Sydney Test, Day 2, Lunch
Thursday, January 3, 2002

It's all looking pretty familiar at the moment. Australia will try to build up as many runs as they can in this first innings - they can't really lose it from here.

South Africa have to make the most of these batting conditions. It's not such a bad pitch at the moment, and they will have to use it.

They have to try to make Australia bat again - get them back in on this wicket when it's a bit tougher. If they can avoid the follow-on and get close they may have a chance to draw the match. To do that they have to eat as much time out of this game when they bat as they can.

That would be an improvement after two losses, and it's really all they can hope to do in this match.

There's still so much time left in the game. That's what Australia do. They score runs so quickly with their attacking play it puts opposition teams under pressure and gives them time to bowl teams out twice.

That showed this morning in the way Adam Gilchrist and Shane Warne batted. Warne's batting in particular has improved enormously this summer. The big diffence has been that he's had opportunities. He's come in with runs on the board and a batsman at the other end. He's a poor starter, there's no doubt about that, but if he gets through that, and there's someone up the other end, he can hurt the opposition.

I think he's finally starting to think about his batting, too. He's always been a pretty hard practiser, but quite often not the most effective one.

People have said a lot to Warnie about his batting. It seems it has finally clicked with him. He's always been a great concentrator as a bowler, now he's taking that into his batting.

I think it's also a sign that he knows he's not the strike bowler he once was. He's even saying outwardly to people that he's bowling differently. He knows he has to get more out of his batting and contribute more in an allround sense, so he's thinking more about the influence he has in the team.

Ian Healy made a record 395 dismissals in 119 Tests for Australia. His comments will be appearing exclusively on Wisden.com after each session in this series. He was talking to Tim Stoney.

More Ian Healy
Day 1, Close: SA bowlers go missing under pressure
Day 1, Tea: An awesome display

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd