South African media says pitches suited Australia more than Proteas

Even Jacques Kallis felt that the pitches for the Tests were not conducive for Proteas.

Johannesburg: Mar 7, 2014

South Africa has failed to make the home pitches work to their advantage in the recent Test series against Australia, according to a report.

According to Sport24, the South African pitches played a little too much into Australia’s hands during the course of a classically hard-fought set of battles, adding that Baggy Greens would have ”pleasurably” and ”surprisingly” found them a tad more ”Australian” in character than South African.

The report mentioned that recently retired all-rounder Jacques Kallis had also made reference to strips during the series not making things too suitable for South Africa’s strengths. South African bowlers are at their best when there is just a little (or even a bit more than that) deviation off the seam and the report said that the team”s batsmen are also well-versed in playing to combat it.

Instead, the report added that South Africa more dominantly witnessed conditions conducive to reverse swing, which is a characteristic that comes into play, especially toward the back end of Tests, when surfaces are dry, pretty grassless and abrasive.