What a thrill to be back at the Waca
FAMILIARITY is one of the game’s best feel-good factors, and South Africa will be banking on their happy memories of the Waca when they start the Test series against Australia on Thursday morning (3.30am, SA time).
“Eight years ago we won here, a couple of years ago we won here again,” Dale Steyn reminded the locals yesterday, as the Proteas ramped up their preparations for the much-anticipated opener in Perth.
“It’s nice to come here with that feeling that you have done well here before, regardless of the pitch, whether it will be flying through or hitting the ankles, it doesn’t really matter.”
Of course, the expectation for the pace-friendly Waca is for a bit of zip in the surface, one that will hopefully pit two of the game’s best pace packs against each other. Steyn, after a year of Test frustrations, is eager to remind the world just why he is still top of the Test tree in the bowling ranks.
The Phalaborwa Express’s charge into the history books may have suffered from a few unscheduled stops in the past year, with injuries suddenly becoming more regular than five-wicket hauls, but he has reclaimed his place as the leader of a dynamic attack.
And, what is more, he will be at a venue that has yielded such good returns, he and the rest of the team are probably starting to think of it as a away from home, which is quite fitting for a part of the world awash with expats.
“To walk into a venue where you feel comfortable is always exciting, so we are really looking forward to it.”
Steyn was a central part of the last two assignments, where South Africa’s pace and swing often blew away the Aussie top-order. The tourists, after a tough time of it in the Test arena in 2015-16, will need him to rekindle those glory days, and re-ignite the wild eyes that remind the Aussies of their own legends of the ball.
Steyn has an exciting, young hunting partner in tow these days, and much has been made of how Kagiso Rabada will handle the magnitude of a series in Australia, after his startling year in international cricket.
Steyn knows the rapid Rabada better than most, and though he didn’t expand on the young tearaway specifically, he expects all the firsttime tourists Down Under to be in a good place come Thursday. Australia can be a brutal, uncompromising territory, but the Proteas appear as relaxed as they have ever been before the blue-ribbon fixture on the calendar.
“I think the guys who are on their first Test tour of Australia Proteas: Faf du Plessis (capt), Kyle Abbott, Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Stephen Cook, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Dean Elgar, Keshav Maharaj, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Tabraiz Shamsi, Dale Steyn, Dane Vila. November 3: Australia v South Africa, Waca, Perth 3.30 am. November 12: Australia v South Africa,Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 1.30 am. November 24: Australia v South Africa Adelaide Oval, Adelaide, 5.30 am. are coming here with a good feeling because the other guys who have come here before have done well.
“It’s not that feeling where, in the past, when we came here we had our tails between our legs. We are coming here with good history. The boys are comfortable and ready to go, we have been here for two weeks and are ready for the match to start.”
While the Waca has made its name as a hard, bouncy track that has encouraged quick runs and even quicker bowling spells over the years, the surface has become watered down, and the South Africans look increasingly likely to blood a young spinner for the first Test.
Be it the wristy Tabraiz Shamsi, or the tenacious Keshav Maharaj, they can be sure that the big dogs in the team – led by Steyn – will be right behind them, trying to make them feel as at-ease in Perth as they have over the years.
It has become home, even a long way from home.