Date-stamped : 23 Dec96 - 06:14 22 December 1996 Bacher set for key role Colin Bryden Just in case they haven`t worked it out from the team list, selection convener Peter Pollock has unequivocal message for the South African Test side: "The batsmen need to score runs." For those who don`t prosper in the first two Tests against India the presence in a 13-man squad of young and dynamic talent will be a constant reminder that there are hungry challengers waiting to continue a process of rejuvenation in the squad. With two of the three young batsmen, Jacques Kallis and Her- schelle Gibbs already having been blooded, it seems virtually certain that Adam Bacher will get his turn in the first home Test at Kingsmead on Thursday. It is an opportunity for the 23-year-old Bacher to establish a long- term claim, either for the problematic number three spot or as an opening batsman. Pollock acknowledged that three was a key position. "We have tried various people and we need to sort it out, both this series and the series against Australia coming up." It has been almost 27 years since the name A Bacher appeared at three in the batting order for South Africa. When the initial stood for Ali, South Africa had one of its strongest batting line-ups in history. Sandwiched between legends Barry Richards and Greame Pollock, it was as well that Ali Bacher was a peerless captain. In comparison with two of the greatest batsmen of all time, he wasn`t likely to get too many rave reviews for his batting, although he averaged a respectable 32.22 with six half-centuries in his 12 Tests, holding his position as a batsman alone before being made captain. The task for Ali`s nephew may be less challenging aesthetically but he has been set a massive job in cricket terms. Not since Hansie Cronje made 122 against Australia at the Wanderers almost four years ago has a South African number three made a hundred in a Test match. There have only been a couple of fifties in the 19 Tests since then, one by Cronje and one in the position by Andrew Hudson. Cronje has been a part of the problem, having batted at number three more times than anyone else in the post isolation era. At one time he seemed to have made the position his own but he ran into problems against fast, short-pitched bowling and then more recently it has been decided that as the captain he should be batting lower in the order. Young Bacher is set to be the eighth man in four years to be tried at the first wicket down. What the selectors are seeking by the end of the India series is a settled, in-form batting order for what could almost be a world championship showdown with Aus- tralia. only opener Gary Kirsten and number four Daryll Cullinan have remained regular run-scorers over the past year. The likes of Andrew Hudson, Cronje, Brian McMillan and Dave Richardson all need to find form and consistency. Assuming Bacher plays on Thursday, there may be room for neither Kallis nor Gibbs, unless it is decided to go in with an all-seam attack, in which case Paul Adams will make way for one of his fellow Western Province youngsters. By the end of the series, however, youth may have taken further irrevocable steps. While Australia is being seen as the big prize for the season, India`s victory in their own country puts pres- sure on South Africa to even the score. They can hardly go up against Australia with a claim as potentially the world`s best side unless they have won the home series against India. Despite the infusion of youth in the South African team, the home side have an edge in overall experience. Only Tendulkar and Azharuddin of India`s top order have played in more than 10 Tests and it may be as difficult for the young Indian batsmen to adjust to South African pace and bounce as it was for the South Africans to play on under-prepared, grassless surfaces in India. When the bounce was even in India, notably in Calcutta, South Africa prospered. Logically they are favourite in home conditions but with three of the four Tests in 1992/93 having been drawn, winning a three- match series is not necessarily straightfor- ward. India would probably be happy to go home with a share of the honours as they would then be able to claim they had had the better of exchanges. South African coach Bob Woolmer is trying to take the emphasis off of the need to win. "The objective will be to play good, po- sitive cricket. Although we will be doing our best to win the series we don`t feel under pressure to do so." Contributed by Tony.Hassett (hasett@scientia.up.ac.za)