-the-air talks with South Africans.
Lehmann expects the coaches and captains of both teams to “chat” before the second Test against South Africa, starting in Port Elizabeth on Friday, after a bad-tempered start to the series.
Lehmann was talking to Australian journalists after an acrimonious ending to the first Test in Durban, after leaked closed-circuit television footage showed a confrontation between Australian vice-captain David Warner and South Africa’s Quinton de Kock.
In a video posted on Cricket Australia’s website, Lehmann said he continued to back Warner as the team’s vice-captain as the Australians hunt a 2-0 series lead.
Asked whether there would be talks between the two sides in a bid to reduce hostilities, Lehmann said: “I’m sure the coaches will chat and the captains will chat and we’ll get away to play the game.”
With both sides blaming the other for sparking the incident by making personal insults, Lehmann said: “Everyone has their own opinion.”
He expected the remaining three Tests to be highly competitive. “Both sides are going to push the boundaries. That’s part and parcel of the game. It’s a bloody tough game out there.”
Lehmann said the key was to avoid personal insults. “We’ve got to make sure we don’t cross the line,” he said.
Lehmann said the incident had detracted from what he described as “a great game of cricket”, which Australia won by 118 runs.
Match referee Jeff Crowe is believed to be looking into the incident, but there has been no comment yet from the International Cricket Council.
South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn is targeting a return to Test cricket in the third match of the series against Australia this month, he said yesterday.
The 34-year-old, plagued by injury over the last two years, is three wickets away from becoming South Africa’s leading Test wicket-taker.
“I’m looking at trying to get into the third Test, get back with the boys. It’s been a long time – shoulder, foot, all that kind of stuff. Watching the cricket and seeing some of the things that are happening on the field, I just want to get out there,” Steyn told local radio.
Steyn made a comeback after 13 months out due to shoulder problems when he opened the bowling in January’s first Test victory over India at Newlands, only to hurt his heel.
“I’ve had a bit of an unlucky one with my foot. It seems like every injury I get is really bad. I’m probably another two or three weeks away,” said Steyn.
“I have to play one or two warm-up games. So hopefully everything goes according to plan, and by the end of next week, I should be back on the cricket field.”
Steyn’s shoulder problems began in December 2015 and, about a year later, he broke his right shoulder and tore three major muscles during the first Test against Australia in Perth.
He went home to Cape Town for surgery, followed by lengthy rehabilitation before he was gently eased back in Twenty20 action in November.
Steyn, whose Test average is an impressive 22.32, can point to a prolific record at Newlands, with 67 wickets in 14 Tests.
His tally of 419 Test victims is just shy of Shaun Pollock’s record 421 wickets for South Africa.
South Africa take on Australia at Newlands from March 22-26.
Australia won the opening match of the four-Test series in Durban by 118 runs on Monday. —