Punter Backs Bowlers To Blow Away Proteas

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday December 26, 2005

Chloe Saltau

CONVINCED Australia still hold the mental power in their relationship with South Africa, captain Ricky Ponting has expressed supreme confidence in the firepower of the attack that was unable to finish off the determined tourists in Perth.

Whether it is Stuart MacGill or Nathan Bracken who seizes the final bowler's place this morning, and whatever the complexion of the MCG track, Australia's toils on a pitch pronounced dead in Perth have not shaken Ponting's confidence that his attack is potent enough to bowl out South Africa twice.

Having failed to do so in the first Test, settling for a draw, Ponting foreshadowed a different tale in Melbourne and fast bowler Glenn McGrath chimed in by claiming the South Africans would need to make a big leap if they were to beat Australia. They have not won a series against Australia since their readmission to world cricket in 1991.

"Definitely, there was only one team that was going to win that game in Perth. Flat wicket, it probably suited them. They didn't have to take too many risks and make a game of it. So it will be interesting to see how things go out here on a wicket that may offer a little bit more to the bowlers," McGrath said.

"Hopefully our batsmen can do the job, set it up for us again, and this time we can knock them over."

There is another new face at the top of the order, in the form of dynamic opening batsman Phil Jaques, who will follow Martin Love and Brett Lee in the select group of Australians to make their Test debut on the biggest occasion of the Australian summer, Boxing Day.

The Australians' first glimpse of the unusually green MCG pitch suggested the quick bowlers would be the main beneficiaries, but Ponting expected it to look different this morning and selectors were seriously considering pairing MacGill, a proven wicket-taker, with Shane Warne.

Ponting did not rule out entering the match with five specialist bowlers, which would mean leaving out all-rounder Andrew Symonds and batting Adam Gilchrist at six, but that would represent a significant departure from the preferred Australian model and is considered unlikely.

In any case, he felt sure the four-pronged attack would be enough to take 20 South African wickets, including that of the world's No.1 batsman Jacques Kallis, even with the bowlers managing a massive and thankless workload at the WACA and now facing back-to-back Tests in Melbourne and Sydney.

"I don't think anyone in the world would have had enough firepower to bowl anyone out on that wicket, to tell the truth. For a Perth wicket it was unbelievably flat. Whichever attack we take in I'm confident we can take 20 wickets in a game, if we go in with the two spinners or the three seamers. I'm confident we've got enough firepower there," Ponting said.

"I'm sure if we play the same sort of cricket we played in Perth, the result will be different here."

Lee was rested from bowling on Friday, McGrath said he would be better for the run at the WACA, where he was below his best, and Ponting said he was not worried about Warne being stiff and sore despite the champion leg spinner bowling 47 overs in the second innings in Perth.

Jaques, the 26-year-old left-hander from Wollongong, will be encouraged by all around him to play his natural, shot- making game. Ponting spoke to the debutant but was careful not to clutter his mind or spark his nerves on the eve of the biggest day of his young career.

"At that age, they're the sort of guys you want coming into your side," Ponting said. "The Boxing Day Test here in Melbourne in front of a big crowd is something special and I'm sure he's well aware of that and well prepared.

"Sure, it's on a big stage and sure, he's going to be facing some very good international bowlers but you know you've got the game to do it, get out there and show everybody."

However exciting Jaques's long-term prospects, Ponting said he expected 35-year-old Justin Langer to be ushered straight back into the team when he had recovered from his hamstring injury, whether that be for the next Test in Sydney or the return series in South Africa, which does not start until March.

© 2005 Sydney Morning Herald

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