Australia seek fast start in more familiar climes

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September 27, 2016 Start time 1000 local (0800 GMT)

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Following a Sri Lanka tour that was at times traumatic (the Tests) and at others more encouraging (the ODIs), there is an undoubted sense of anticipation among Australia’s cricketers about playing in more familiar South African climes. It is no mystery that this is the country where Australia have enjoyed the most away success over the past 20 years or so, for there is minimal adjustment to be made from Australian surfaces. That being said, batsmen and bowlers who strove for weeks to come to grips with Asian pitches and Sri Lanka’s phalanx of spin bowlers will now have to adjust back “up” to a little more bounce, pace and quantities of seam bowling.

So too will Australia’s captain Steven Smith need to build a rapport with some new pace bowling assets, after the decision to rest both Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood from this tour. Daniel Worrall, Joe Mennie and Chris Tremain have all performed well for their states, but the shift to international-level scrutiny and responsibility always stretches the mental resources of young cricketers. A meeting with Ireland in South Africa may be to the slightly less demanding end of the international cricketing scale, but Smith will need to make sure his bowling attack is in good discipline nonetheless. They are being mentored, too, by a new figure – David Saker, the former England bowling coach, is on his first tour as Darren Lehmann’s assistant.

Ireland, meanwhile, have been stung by a heavy defeat at the hands of South Africa, and will want to make amends against opponents who have also served as useful allies in terms of encouraging this emerging team’s rise to the cusp of full international status in the game. The flip side of administrative assistance from Cricket …

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