Australia v South Africa
VB Series, Match 12
Sunday, February 3, 2002

It was always going to be a tough ask for Australia to beat a South African side that was running into form - and to have to beat them by an extra 20% to claim the bonus point. Australia were always going to struggle.

Particularly on that wicket, where there was such consistent bounce, a total of 227 was always going to be hard to defend.

Australia had to bowl well. They took a punt on the part-time bowlers getting through their ten overs, but South Africa waited patiently for them and used them very well.

It's disappointing that we finish a great series with two games being altered in the way they were played, where one side isn't trying to win. But I quite like the bonus-point idea. It got Australia into trouble chasing once against New Zealand, so it can really create a game out of nothing. There have been some dead games that have really held our attention.

The quality of play in the series was down. The top orders struggled, the fielding wasn't great. Only the bowling was really of a high quality.

Possibly it was the pressure, the desperation from all the sides to do everything in a tight contest. There were plenty of great finishes as a result, and a number of times where a team turned the game around when they looked like they were out of the contest.

The one-day cricket played was much more the old-style approach - patiently building a total and having wickets in hand. We still see the big totals, because I think sides have got more hitters. A few of the sides didn't adapt well to losing early wickets ... Australia were guilty of this early on, of continuing to push hard when they lost early wickets, and it got them in trouble.

The conditions in Australia, plus the bouncer rule, have put things back to more conventional cricket. The big hitting in the early overs has never really worked in Australia. Adam Gilchrist and Mark Waugh had some success with it last year, but it's really a subcontinent thing. And now you're allowed the odd bouncer, the players will tell you there is a real danger in trying to force the pace too much early on with the ball moving around.

South Africa will go into the finals as favourites, not because of their record against New Zealand but they are the team in form. I think that was probably their best team today, and they are all starting to play well. But I think it will go the full three games if Chris Cairns and Shane Bond are fit.

Australia, well, they have some thinking to do before the next one-day series in South Africa. I think the positions of the two Waughs will be looked at. There seem to be a few players who are stale at the moment ... Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist. They are getting starts at the moment but not really going on with them. There isn't much freshness in the Australian team. They haven't got enough out of Shane Warne's bowling, and the allrounder position is still up in the air, so maybe they need to get Shane Watson in there.

The selectors may also look at the two-captains policy again. Gilchrist will be considered, but maybe Shane Warne would be a better option. They're looking all the time at the World Cup in 12 months, and there has to be a real question-mark over whether Mark and Steve Waugh will be there.

Ian Healy, one of the game's greatest wicketkeepers, is now a commentator for Channel 9 in Australia. He is giving his verdict on Wisden.com throughout the VB Series. He was talking to Tim Stoney.

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