Gqeberha: A narrow gap between two grandstands at St Georgeās Park is the margin by which Marnus Labuschagne finds himself on the edge of losing his Test place as South Africa eye the series victory that would emboss their status as world champions.
Proteas captain Temba Bavuma has flagged the importance of his team embracing the title of world No.1, something he felt they did far more effectively in Gqeberha. Labuschagne, meanwhile, is fighting for Test cricket survival this week as the Australian selectors ponder their options with the series locked at 1-1 and the final Test starting in Cape Town on Tuesday.
As a strong wind whipped across the ground on the fourth afternoon of the second Test, Labuschagne had established a partnership with Travis Head and just evaded the tightest of lbw decisions on review. The sunny uplands of a long awaited-big score beckoned.
But the spin bowler Labuschagne was contending with was Simon Harmer, an Eastern Province local with deep knowledge of the coastal breezes that occasionally stir into something more like the gales that battered the ground that afternoon.
The western stand, which recently had a roof upgrade ahead of next yearās ODI World Cup, provided some shelter from the wind. So too did the instantly recognisable Duck Pond End terrace, which adorns the St Georgeās Park logo.
Having played here many times before, Harmer recognised the gap between those two stands as a source of pushback for airborne shots. With Marco Jansen posted at a deepish mid-on, he tossed the ball higher and dared Labuschagne to hit up. What followed was the moment that put Australia, and Labuschagne, in considerable trouble.
āThose are the nuances of playing here in St Georgeās,ā Bavuma said. āYou can see a shortish boundary ā¦ you can underestimate the fact that the wind plays a factor. He didnāt get all of that ball, Marnus, and the wind did what it did.
āIt held it, and you probably had the guy with the safest hands in the team; Marco Jansen, to catch it. Those are the small things [about] playing here at St Georgeās. If you havenāt played, they can get you.ā
Bavuma, who gave his team a chance with a sublime 179 after the hosts had slipped to 6-110 early on day three, spoke with empathy about Labuschagneās lengthy run of handy but insubstantial scores.
āI think Iām probably the last person to speak in terms of getting starts and not going big, but I guess heās within that phase, right?ā Bavuma said. āAs a cricketer, thatās probably the frustrating thing as a batter when you are getting to 30 and 40, and youāre not able to go and get the big scores. I mean, heās doing all the hard work.
āFrom what Iāve learned, itās more a mental thing, and I think only he will know whatās happening in his head when he gets into those moments. Heās definitely going to be thinking about it when he gets to 30 and 40.
āI think the moment he sees himself getting past those moments, thatās when heāll kind of get his confidence and belief.ā
Bavuma acknowledged that his men had been chirpier and more aggressive in Gqeberha.
āWe were just probably just looking at things a lot more internally in terms of what has allowed us to play well, and I think part of it is being aggressive in situations, not necessarily having to have a word with our opposition, or look for fights, but be aggressive in how we approach it.
āLook for opportunities to make the play for the team, and be ruthless in doing so. Thereās obviously certain individuals within the team who enjoy a little argy bargy, and I mean, you allow those guys to go about doing that within the rules. Yeah, there was a little bit more verbal chatter about it.ā
Partly, this was because the South Africans spoke after the Durban Test loss of being more comfortable with the pressure that comes from winning last yearās WTC final at Lordās.
āI think sometimes, as a team, we forget that the target is on our back, and everyone wants to have a go at us. Everyone wants us to show our mettle as the current world champions, and everything that we do is under the microscope.
āSo I think our performance, the game up in Durban was a realisation of that, but also a realisation of what it means coming up against super-strong opposition.
āFrom a pride point of view, from a belief point of view, weāve definitely strengthened that by being able to perform like that from a pressure point of view and expectation point of view, thatās probably going to keep increasing individually, but within a team.
āAnd I guess the case for us is just to keep embracing that, keep going towards that pressure, rather than kind of allowing it to hit us in the face.ā
Bavuma added that there had been plenty of introspection to get to 1-1, a feeling Labuschagne will know well this week.
āYou definitely have many conversations,ā he said. āI think when you front up to the media, you try to keep a steely face. But when youāre there alone in your room, you canāt kind of lie to yourself. So, I mean, you do the whole thing. You analyse you batting innings, and you look at it from a technical point of view.
āI think from a mental point of view, you kind of tune yourself to making sure that youāre ready for battle. Youāre out to compete, and if the opportunity is there, you wanna make the play for the team.
āFor me, it was a lot of that from a mental point of view. Spent the time in the nets as well to kind of try find something, some sort of rhythm or feeling that I was confident I could go into the game with.ā
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Daniel Brettig is The Age’s chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via X.From our partners
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