The best-laid plans of mice and men . . .

Trevor Stevens

There’s such a fine line between being brave and being foolish, so one must carefully think about what you are going to say before you open your mouth.

The international cricket scene is full of stories of how psychological warfare or pre-match statements have come back to haunt captains and players. You didn’t chirp England’s Kevin Pietersen as sledging just seemed to make him hungrier to score runs. The same for Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne.

Ahead of the second Ashes Test in Perth, experienced English seamer James Anderson boldly said they had worked out a plan to get rid of Australian skipper Steve Smith, who had just made an unbeaten, match-winning hundred in the series opener at the Gabba in Brisbane.

“You’ve almost got to take him out of the picture when you’re bowling,” Anderson said.

Sounds easy enough. However, Smith had other ideas, going on to score 648 runs in the series before today’s play, including a 239 in Perth and a 102 not out in the fourth Test in Melbourne. Clearly Anderson and England’s plan didn’t work as they lost the Ashes inside three Tests.

South African captain Faf du Plessis and new coach Ottis Gibson were asked similar questions ahead of their three-Test series against India: “How will they cope with in-form Indian skipper Virat Kohli?”

Kohli has been in tremendous form since being named captain. Prior to this series Kohli has scored 3 170 runs in 32 Tests, including 13 centuries at an average of 67.44.

“We will have some plans for him as we will for every other player in the team,” Gibson explained. Straight-forward enough answer.

“Virat doesn’t get any more time (from the Proteas) than any of their other batsmen; they have a lot of quality batsmen,” said Du Plessis. “I’m not going into the plans (we have for him), but we hope we can put some pressure on him.” Even better from the skipper.

The point is that Smith and Kohli are two of their generation’s best batsmen. You don’t need to stir up a hornet’s nest by stating you have worked out how to get them out. It is better to take a more measured approach like Gibson and Du Plessis and let the ball do the talking on the field.

Local fans will be hoping the South African brainstrust’s plan for Kohli is a good one. Otherwise it could be a long three Tests for the Proteas and their supporters.

Melbourne

Defending champion Serena Williams pulled out of the Australian Open yesterday, saying she was “super close” but still not at the level she needs to be after giving birth to her first child.

The 23-time Grand Slam winner made a tentative return at an Abu Dhabi exhibition late last month, losing to French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.

Prior to that her last competitive