Rassie van der Dussen expects better showing from Proteas in Australia
Image: Michael Steele/Getty Images
Proteas batter Rassie van der Dussen believes they have prepared well for their upcoming three-match Test series in Australia.
The Proteas are Down Under preparing for their first match in Brisbane that starts on December 17. The South African Test side will be looking to bounce back after losing the previous series 2-1 in England.
Van der Dussen and company take confidence from knowing they will be playing in good conditions similar to those they are used to in South Africa.
“I’m looking forward to it and hope the pitches play well. It will be a good battle between the bat and ball,” Van der Dussen said.
“The preparation we put in last week and will put in over the coming four days will be enough for us to fill our boots.”
The Proteas’ batting was fingered as the main reason for their series defeat in England. It was not just against England that the Proteas failed to fire with the bat, as in their past 10 Test matches they have scored only two 100s.
“People have been critical of our batting unit in the past two years and in England it was very tough,” Van der Dussen said.
“But if you think of the past 18 to 24 months, the conditions we have batted in have really been tough. And the numbers are telling that story — our guys are averaging 30s while some of the other countries' guys are hitting 50s and 60s.
“People compare the two without taking conditions into consideration.
“[The way] I see it is we are second in the World Championship and that tells you the cricket we play has been sufficient to get us there.
“Whatever conditions we batted in the other teams batted in and somehow we [mostly] came out on top.
“I sometimes think people look too much into those statistics.
“I’m not looking for excuses. As a batting line-up we definitely want to get more 100s, get more partnerships and score a lot more runs individually.
“But at the end of the day if we can bat more as a unit and get our team across the line, that is the most important thing.”
The Proteas play a four-day warm-up match against a Cricket Australia XI at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane from Friday.
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