Sydney Test, Day 4, Close
Saturday, January 5, 2002

Looking back at the series, I think on paper the teams didn't stack up right from the start.

A lot of people expected South Africa to play above themselves - and they didn't. They actually did everything they said they weren't going to do. They got heavy, they got intense, they didn't enjoy themselves and, as a result, they didn't play well.

Right from the first day in Adelaide you really sensed the South Africans were too worried about whether they would win or lose. They weren't up to the battle. It was Australia, after a difficult series against New Zealand, who stepped up, and South Africa didn't.

The Australians never really underperformed in a session throughout the series. They overperformed a lot of the time, but they were never really far off their best.

It was a real pack mentality that beat South Africa. Australia played together as a team, shared the work around and dominated. They performed above themselves, the batsmen all made hundreds except the Waughs. For once it was the Waughs who underperformed.

I liked Damien Martyn's innings here at Sydney, but the highlight for me was Matthew Hayden's hundred in the second innings at Adelaide.

South Africa didn't bat for long enough, and didn't make runs. They let Australia's bowlers off scot-free. McGrath was back to his best by the end of the series, but apart from this last innings the bowlers weren't made to spend long enough in the field and to work really hard to get wickets.

If South Africa want to reverse the result here in the return series, they have to do what they said they were going to do - relax and play cricket. They have to forget about winning and try to play the cricket they're capable of. If they can compete and enjoy and just do their jobs - because they're not doing their jobs at the moment - they might even find they win.

In the return series South Africa will have to come up with some way to bowl to Hayden and Langer. They have to devise a plan and execute it. To me it didn't look as if they knew what they were trying to do. Either that or they had a plan and they didn't carry it out.

There was a lot of media talk about the psychology between the two teams before this tour. Possibly the South Africans were ready for a hostile battle and Australia didn't give it to them.

The series was played in a pretty good spirit. South Africa might have been expecting hostility and didn't get it - they just got Australia playing really good cricket. And that may have contributed to how tense they were in that first Test.

One big thing that didn't help South Africa was the toss - losing all three didn't help their cause at all.

But they have come out of this series with some positives. Ontong can build on his first experience at this level. It's important that he keeps making runs. McKenzie's a good player, and Kallis, Kirsten and Gibbs are class players who were well short of what we know they can do.

Nantie Hayward will develop. He's young and fast, and they need someone to take the pressure off Donald. That'll be important, because the problems for South Africa were really in the bowling department. Pollock didn't bowl anything like a bowler with a Test average of 20, Donald's not the bowler he was, and even Kallis was down on the pace he usually bowls.

On the positive side they have found a spinner in Claude Henderson who can bowl at this level - with Nicky Boje - and who will learn a lot from his tour here.

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

More Ian Healy
Day 4, Tea: Aussies breathe easy
Day 4, Lunch: Time is the key

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