Coach Darren Lehmann with captain Steve Smith ahead of the tour of South Africa. “The one-day guys are pretty vocal”, he assured reporters.
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A bold rebuild of the national limited-overs line-up that paved the way for Australia’s first World Cup win the following year, a success that is acknowledged as a turning point for Australian cricket following the turmoil and trials of the World Series Cricket split and its subsequent fall-out.
“So we get our one-day players to chop and change a little bit, and they handle it very well”.
“We’ve given everyone enough game time so looking ahead to major tournaments, we’ve got Champions Trophy next year and then 2019 [the World Cup], we’re always looking ahead”.
“It gives us a chance to play against them and hopefully get into a bit of rhythm, as their batsmen have been similar for a while now”.
Before their departure, the Australian captain, Steve Smith had bemoaned the quiet, nearly shy group, he had led in the Test series in Sri Lanka, which Australia lost 0-3, and called on the younger members of the team to express themselves more on the field and to “puff out their chests” in keeping with the traditional Australian way. Bavuma is expected to open the batting with Quinton de Kock, in place of Hashim Amla, who has been rested, while Pretorius will compete with Wayne Parnell and Chris Morris for a debut.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers is to skip Sunday’s one-day worldwide against Ireland to allow further recovery time from an elbow injury ahead of a five-match series against Australia.
“We’re playing you in a Test series and we want to give them a break”. One of the great things about these two countries is that they play it really hard on the field, but get along really well off it.
Insisting that his side have got some really good young fast bowlers in the squad, Lehmann insisted that he is hopeful to see these players making a name for themselves.
“If we’re looking at the South African bowling attack, they got a few guys that I’m sure will be a part of their Test squad”, he said.
“They’ve got some pace, they swing the ball and we’ve got some variations”.
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“We are going to have to be at our best to beat them in the summer”.
