Sydney Test, Day 3, Tea
Friday, January 4, 2002

That was fantastic batting by the South Africans in that session - and long overdue.

The thing they really had to do in this Test was not care whether they won or lost. You will succeed if you set out to play good cricket and, as a team, they're able to trust that when they do play good cricket they'll go close to winning.

It takes a fair bit of courage to say "I don't care if we lose" - but all South Africa has done for two Tests is worry.

But their batting in that last session was brilliant. They allowed themselves time to settle into the game and get the feel of the pitch - something only Jacques Kallis has done so far in the series.

Gary Kirsten was desperate to succeed out there. You could see him fighting with himself, working to get the bat at the right angle. His timing was terrible early on, but he's got it right now.

I reckon Boeta Dippenaar has just thought "Bugger this - I'm going to have a go! I can't get any worse so I might as well fail having a crack." He's been so free and relaxed as a result, and made it look easy.

It's probably taken his personal situation - where he's had a terrible time and not much luck - for Dippenaar to think, well, I'm going to play some shots.

It's hard to know if there are more bad balls being bowled, or whether South Africa are batting better. Yesterday, I think they let Australia get away with some bad balls early on.

What happens then is that the bowler gets his rhythm, and can settle in. If you pick the bad balls off early, the bowler then has to think more about what he's doing rather than bowl on instinct.

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 3, Lunch: It's beyond them
Day 2, Close: McGrath back to his best

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd