Ntini: Get to UAE and run

According to Nadine Gordimer, "a desert is a place without expectation".

According to Makhaya Ntini, a desert is as good a place as any to lace up your running shoes and head for the horizon.

That's what Ntini would have South Africa's players - in particular their fast bowlers - do soon after they touch down in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday to play Pakistan in two Tests, five one-day internationals and two T20s.

Ntini was not among the quickest nor most aggressive of fast bowlers. But, as one of six South Africans to have played 100 Tests - and whose total of 20834 Test deliveries is surpassed only by Shaun Pollock's 24353 - he was uncannily consistent. Wherever and whenever he bowled, Ntini was invariably Ntini: relentless, disciplined and indefatigable.

"That was the reason I used to go running in every place I played," Ntini said yesterday.

"That's the best way to get used to any conditions - run 10km in the heat of whatever country you are in," he said.

Ntini would have South Africa's current crop of quicks do exactly that even in the UAE, where the average daytime high for October is 35.4C. His advice didn't stop there.

"You've got to get batsmen to drive on those slow pitches; if you let them play off the back foot they will hurt you," he said.

"But the most important thing is for the attack to work together. You can't fight as one man in those conditions.

"In every series I played and for every year I played, I had a goal and I wanted to achieve it. If, as an attack or a team, you collect all of that desire and use it properly, nothing can stand in your way."

Pollock would "bowl different lines and try and force the batsmen into making mistakes, but someone like Dale Steyn is fast enough to bowl a barrage of short deliveries, even in the desert".

Unlike Ntini and Pollock, the Proteas team physiotherapist Brandon Jackson will have to offer more than advice once the series starts on October 14.

Instead, he will have to keep the team running smoothly despite the heat and the flat pitches. The bowlers will be at the top of his priority list.

"The UAE is like any other hot place, but there is less humidity so the players sweat less," Jackson said yesterday.

"We have a rehydration protocol that specifies that bowlers take a drink after a certain number of overs and we know particular guys are prone to cramp."

On the bright side, Jackson said the facilities are "world-class" and he remembers that, when South Africa toured the UAE in October and November three years ago, "it was hot, but it wasn't unbearable".

Jackson may need to give his charges those reasons to be cheerful if the going gets tough.

"There is a mental aspect to consider about playing in desert conditions," he said.

"When the guys have spent a long day bowling and fielding, their niggles are more pronounced."