Australia Have Lost Their Aura, says Proteas Legend Allan Donald

Former Proteas fast bowler and legend Allan Donald says Australia have lost their aura after recently losing a Test match at home to Bangladesh. 

However, the 59-year-old reckons the Aussies will be backing themselves to stand their ground against a settled Proteas squad.

Batting Woes

Australia are in Southern Africa, and perhaps for the first time in history, they have brought a vulnerable team that is still recovering from a Test defeat against Bangladesh at home.

They are set to play three One Day Internationals to kick off the tour of South Africa, followed by the highly anticipated three-match Test series, undoubtedly the highlight of the tour.

The Australia Test team looks everything but stable, with the bowling group frustrated by the batters’ lean patch.

To be frank, the home Tests against Bangladesh presented the Australian batting unit with an opportunity to pile up the runs and get their groove back ahead of what is historically a tough tour.

Instead, now Australia are set to tour South Africa, a country which has proven to be the toughest for Test batters, and they are doing so with a batting unit that is short of runs.

Former Proteas fast bowler Donald, having played against strong Australia sides of yesteryear, believes that Australia have lost their aura heading into the Test series against South Africa.

“It's the change of the guard in Australia. Yes, in the early 2000s, they were a menace. They were really a tough side to play against, and it was really a self-sustainable team,” Donald told SportsBoom in an exclusive interview.

“Warne, McGrath, Gillespie, Lee, oh my goodness, and then they had a batting line-up to die for. It was a team that was handed over by Steve Waugh to Ricky Ponting and, don't forget Shane Warne in there too. But it's changed." 

“It's changed, and there's a lot of people in Australia that are all of a sudden frustrated, and they got absolutely pumped by Bangladesh, and it was good to see from a Bangladeshi point of view how well they can play when they put their minds to it. But look, I just think it's a long tail. It's a batting line-up that's struggling." 

“It's struggling for batting form; there's already that thing about bowlers versus batters coming out. The batters just can't give the bowlers enough chance to recover. So, it's a great worry for them right now. They really are in trouble when it comes to performances now." 

Confidence & Bouncing Back

The last time Australia toured South Africa for Tests in 2018, former Australia captain Steve Smith, his vice-captain David Warner and opening batter Cameron Bancroft were banned for ball tampering in what was deemed the darkest period in Australian cricket history.

However, before that series, Australia had actually made South Africa their fortress, losing one series in the 1992/93 summer and went on to win six before the 2018 tour.

Smith, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins, Nathan Lyon and Matthew Renshaw are the only players from the 2018 Sandpaper Gate series that are set to return to South Africa for Tests.

Donald believes that despite the horrors of the 2018 tour, and given the skill set that the visiting squad possesses, they will still back themselves to get the job done against Temba Bavuma’s Proteas.

The 59-year-old highlighted that the Australian bowling attack, led by captain Cummins, will pose a great threat to the hosts and will be key to Australia possibly standing their ground against the defending ICC World Test Champions, South Africa.

“They'll keep saying that they're Australian and they'll bounce back and stuff like that, and I look forward to the series. There's a lot of places you can point out that (will be key for them), especially the quality bowling attack,” Donald said.

“Let's just say that it's a quality bowling attack. Those three, Starc, Hazlewood, Cummins, they are just three of the best in the world. So, I look forward to the Test Series. But I think there are challenges ahead for Australia.”

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad announced a strong ODI squad, and are set to assemble later this week, with the series scheduled to get underway next week (24 September) in Durban.

The series will then move to the Highveld with the Pink ODI at the Wanderers Stadium on September 27th and conclude in Potchefstroom on the 30th of September.

The tour will then switch to Test cricket, with the visitors set to play a warm-up match against a Cricket SA Invitation XI from 03-04 October in Potchefstroom before the series opener gets underway in Durban on 09 October.

The second and third Tests will be played at St. George’s Park Cricket Stadium in Gqeberha (18-22 October) and Newlands Stadium in Cape Town (27-31 October), respectively.