Springboks show prowess with both bat and ball

A player of Lance Klusener's power-hitting ability must be a comforting feeling for Hanse Cronje and his boys, especially when the early emergency bells needed to be silenced. Rather than chasing a total in the early hundreds, the Sri Lankans were asked to score 200 for victory. Against an attack as daunting as South Africa's, this is tough in the best of conditions, let alone on a pitch offering the bowlers generous assistance.

When the current World Cup holders entered the batting arena they were made to look like novices by the awesome seam attack of the tournament favourites. Like Klusener batting down the order, it must be encouraging for Cronje having the luxury of Jacques Kallis opening the bowling.

After he had taken the first couple of wickets, the Sri Lankans could only be intimidated by the prospect of Allan Donald coming in to the attack as the first change bowler. Pollock, Kallis, Donald and Klusener is a truly world-class attack - one which in these English conditions could easily take South Africa to the World Cup Final on June 20.

The entertaining and gifted Sri Lankan batting order can be as destructive on their day as the South African bowlers. With this in mind, the Springboks' performance today is only magnified ... it was a far from low-class batting team they were bowling against.

Another aspect to be considered today is the type of pitches that are being prepared for this World Cup. The general perception is that one-day cricket is traditionally dominated by the bat, with the crowds coming to witness big scores through aggressive batting. Obviously my mates who happen to be bowlers will never agree with this view, but the fact is that most punters love to see fours and sixes at a game of one-day cricket.

As predicted, the seaming lively English pitches in this early part of the summer are instrumental in changing this trend. The fast bowlers are enjoying the extra life of the grassy pitches, making the batsmen's job more difficult than has become typical in the shortened version of the game. With the swinging white balls, the World Cup in England makes it more of a test of ability and technique, especially for the batsmen. This can only be a positive for the game of cricket, especially for those purists who claim to dislike the predictability of the one-day game.

Back to current Personal View