SA vs AUS 2018: Competetive cricket to replace verbal volleys in the series

The Test series has got underway in Durban.

Steve Smith -  Kagiso Rabada. (Getty)

Australia and  South Africa have always dished out competitive cricket whenever they have played against each other. Verbal banters, glaring eyebrows have always been a key element in the contest. 

However, in this recent series which kicked off with the first Test in Durban from Thursday, its very likely that competitive cricket will replace verbal banters in the series. Both teams are coming into the series after recent success in the 5-day format. Both teams have thus agreed on keeping up the intensity of the contest rather than engage in something unnecessary. 

Steve Smith’s men will try to maintain their unbeaten run post the apartheid era in the country and they want to play the game like men, keeping the viewers away from the on-field banter. “What happens on the field stays on the field. We’re all grown men. We compete hard. We know where the line is. We headbutt it probably, but we are not going to go over the line,” Nathan Lyon was quoted as saying in The Sydney Morning Herald. 

“It’s a mental game as well as a physical game. If something is going to be said, then no doubt it will be said from both camps. It is going to be one hell of a series and I’m pretty excited about it,” Lyon added.

In Australia, the microphone is only turned up to capture the sound of the ball in play. The fader stays mum between the deliveries. But in South Africa, the microphones are usually left on. 

Both the camps thus know very well that it is cricket which will define the series and not the verbal banters. With renowned players a part of this contest from both teams they will hopefully let their bat and ball do the talking. Smith however before the series started had hinted at firing up Kagiso Rabada in the Test series. 
 

 
 

By Anshuman Roy - 01 Mar, 2018

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