Proteas batting under the microscope as Australia appear stronger in that department

Daily Maverick

05-06-2025

South Africa's batsmen look like no match for their Australian counterparts on paper, but a deeper look reveals it's closer than it initially appears.
South Africa's and Australia's bowlers are fairly evenly matched, so the battle for the World Test Championship (WTC) mace is likely to come down to whose batters perform best. On the face of it, Australia's batters are far superior.
The Proteas are in the process of a hit-out against Zimbabwe in a warm-up match in Arundel in Sussex in preparation for the WTC final.
All of the batters got a chance to be out in the middle and face a red leather ball for the first time since their New Year's Test at Newlands.
Three batters passed 50 before retiring — Ryan Rickelton (62), Temba Bavuma (58) and Tristan Stubbs (58). The only batters to be dismissed were Aiden Markram (13) and Wiaan Mulder (26) as the team posted 313 with nine players padding and facing up.
'It was a nice opportunity for the batters to get out there,' said Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince. 'I'm sure some of the batters would have liked to stay out there a bit longer, but we're keeping an eye on the weather… We're taking this for what it is, it's preparation.'
Bavuma and Rickelton scored their runs in quick time with strike rates of more than 65, while Stubbs faced more than double the number of balls to score his runs.
'Most of the guys got a nice stint out there in the middle,' Prince said. 'Some were a little bit more fluent than others, but we have some days left for all of the guys to find their rhythm.
'Batting can be that way sometimes where not everyone has the same rhythm.
'The main outcome is that everybody had a chance and could spend some time in the middle.'
A closer look
The South African batters' techniques will be under the microscope when they face Australia next week.
Rickelton is the only Proteas batter in the World Test Championship squad with a batting average more than 40 (41.06). His last innings, which was a wonderfully constructed 259 against Pakistan in South Africa's last Test match, is a big reason it isn't below 40 as he had a stuttering start to his international red-ball career.
Meanwhile, every batter in Australia's top six — barring the vacant opening spot — has a Test average in excess of 40 with star batter Steve Smith leading the way with a world-beating 56.74 average.
While Smith has an outstanding record around the world, his overall average and those of the rest of the top six are inflated by their records in their home country, Australia. Smith's average would still exceed 50 even if he played every match of his career away from home, as he's one of the best Test batters to have played the game, but his overall average would be much lower if you remove the nearly 60 runs per innings he scores at home.
Marnus Labuschagne, for example, averages nearly 56 in Australia but only 35 once he leaves Aussie shores.
It's not unusual to be better suited to your home conditions, nearly every player averages more at home than away, but South Africa don't have the same luxury of scoring a similar volume of runs at home because of how tricky the conditions often are. Proteas batters aren't able to compensate to the same extent at home for poor away records.
A tough outing
Batting in Test cricket in South Africa is one of the hardest tasks in the sport, even if you're from the country. While Australia offers additional heightened bounce and speed off the wicket for bowlers, South African decks do the same with the inclusion of lateral movement, both off the deck and through the air — depending on the venue.
High individual scores and team scores are rare in the republic. Over the past 10 years, besides South Africa, England are the only side to have scored over 400 more than once in the country.
Statistically, 39.5% of matches in South Africa are likely to see a score in excess of 400 in any innings of a Test match (17 of the 43 matches that have been hosted in the country across the last 10 years). However, 67% of matches in Australia have seen a score in excess of 400 in any innings in a Test match in the same time period (35 of the 52 matches).