Pitch delays Test team
From Greg Buckle in Cape Town
March 16, 2006
AUSTRALIA has delayed naming its team for today's first Test with South Africa to avoid any hasty judgments on how the Newlands pitch will play.
South Africa had been hoping for a seam-friendly wicket but the pitch has a brown and dry appearance, indicating that Australia's likely selection of leg spinners Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill will pay dividends late in the game.
"I'll have a closer look at it today. I don't like making too many judgments about it too far out from the game," said Ricky Ponting.
"Both ends are a little bit bare which is quite good for us.
"It won't have to be that bare. In Melbourne and Sydney (in December and January against South Africa) we went in with both spinners on wickets that were quite juicy on day one, and as it turned out we ended up winning both of those games.
"The wicket will have a bit to do with that, but we've just got to pick the four bowlers we think are most likely to take 20 wickets for us in the Test."
Ponting added that world record-holder Warne has shown he doesn't need everything in his favour.
"It doesn't matter what the wicket looks like. He's a class performer in all sorts of conditions," he said said.
Merv Hughes is Australia's selector on duty for the first Test.
South Africa is facing a nervous wait overnight with leading paceman Shaun Pollock battling to shrug off a back injury. He could be replaced by Andrew Hall.
Fellow quick Andre Nel appears to have overcome a foot complaint, according to captain Graeme Smith.
South Africa spinner Nicky Boje has a bout of food poisoning, but is expected to play.
Possible teams:
SOUTH AFRICA: Graeme Smith (capt), AB De Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, Shaun Pollock , Nicky Boje, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini.
AUSTRALIA: Ricky Ponting (capt), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Mike Hussey, Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Michael Kasprowicz, Stuart MacGill.
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