Smith tipped for runs in Cape Town

Steve Smith has been advised to "relax" and place trust in the routines that have worked so well for him over the past year or more as the world’s top-ranked Test batter looks to exert an influence over the remaining two matches against South Africa.

Smith, who averaged more than 81 per innings and scored six centuries during the 12 months leading into the Qantas Tour of South Africa, has – by his own impeccable standards – struggled to get going in the first two Tests against the Proteas.

A return of 130 runs at 32.50 from four starts is scarcely the stuff of a form slump, but the known perfectionist has been left to rue the fact that he’s reached double figures in each of those knocks but only once pushed on past 50 – the 56 he scored in his first dig of the campaign at Durban.

But the skipper’s Australia and New South Wales teammate Josh Hazlewood claims the 28-year-old, who heads India’s Virat Kohli in the ICC Test batter rankings, is proving as tough to bowl to in the practice nets as at any time during his red-hot form streak.

And he believes the best advice he can offer his captain is to not stress about the lack of a big score in the four-match series to date and stick with the routine that has carried him to the top of his trade since he took over the Test leadership at the end of 2015.

“He still looks as good as ever,” Hazlewood said today as both teams prepared to return to training for the third Test that begins at Cape Town’s famous Newlands ground on Thursday.

“It’s hard to get him out, as usual, so I think it’s only around the corner.

“When you average 63 (in Test cricket) it’s a matter of time until the runs start to come. 

“He probably just needs to relax and go back to what works for him, and I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

Hazlewood acknowledged the same counsel might apply to Australia’s bowlers when they face the daunting task of combatting the stand-out batter of the series to date, former South Africa captain AB de Villiers.

Mitchell Starc, Hazlewood’s new-ball partner, conceded last week that the pair along with fellow quick Pat Cummins and off-spinner Nathan Lyon have already been discussing some updated plans for de Villiers who is averaging 112.50 across the first two Tests.

Hazlewood indicated that, such is the intimidation factor that de Villiers brings through his fearless intent and vast repertoire of strokes, there can be a temptation to produce an unplayable delivery when he first arrives at the crease for fear that if he gets settled he will dominate any attack.

Which, in turn, can cause bowlers to over-reach and allow the 34-year-old to cash in rather than his rivals being content to simply tie him down and hope he makes an error.

“We obviously struggled a bit so far,” Hazlewood said of the battle the Australians have waged with de Villiers.

“He’s just gotten off the mark and got to 20 or 30 runs quite easily, and we’ve probably gifted that to him a little bit. 

“Probably we just need to start better against him and treat him like any other player, and bowl good balls more often than not.

“We’ve come up against good players in other series, and guys who have got mountains of runs. 

“Virat (Kohli during the 2014-15 series) in Australia was one early on in my career, and they’re only human so hopefully he (de Villiers) has scored all of his runs so far.”

The tourists received a brutal reminder of how little margin for mistake exists when bowling to de Villiers during the veteran’s match-altering 126 not out during South Africa’s first innings of the second Test at Port Elizabeth.

When Cummins landed what he felt was a good length delivery outside off stump that most mortal batters might have watchfully defended towards cover, de Villiers imperiously rocked into position for a pull shot and lifted the ball beyond the rope at deep mid-wicket boundary.

“You try and get it out of your head as quickly as you can and you realise where he actually played the shot from, and it’s not a terrible ball,” Hazlewood said when asked how bowlers respond to such disdainful treatment.

“I guess you’ve got to put his shot selection out of your head and just concentrate on what you’re doing, and where you’re bowling. 

“If he plays a good shot off a good ball, then fair enough but you don’t want him hitting your bad balls. 

“You want to be putting it in the right areas more often than not.”

After a few days’ break in Cape Town in the wake of their six-wicket defeat at Port Elizabeth that locked the series at 1-1, Australia returns to training today at Newlands where they will take their first look at the pitch that awaits for the third Test.

South Africa’s western cape has been in the grip of a prolonged drought, and the nation’s biggest city only recently learned that the imminent threat of running out of water had temporarily passed.

But as Starc noted last week, and given that Newlands is watered from subterranean bores, Australia would not be surprised to find a green, seamers’ wicket awaiting them now that the Proteas’ strike bowler Kagiso Rabada had been banned for two matches, pending the outcome of an appeal.

If the suspension is not overturned and Rabada is unavailable for the last two Tests, the visitors expect pitch conditions might change and benefit local seamers Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel.

However, if the drought conditions mean a bare, flat surface is served up instead, Hazlewood believes that Australia’s attack is sufficiently versatile to cover all contingencies.

“They might leave some grass on it for Vernon, who is pretty good down there (Cape Town) most of the time," he said. 

“I’d be pretty happy - anything with a bit of grass is always good. 

“You don’t come across it very often in Test cricket.

“But big Mitch (Starc) is actually a very good flat wicket bowler. 

“He seems to take big wickets on those sort of tracks, and Patty (Cummins) has got a great bouncer and then good pace.

“So I think we’re a pretty well-rounded group, and we can tailor our skill sets to different wickets.”

Qantas tour of South Africa

South Africa squad: Faf du Plessis (c), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Theunis de Bruyn, AB de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morne Morkel, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Jon Holland, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Tim Paine, Jhye Richardson, Chadd Sayers, Mitchell Starc.

Warm-up match: Australia beat South Africa A by five wickets. Report, highlights

First Test Australia won by 118 runs. Scorecard

Second Test South Africa won by six wickets. Scorecard

Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26. Live coverage

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3. Live coverage