Holding nerves will be the key against England, believes http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gary-Kirsten-c58527 – Cricket News Update
Preparing for the upcoming Test series against England, Gary Kirsten, the South African coach, believes that the team which handles the pressure will emerge victorious.
The first Test of the three-match series will commence from July 19th at the Oval. It is one of the most awaited competitions in the recent times as the outcome of the battle will decide the top Test team of the world.
The Proteas have been a major force in international cricket since their comeback in the 1990s; however, they are labelled as ‘chokers’ due to their inability to cope with the pressures of big matches.
Both the teams look evenly matched in all departments of the game and all the three Tests are expected to go right down to the wire.
Kirsten, who previously led India to the number one Test ranking in 2010, expressed that the Proteas are an experienced unit and it will be all about handling the nerves in the crunch moments on the tour.
"We know we have got to get our intensity up as soon as we can," Kirsten said. "We've got a really experienced team and a good side that has been here and had success before. It's about who can win those big moments; that's how the series will be decided.
Where we might lose out on match intensity, we will pick up on mental freshness."
England is extremely confident in home conditions as they outclassed http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 in the last 14 months. Their bowling attack is extremely potent in the English conditions, where the ball tends to swing in the air, posing a massive threat
to the South African batting line-up.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c749. Kirsten believes that it was extremely helpful for the boys to develop a team spirit.
"It's something we wanted to work hard on as a team. We can put ourselves through some challenges, not necessarily cricket challenges, just to test us a little bit as a unit," he added.
The Test series will be followed by five One Day Internationals and three T20s.
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