Enter The Real South Africa

Its a rather obvious remark to make but Roebuck would have been enthralled by the third day of this Johannesburg Test for it had everything that cricket played at the highest, most pure levels should have. A young lion roared at older, more experienced members of an opposing pride. The hours bought ebbs and flows to both encourage and discourage watchers keen for their side to grasp the ascendancy beyond finger tips in order to shake the other loose. It bought pressure for players, umpires and spectators and in that fiery stew pot, the highest skills percolated to the top.

It was, indeed, a Test.

Patrick Cummins did more than could reasonably be expected of a young man who has left his parents stoop and greeted the sunshine in the first week of his first real job. His pace was sustained, his length venomous and with more luck, he might have had five wickets. Michael Clarke has a weapon of Thommo pace backed by a coach who is already proving innovative and mindful of both the needs of his players and the objective of the team. Craig McDermott's work was obvious in the improved line for Cummins, the changes to Mitchell Johnson's run up and Peter Siddle's improved length. It seems Billy has ignored advice and will be a hero.

South Africa have realised that a tempered approach was called for in the second innings, having escaped a first innings disaster where they threw the bat at the Australians in the hope of having them fold under the batting attack. Clarke and his men were better than that but weren't able to capitalise, especially after the at times lucky but never the less outstanding opening partnership of Phil Hughes and Shane Watson.

Rudolph skies Cummins

Jacques Rudolph looked a classy player, as he has done in all four innings of this mini-series but was out again after establishing superiority. Cummins made one rear at him from outside the off stump and at 145kms/hr, it was too much for him to control with an attacking stroke. He was a long way toward the boundary by the time Brad Haddin held the skied pull shot. Graeme Smith was a mixed bag of edges, drives and defence but did enough in twenty overs to put his side in front. He was out, trying to cut Lyon, when the ball bounced from the rough and he sliced it instead to Hughes at point.

Kallis worked over
by Cummins

Enter Jacques Kallis and the contest of the day. Clarke immediately removed Lyon and returned Cummins to the fray. The youngster versus the the old pro. Beginner versus veteran. Cummins ripped and tore at a man who has countered the quick and the clever of his generation with equal effectiveness. In the space of three fast overs, the ball flew at Kallis with no space for him to explode a drive or unleash a pull. Cummins was too quick and too accurate. Imagine the best of Lillee against Viv Richards and you have an accurate illustration. After being fortunate to ground a lifter off glove and bat handle, Kallis fended to Clarke at slip and the stripling had his victory.

Hashim Amla and AB Villiers took lunch an over later but straight after Cummins was at both of them, nearly getting his hand on a return catch from deVilliers and trapping Amla in front. Only the wording of the referral laws saved Amla, computer imaging denying the Australians by the thickness of a regional newspaper on a slow news day.

Clarke, in order to conserve his arsenal, already one substantial weapon short thanks to the vagaries of Watson's body, removed Cummins after two overs. It would be easy to criticise this decision but a long day loomed. Unfortunately for Australia, the combination of two experienced batsmen who had been warned of the dangers of treating the bowlers with disrespect, set successfully about the task of building. Clarke threw all that he could at them, to no avail. Johnson, coming in from his shortened run, showed improved swing but still bowled with too much width and was easily picked off. He has long been considered the "wet boy" of this attack, who would roar in and grunt and snarl at the batsmen, blasting them from their complacency. McDermott changed that approach yesterday and its too early to tell if that is wise. The net effect changed little as he still bled runs.

Amla kneels to avoid contact

Amla and deVillers batted to tea and beyond, taking their partnership to 139 with both approaching centuries, before bad light ended the day and ensured an early start in the morning. As it stands, Australia would already need 200. Clarke will know that two more wickets and he can expose a weak tail but it's the damage that Amla, deVilliers and Ashwell Prince can do in the meantime that could well take the game beyond the reach of his batting line up. 

In an unpalatable final twist to what had been an otherwise splendid day, Ricky Ponting was booed by the partisan crowd at The Wanderers as he bowled the final over in fading light. This behaviour has never been called for, although even I might have engaged Jardine in such heckling. Champions deserve fitting ends and although Ponting doesn't deserve such as this, leaving after that gallant century in Australia's losing cause against India at Ahmedabad at the World Cup in March would have provided such a departure for him. Instead, he must endure ducks and Boers. Such choices we make.

"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them." Kahil Gibran