South Africa have their own raw, young and wild speed demon Gerald Coetzee on this tour of Australia and the 22-year-old already has a hat-trick and a 150km/h delivery to showcase his credentials.
Australia have selected Western Australia pace bowler Lance Morris, nicknamed “wild thing”, in the 14-man squad for the first Test at the Gabba starting on December 17.
Morris has a reputation with batters who have faced him in the Sheffield Shield as the fastest bowler in the land.
Coetzee, like Morris, probably won’t play at the Gabba but he’s a genuine option the Proteas could unleash during the three-Test series.
CLICK HERE for a seven-day free trial to watch international cricket on KAYO
He took a hat-trick in the first innings of the tour match against a Cricket Australia XI at Allan Border Field.
Gerald Coetzee. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
While it was the tail he cleaned up ,it was the pace, panache and element of pandemonium of his bowling that caught the imagination of onlookers and the attention of the speed gun that was on hand at the ground.
Sporting a white bandana and wrist bands as he tore in to bowl, it was clear Coetzee could easily become a cult hero in South Africa if he can shine at the Test level he is yet to play.
Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt was watching him live for the first time.
“I am very excited about Gerald,” Langeveldt said. “He looks like he has got proper white-line fever when he walks onto the field. He competes and he is different.
“I had only seen him bowl in the nets and a few games on TV. To see him bowling live with the aggression and pace was exciting. He’s a 22-year-old and another guy who can step up and bowl 140 (km/h) plus. One or two balls were 150.”
South Africa have variety in their pace attack with right-arm speedsters Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje complemented by 206cm left-armer Marco Jansen. Now Coetzee is knocking on the door.
“You need to be pushing a Rabada,” Langeveldt said. “Gerald coming in is pushing for the next spot.They all bring something different to the table to the bowling attack which is awesome.”
Smith to get tested early
South Africa have identified making Steve Smith play at the ball early as the key to keeping Australia’s most prolific batsman quiet in their three-Test series this summer.
The Proteas are one of the few countries in the world who can claim to have found an answer for Smith through his career ahead of Saturday’s first Test at the Gabba.
The Australian made a century in his first Test against them in 2014, but has since endured a dry run.
Besides Bangladesh, who he has played two Tests against, Smith’s average of 41.53 in nine games against South Africa is his lowest against any nation.
(Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
Smith has made changes in his technique since he last faced South Africa, but Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt said his team had a clear plan for the right-hander.
“The key to most of the top six is the first 20 balls and to make them play,” he said.
“Steve has changed. He is not on the move anymore and he has got a good base now where he is not moving around the crease as much.
“I think it is going to be a good challenge for our boys.
“The boys are up for the challenge but the key is going to be that first 20 balls where we need to really make him play more.”
The fuller approach to Smith marks a change to how teams have attacked him in recent years with shorter-pitched bowling aimed at his body.
That had prompted Smith to alter his technique in a way that would allow him to duck the ball easier and open up the range of his pull shot on the leg side.
The Proteas made a point to bowl full in their tour match against a Cricket Australia XI in recent days, with opening bowlers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi picking up seven wickets between them.
Most of their wickets came caught behind or in the slips with fuller balls, in a similar plan to the one they want to execute on Smith. “The guys got the fuller lengths that we want. Conditions are different in Brisbane to anywhere else in the world really,” Langeveldt said.
BBL to be slashed?
The Big Bash League could be in for a whopping reduction in games as Cricket Australia tries to negotiate a new broadcast deal.
According to a NewsCorp report, CA will entertain the idea of cutting back from its current schedule of 61 games by as much as 20.
Channel 10 and their Paramount+ streaming platform are the frontrunners to be the next broadcast rights holders for cricket, at least for the BBL.
The length of the BBL has been seen as a negative for the competition in terms of keeping public interest in the tournament and in attracting overseas players.
Other T20 leagues across the globe are not as long and players can earn more in a shorter space of time.
Aussies defend limited build-up for pacemen
Australia’s medical staff insist they have the right build-up to Test summers for their bowlers despite the early absence of Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins because of injuries.
Hazlewood will miss his second straight Test in Brisbane against South Africa with a side strain, while Cummins is preparing to return from his own quad injury.
Australia’s summer schedule meant none of the frontline quicks played four-day Sheffield Shield games before the Tests, instead featuring in the Twenty20 World Cup and England ODI series.
The program for the next four years means Shield cricket for multi-format players will remain rare, with white-ball matches in the lead up to each Test summer.
However, Australia’s physio Nick Jones said the tiered step from T20 cricket to ODIs and then Test matches meant bowlers were properly conditioned.
“If you are going to play T20s and the ODIs and the Test series as well, there is going to be a natural progression,” he said.
“We are comfortable from a schedule perspective that if you are going to be an all-format player, that is the way we have to build them at the moment.”
Jones claimed players would have been at a higher risk of injury if they skipped the ODI series against England and instead played Sheffield Shield straight out of the T20 World Cup.
(Photo by James Worsfold/Getty Images)
“If we had put (Hazlewood) in a Shield game without playing the ODIs, we would’ve had an even bigger spike in loads,” Jones said.
“So we were able to use the ODIs with the extra few weeks we had to try and smooth that out a little.
“Obviously for each bowler, some will cope and Josh has had a minor issue we’ve had to manage.”
Australia’s current summer schedule is the busiest in their history, with 27 men’s international fixtures and no more than a four-day gap built between the five Tests.
“The reality is your ability to recover fully, it’s not going to be complete,” Jones said.
“We’ve got be very diligent with how we look after the guys between matches at the end of a day’s play.”
>Cricket News
%20(3).jpeg)
0 Comments