da pinnacle： Nothing is like it should be at the Sydney Cricket Ground
da realbet： Michael Donaldson01-Jan-2002Nothing is like it should be at the Sydney Cricket Ground.On another baking Sydney day ahead of the third Test between Australia and South Africa, the ground was swathed in smoke from the NSW bush fires, the pitchwas uncharacteristically green and a player who could have “come from another planet” was set to celebrate the 10th anniversary of an inauspicious debut here.Australian captain Steve Waugh said the smoke today reminded him of being on the Indian subcontinent.”Coming out to practice this morning it was like we were playing at New Delhi with the haze over the ground,” Waugh said.”It wasn’t as bad as it was two days ago when it was pretty choking but the bush fires are forecast to get worse.”Waugh said his team felt an obligation to play entertaining and winning cricket to provide some distraction for those who have suffered from the fury of the fires.Part of that entertainment package could be the use of two leg spinners – Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill – against a South African side seemingly mesmerised byspin bowling. Whether MacGill plays or not depends on the pitch, which Waugh said was not a traditional Sydney strip of dirt.”The pitch is certainly not the same as you come to expect from the SCG – it’s got a lot of grass and it’s pretty hard,” Waugh said.”But there’s a good chance Stuart MacGill will play. It’s 50-50 at the moment depending on how the wicket comes up tomorrow.”Stuart deserves a chance. He’s a proven performer at this level – he’s a big match performer and I know he won’t let us down. I know he’ll take wickets if he plays – it’s just a matter of getting the balance right and whether the conditions will suit him more than a quick bowler.”With Australia having wrapped up the series 2-0 with two crushing wins in Adelaide and Melbourne, Waugh said it was the best opportunity to experiment with two leg spinners at their peak.For Warne, tomorrow’s Test marks the 10th anniversary of his debut here against India, when he gave no indication of what was in store over the subsequentdecade.Waugh today recalled the first time he saw, or rather heard, Warne bowl on a development tour of Zimbabwe.”I just remember hearing the ball actually coming out of his fingers.”It was like he’d come from another planet almost, the way the ball was coming out so well and turning so far – I couldn’t believe he wasn’t already playing first-class cricket.”He was always going to be special.”Australia’s dominance in the series has taken a huge toll on South Africa, with Proteas allrounder Lance Klusener quitting the tour and the tourists contemplating rushing in left arm spinner Nicky Boje.Klusener went home to Durban to have some time with his wife after his confidence was wrecked by a horror tour, which included a first-ball duck in Melbourne.Waugh, while feeling for Klusener, said it was a sign Australia had flattened the Proteas.”He’s one of their impact players and in the past he’s one of the guys who has said a lot on the field.”For him to say he’s not playing well enough and feels intimidated and didn’t know where he was scoring the next run from – that shows we’re doing something right.”South African captain Shaun Pollock, admitting his team had been too uptight earlier in the tour, said the Proteas would perform better now the series was lost.”The pressure is obviously off, we’ve lost the Test series and .. from that perspective the series is over.”Maybe the guys have been a bit uptight and this is the ideal opportunity to play with a bit more freedom.”Pollock said 20-year-old Jacques Rudolph was expected to take Klusener’s place.Boje was originally supposed to be on this tour but was forced out with a knee strain just a week before the team departed.He is South Africa’s best spin bowler but has played only two Tests since April after undergoing knee and shoulder surgery. Pollock was uncertain whether Bojeshould be rushed in.Teams:Australia (two to be omitted): Steve Waugh (capt), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne,Brett Lee, Andy Bichel, Glenn McGrath, Brad Williams, Stuart MacGill.South Africa (two to be omitted): Shaun Pollock (capt), Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Boeta Dippenaar, Jacques Kallis, Jacques Rudolph, Neil McKenzie, MarkBoucher, Nicky Boje, Claude Henderson, Allan Donald, Nantie Hayward, Justin Ontong.
