Australian quicks relish South African swing

Australia’s pace attack thrived in the friendly conditions in South Africa and appeared in good nick on the first day of the three-day warm-up match against South Africa A in Benoni.

Pat Cummins was the best of the lot with 4/32 in his 11 overs, while Josh Hazlewood had 3/40, Mitchell Marsh 2/50 and Mitchell Starc 1/37 as the opposition was bundled out for 220 in 58.5 overs. In reply, the Australians were 87/3 in 26 overs on Thursday, 22 February.

The pacers came in quick and threatening, eliciting edges and sending down fierce short balls. Cummins, for one, was thrilled with the swing on offer and encouraged by how in South Africa the ball stayed new for a considerable time. “Most of the swing in Australia is reverse, unfortunately. I’ve probably got more of an in-swinger action than an out-winger, but I’ve spent most of my life bowling out-swingers,” he said, excited about the conditions.

In the recent home Ashes, the quicks had to bang it in on batting-friendly tracks to make an impact, so it made for a nice change.

“There wasn’t a heap of swing or sideways movement back in Australia, so it felt like a lot of the time our biggest chance of wickets was trying to bowl bouncers and get a false shot. Over here, it looks like the ball is going to swing around a bit,” explained Cummins. “In the Test matches against India, it looked like there was a fair bit of nip, sideways movement. So as a bowler I love seeing that.

“To go with all that there’s always a bit of pace and bounce as well.”

The Australians, who got to bat the final session, lost three wickets early, with Steve Smith one of those to fall after a quick 24-ball 23. Cameron Bancroft meanwhile knuckled down and was batting on 24 off 72 balls along with Shaun Marsh (10*) at the close of the day’s play.

The first Test begins in Durban on 1 March.

Brief scores: South Africa A 220 in 58.5 overs (Zubayr Hamza 44, Theunis de Bruyn 46, Senuran Muthusamy 36, Willem Mulder 29; Josh Hazlewood 3/40, Pat Cummins 4/32, Mitchell Marsh 2/50) v Australians 87/3 in 26 overs.