Pakistan to fight Proteas fire with pace ammo of their own
It’s never dull when Pakistan are in town, but with a former SA coach at the helm, they’ve swapped controversy for consistency
● Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur hasn’t been a frequent visitor to his home country since he left the Proteas job in 2010.
However, he knows what’s needed to win a Test series on the bouncy surfaces here.
His side also have the fast bowlers to rattle a talented but brittle South African batting order still adapting to life after AB de Villiers. The likes of Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Amir, Hasan Ali and Yasir Shah are skilled bowlers who showed in the United Arab Emirates and England they can bowl on any type of pitch.
Arthur knows they hold the key to Pakistan having any chance of their first Test series win in SA. They’ve only won two Tests since their first red-ball match in 1994/95. He knows SA’s bowling attack isn’t to be trifled with even though they’ll be without Lungi Ngidi while Vernon Philander is a doubt for the first Test on Boxing Day at SuperSport Park with a hand injury.
“SA’s bowling attack is very good. They may have Lungi Ngidi out and I’m not sure about Vernon Philander’s fitness but Dale Steyn and Kagiso Rabada are incredible bowlers. We know it’s going to be an incredible challenge for us. We feel that even though SA have a good batting line-up we have a very good bowling line-up,” Arthur said.
Pakistan’s bowling prowess is undercut by their average batting that flattered to deceive in their recent home Test series loss to New Zealand. In the first and the third Tests of the series, Pakistan had leads of 74 that led to four and 123-run defeats.
Though they won the second Test by an innings and 16 runs, Pakistan scored more tons in the series but had nothing to show for them. Arthur acknowledged their batting needed work in terms of adjusting to SA’s conditions but felt they can bat better in SA.
“The game's tempo in the UAE is the slowest in the world because of the conditions.
“The wickets are slow. They offer turn and the pace is variable so when you get bowlers who bowl straight lines to straight fields, it becomes difficult to score without taking risks. When you play in SA, the game speeds up at the start and meanders off at some point and I think that suits us,” Arthur said.
“I think our young batting group bats better outside the UAE than they do there.
“We saw in England that the guys batted very well and we’ve got some young batsmen who not only move to off-stump, but they cover the pace, bounce and swing. We had opportunities in the first and the third Tests to nail our first innings where we got leads but they weren’t big enough. That’s something we’ll be working hard on in regards to players getting in but not going the whole way.”
Proteas coach Ottis Gibson was a teammate of Arthur at Griqualand West (now Northern Cape) but is relying on this week’s round of Four-Day Franchise matches for the batsmen to get into red-ball shape.”
“The bowlers won’t play in the four-day game but for the batsmen a lot depends on how they go in the next few days or so. I think it’s the batters who are most likely to play this week.”
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● It’s been tetchy, feisty and more often than not, downright confrontational.
That, however, only accounts for Pakistan’s combative spirit on the field as their nocturnal activities have at times stumbled haplessly down the corridor of uncertainty while in SA. Just ask Mohammad Akram and Shaqlain Mushtaq, whose latenight walkabout delayed the start of the first Test of the 1998 series by a day.
On the field the 1994/95 tour got off to a tetchy start as former national fast bowler Steven Jack recalled this week. He has rather distinct memories of swashbuckling opener Aamer Sohail.
“I sat him on his arse in a warm-up game at the Oppenheimer ground. And then knocked him over the next ball,” Jack recalled matter of factly.
As combustible combatants the sparks were always going to fly the next time the fiery Jack and cocksure Sohail crossed paths in Cape Town later that tour. “He waited for me in Cape Town and he certainly got his own back,” said Jack, though we have it on good authority hostilities didn’t end after Sohail’s knock of 71 in a losing cause.
Four years on, under Sohail, the tourists won a Test for the first time on South African soil but due to the curious machinations of Pakistan cricket, Rashid Latif was installed as captain in the next Test. The Akram/Saqlain saga clearly still lingered.
Sohail this week reflected positively on that tour. “Those are fond memories I have of SA. Coming to SA is always very pleasurable,” said Sohail.
If there is a spirit of entente in the air, it is unlikely to change with ex-Proteas coach Mickey Arthur at the helm of Pakistan.
The Class of ’18 who arrived on Thursday, appear to be on a shorter leash under Arthur. They have been more consistent over the last while, though the coach must still be bristling at the way in which they went down to New Zealand in their last series.
“Under Mickey they are a lot more disciplined,” said Jack.
Sohail, though upbeat about Pakistan’s batting, cautioned they need to quickly find their feet. “Whenever Pakistan come to SA they need time to get acquainted with conditions, especially the bounce.”
Sohail believes ball will in all probability dominate bat in the Test series. “I think whoever scores 300 runs in the first innings will have a chance to get the better result.”
He also contends the Pakistan lower middle order may give them a slight advantage.
“It also gets very demoralising for the bowling side if they are unable to get the lower order out quickly,” said Sohail, albeit with some terms and conditions. “They too will have to get used to the bounce,” he said factoring in the effects of the second new ball.
Jack doesn’t think much of the Pakistan batting. In their last 10 Tests Pakistan’s last five wickets have dropped with on average only 96 runs being added to the total.
They haven’t convinced at the top of the order either. “If you look at their batting they are way short on experience,” said Jack. “Younis Khan is gone, Misbah (ul-Haq) is gone — the experienced core of their batting.
“I think they’ve got two guys who have played here before in their top order. How they adapt is going to be key.
“Don’t look at the record of their batsmen. It’s pointless ’cos you and I can get runs in Dubai.
“I don’t think we need to leave a bit in the wickets like we did against India. As long as we make it bounce they’ll struggle.
“After what happened against India we just need to be careful of what we prepare at Wanderers. We nearly lost the Aussie Test match as well.”
It’s pointless ’cos you and I can get runs in Dubai Steven Jack
Former SA fast bowler