When Mickey Arthur promised a “baptism of fire” as the twobest pace line-ups face off during South Africa's upcoming tour Down Under itwas an indication of the intense rivalry between these two cricketingrivals.
Australia is hoping to reclaim cricket's world number oneranking over a packed Test schedule in the year ahead, starting with the firstof three against top-ranked South Africa in Brisbane on November 9.
For that to happen, Australia’s batsmen will have to holdoff Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander. The Australian pace attackwill comprise a mix of young and experienced bowlers like James Pattinson,Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Starc all in the mix.
This rivalry has witnessed some extremely attritionalcricket between the two sides. South-African born Arthur admitted there was an extra incentive for himto "get one over" the Proteas in the upcoming series. "On apersonal level for me, I guess it has a little bit of extra spice to playagainst the country of your birth, the country that I coached for five years,"he told journalists in Sydney.
Captain Michael Clarke said his side needed to first provetheir character against a battle-hardened South Africa. "We have somereally tough opposition in South Africa, the number one side in Test cricket,coming to Australia very soon and our main focus is on that," he said."England is always a tough series over there, the Ashes away and the Ashesat home, a very exciting 15 months. "South Africa are as good a team asthere is in the world. They are not only strong with the ball but they have alot of batting. It is really important for us to stay focused on them and notto look too far forward."
Australia dominated world cricket from 1995 but its fortunesdived after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Haydenretired, culminating in a 3-1 Ashes defeat at home in the 2010/11 season.
