Australia vs South Africa - Verbal assault to continue in Adelaide – Cricket News Update
Fully pumped after the opening test at Gabba, players from both Australia and South Africa are all set for the verbal shootout against one another at the Adelaide Oval, coming Thursday.
After a series of heated events at Brisbane, reaching the climax when Graeme Smith pulled away just as James Pattinson was about to bowl a delivery on the final day of the first encounter, the two sides will resume the exchange from the time both captains come out for the toss.
With the match referee Ranjan Madugalle and the umpires Billy Bowden and Asad Rauf not formally charging any player amidst the fiery final afternoon at Brisbane, they have tacitly approved of such tactics.
Michael Hussey feels, "Its part of the game, once you get out in the middle and emotions start to rise, it's good for the game to see a bit of competitive spirit out there between the two teams."
"A lot of the players in the past have used it as a mental battle against batsmen and it's probably worked in the past as well," he added further.
Reminding the Kangaroos of the 2008-09 South African tour to Australia where similar tactics by the home team proved unsuccessful, AB de Villiers feels words are nothing if not backed by actions.
Australia, well known for their sledging in order to provoke the opposition in to making mistakes, were expected to continue with the strategy this series as indicated by the skipper Michael Clarke before the opening game kicked off, when he talked about pushing the line of legal aggression.
On the fourth morning at Brisbane, when Smith confronted Ed Cowan before he faced the opening over of the day, it was evident that not only the Australians, but the Proteas are also comfortable with the war of words.
"Whether it works on these South African batsmen I don't know. They've shown they've been a great team for a period of time now, they don't get to No. 1 in the world without enduring these sorts of things before," said Hussey.
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