da betcris： South Africa’s coach Mickey Arthur is confident that his team hasworked out Australia’s two newest batsmen Phillip Hughes and MarcusNorth
da luck： Brydon Coverdale in Durban04-Mar-2009
Mickey Arthur says South Africa will continue to test Phillip Hughes with the short ball © Getty Images
South Africa’s coach Mickey Arthur is confident that his team has worked out Australia’s two newest batsmen Phillip Hughes and Marcus North, both of whom starred in the visitors’ 162-run win inJohannesburg. South Africa must turn around their form for Friday’ssecond Test in Durban to have any chance of winning the series andclaiming the No. 1 Test ranking.Arthur knows that the key is a more consistent bowling effort afterAustralia were allowed to post 466 in the first innings at theWanderers. North made 117 in his first Test innings while his fellowdebutant Hughes fought out 75 in the second innings despite beingseverely tested by short bowling from Dale Steyn and his colleagues.”We had the strategy to Hughes,” Arthur said. “We know he scored verymuch square of the wicket, we know he wasn’t comfortable under theshort ball. We knew that going into the Test and we didn’t see toomuch of it in the first innings but come the second innings he gotstuck in and that just confirmed what we already knew about him. Weconfirmed we were on the right track.”However, it is a tactic that won’t unsettle Hughes, who has beenfacing nasty bouncers since he was a child playing against much oldermen in rural New South Wales. He said thoroughly enjoyed the stousheswith Steyn and Morne Morkel, who is a full foot taller than the170-centimetre Hughes.”I love it. I love them to come hard at me,” Hughes said after hisdebut. “I’m only a short left-hand opening batsman. They like to comein pretty hard but I love that challenge. I’m sure I’m going to getmore of it and I can’t wait.”Arthur said his men had also figured out the best way to attack North,who was much more solid at the crease than the slightly unpredictableHughes. In the second innings North was undone by a straight ball thatkept low and Arthur felt his bowlers had erred in the first innings bygiven him too much width.”Marcus North closes himself off a little bit, gets that head outsideoff stump,” Arthur said. “We think we were probably a bit wide to himin the first innings. We think we’ve got strategies that can undermineMarcus North. I was very impressed with his debut, I thought he wasvery, very good but we’ll be far better prepared in terms of whatwe’ve seen from him now to execute our game-plans against him.”Part of the bowling problem was the unpredictability of Morkel, whobowled a few stunning deliveries like the sharp bouncer that had afending Simon Katich caught behind in the second innings, but leakedtoo many runs. Morkel went at more than four an over in both inningsand struggled to find a consistent length.He was also chastised by Arthur for his disappointing batting effortsat No. 8. In the first innings Morkel was caught and bowled when hemiscued an attempted pull but it was in the second innings that hereally let his team down, also caught when his pull lobbed limply tomidwicket when the lower order was trying to salvage a draw.”Batting-wise it was disappointing,” Arthur said. “We’ve chatted aboutit so I’m not talking behind his back. To get out the same way wasdisappointing. We see a lot of potential in Morne as a batter though.He’s just got to work his game up.”With the ball he is so exciting. We’re going to see some really goodspells and we are going to see some ordinary spells. We’ve got torealise he’s probably a year behind Dale in terms of development as aquick bowler. We’re going to have to live through the ordinary spellsbecause in between there’s been some very, very good spells as well.”Morkel will hold his place for the Test at Kingsmead, where Arthur wasconfident his extra bounce could be a key factor. It means the onlyquestion for South Africa is whether to hand a debut to Morkel’sbrother Albie, who has joined the 12-man squad, or stick with thespinner Paul Harris, at a venue where South Africa have not played aspecialist slow man in their past two Tests.”I’m not ruling out any option at the moment,” Arthur said. “It islikely that we will play the spinner. We’ve played a spinnerthroughout our last successful period of 18 months. I think ourspinner has been quite an integral part of our attack.”Overhead conditions will play a major role on the morning of thegame. The amount of grass that gets taken off the wicket will playquite an important role. I’m not ruling out the option but if allthings are equal I’m pretty sure we’ll play the spinner.”
