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Aussies hoping for early SA advantage

Test series preparation ramps up for the tourists as they take on South Africa A in Benoni

While it may appear as just another tour match, Australia’s warm-up game starting today stands to be a monumental advantage for Steve Smith’s charges just a week out from the first Test on the Qantas Tour of South Africa.

Australia travelled 40 kilometres east from their Sandton base to Sahara Park Willowmoore Cricket Stadium in Benoni on Wednesday for one final hit-out ahead of the three-day clash against South Africa A.

The match has first-class status meaning only XI can play and Australia have picked a near full-strength side to tackle the hosts, minus deputy David Warner, who will be in transit from New Zealand after leading his country to the T20I tri-series title.

Warner praises 'faultless' bowling performance

But as Australia don the whites and hone their red-ball skills, the Proteas will be heading to Cape Town for a T20 international having played against India the night before in Centurion.

The third T20I at Newlands takes place on Saturday, the same day Australia’s tour match is scheduled to finish before both sides head to Durban for the first Test starting March 1.

It means South Africa will have only three days to train ahead of the opening Test of the four-match series against a team they have not beaten in a series on home soil in nearly 48 years.

And if that wasn’t daunting enough, the Proteas will enter the Test series having been smashed 5-1 in the preceding ODI series by an inspired Virat Kohli and his Indian teammates. 

Smith said in his arrival press conference on Saturday in Johannesburg that his side will try to keep the foot on the throat of South Africa after their poor showing in the 50-over format.

Refreshed Smith ready and raring to face Proteas

“They probably haven’t been at their best, the South Africans, and the Indians have played really well,” Smith said. 

“For us, they might be a little bit low heading into the Test series and for us it’s important to try and keep their confidence down and start really well in the first Test match in Durban.”

Australia can empathise with South Africa as to how a limited preparation can curtail performance.

After thumping England 4-0 in the Magellan Ashes, Australia had just five days between the end of the fifth Test in Sydney and the first Gillette ODI Series match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to switch mindsets from playing over five days to 50 overs.

Australia lost that first match in Melbourne by five wickets and the series 4-1 against an England team stacked with white-ball specialists who had been either playing in the KFC BBL or training against the white ball for weeks in advance.

Aussie bed down training drill in South Africa

Which makes Australia’s three-day first-class fixture even more vital and provides a significant advantage to the tourists ahead of the first Test in a week’s time.

However, Australia assistant coach David Saker isn’t reading too much into the Proteas limited-overs woes against India and expects a stern challenge in Durban.

“It would be nice if they are reeling from those defeats, but it will be a pretty different team we’ll face,” Saker told reporters in Benoni on Wednesday.

“We actually didn’t go that well in our one-day series.

“We haven’t played Test cricket in a while but we’re pretty confident we’ll go well. 

“The white ball it’s a pretty different game. Both sides will be raring to go when it comes to that first Test.”

The recent history of Australia v South Africa

Australia XI: Cameron Bancroft, Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Steve Smith (c), Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood

South Africa A squad: Khayalihle Zondo (c), Theunis de Bruyn, Zubayr Hamza, Beuran Hendricks, Pieter Malan, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Duanne Olivier, Rudi Second, Malusi Siboto, Shaun von Berg.

Qantas tour of South Africa

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 v South Africa A, Sahara Park, Benoni, Feb 22-24

First Test Kingsmead, Durban, March 1-5

Second Test St George's Park, Port Elizabeth, March 9-13

Third Test Newlands, Cape Town, March 22-26

Fourth Test Wanderers, Johannesburg, March 30-April 3