Brydon Coverdale in Potchefstroom
ON the day when a French horse won the Melbourne Cup by a nostril in a photo finish, Melbourne’s Peter Siddle pulled a length in front during another race halfway around the world.
In Potchefstroom, Siddle is competing for a place in Australia’s side for the first Test – the third seamer’s position being the only spot that appears to be up for grabs, with Trent Copeland and Pat Cummins the other contenders.
(Scores: Australia 115 for 3 (Marsh 51*, Clarke 41*, Philander 2-14) trail South Africa A 183 (Elgar 47, Johnson 4-38, Siddle 3-16, Watson 3-32) by 68 runs.)
On the first day of the tour match, Siddle bowled with aggression and serious pace to help skittle South Africa A for 183.
There was also an encouraging performance from Mitchell Johnson, who renewed his love affair with the red ball in South Africa by picking up four wickets, while Shane Watson swung the ball and collected three victims.
But on a pitch offering plenty of bounce and carry – both wicketkeepers at times struggled to grasp deliveries at head height – the Australians top order also had trouble until a steadying partnership from Shaun Marsh and Michael Clarke.
Vernon Philander, who is in South Africa’s Test squad but is unlikely to force his way into the XI, bowled fiery new-ball spell and when he trapped Ricky Ponting lbw for 2, Australia were 21 for 3.
Philander had already had Phillip Hughes caught behind for 4, after Wayne Parnell hurried a bouncer on to Watson, who skied his attempted hook and was taken at midwicket for 6.
Marsh was put down at slip on 1 but otherwise showed the maturity and composure he demonstrated during his debut Test series in Sri Lanka, and by stumps he was on 51 and Clarke was on 41, and the Australians had reached 115 for 3.
The efforts of the batsmen, while important for reasons of form, won’t have any bearing on the line-up for next week’s first Test in Cape Town.
Usman Khawaja is the backup batsman in this tour game and he will be on the sidelines at Newlands, barring an injury to any of the top six. The bowling group, however, is slightly less certain.
By leaving the 18-year-old Pat Cummins out of this game, Australia’s selectors showed that they either wanted to rest his young body before a five-day debut, or more likely that he won’t play in Cape Town and will come into consideration on the more pace-friendly Johannesburg pitch. Ryan Harris was also rested, but will certainly play the first Test, which left Siddle and Copeland to fight for a Test spot.
Siddle has won the battle so far. While Johnson collected 4 for 38, it was Siddle who kickstarted the strong day.
There were no clouds in the sky but the ball moved in the air early, and that was exploited by Siddle, who swung the ball in to the left-hander Alviro Peterson in the second over of the day and trapped him lbw for a duck.
Siddle finished with the impressive figures of 3 for 16 from 14 overs, while Copeland extracted some bounce but rarely looked seriously threatening, and he ended up with 0 for 44. Most encouraging was the way Siddle softened up JP Duminy, who was also auditioning for a place in the Newlands Test, but did his chances no good with a 49-minute innings of 10.
Duminy’s problem against the short ball was evident when he tried to evade a Johnson bouncer but didn’t get his bat out of the way, and soon afterwards he took a heavy blow when he ducked into a Siddle bouncer.
The next ball Duminy edged behind for 10 and it was a fine reward for Siddle who returned to have Parnell caught at slip from one of his six maidens.
Johnson finished the innings with a superb inswinging yorker that bowled the No.11, Marchant de Lange, and at times he found hints of the swing that made him so dangerous in early 2009. Back then, the Australian bowlers struggled against a Board President’s XI in Potchefstroom, where the hosts declared at 403 for 7. (ESPN Cricinfo)