‘Deep down, we know...’ Inside crossroads moment for world cricket’s great debate

As Marco Jansen was delivering a spirited spray to Beau Webster after snaring the “Slug from Snug” in Gqeberha last week, the visual presented was that of an aggressor on the hunt for its prey.

Yet there has been debate during the evenly-balanced series between South Africa and Australia that will be decided in Cape Town this week as to who deserves the mantle as the world’s best Test team.

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Are South Africa, as the reigning World Test Champions who knocked off Australia in the decider last June, now the hunted?

Or is that status held by the current world No.1 ranked Australians, the current holder of every bilateral trophy against its Test rivals?

The debate may well be settled at Newlands this week in a Test that carries significance beyond the series itself given the implications in the current World Test Championship cycle, with last year’s finalists sitting in the top two rungs on the ladder.

Australian star Travis Head said he can understand why it is a topic being debated by fans around the world.

“Look, currently we’re one and two on the ICC rankings,” he said.

“They’ve won the Test Championship, so I think it’s two pretty even teams at the moment playing some really good cricket. They put us under pressure this week. We put them under pressure last week.

“Whether that deems who’s best next week off one game, that’s for you guys to decide. And we hope to win enough games to find ourselves there in June for the (WTC Final) and contest for that again.

“And it’s up for debate. Is it the Test Championship? Is it the ICC ranking? That’s for you guys to debate. I’d love to win another Test Championship final. It’s a nice place to be.

“It will be a great game to be at and I think that’s the one that determines it. So next week is hugely important with the series on the line.”

The South Africa Tour is the second leg of a massive odyssey of Test cricket for the Australians that culminates in next year’s Ashes in England.

It is legacy defining for the Pat Cummins-captained team, for triumphs abroad in South Africa, India next year and England would cement its status as one of the finest Test sides the nation has produced.

But to progress without a series loss, and to qualify for their third consecutive WTC final after the triumph over India in 2023 and the defeat to the Proteas last year, the decider in Cape Town is crucial.

Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey touched on the significance of the Test match in Newlands, the venue where Ryan Harris produced an heroic performance 12 years ago but also the home of the nightmare Sandpapergate saga back in 2018.

“Oh, look, they obviously hold the (WTC) mace from the last cycle, and we’re keen to hold it next time round, but there’s a lot of work to do before that,” Carey said.

“So …coming up against South Africa, even if they were the holders of the mace or not, we know they’re a really proud cricket team, and so are we.

“So I think it really just presents on paper as a great match up here in Cape Town for the third Test. Going into that one-one, it’s really exciting.

“But I think deep down we know we’re a really good cricket team and if we were able to go out there and nail our processes, things normally take care of themselves. We know that that wasn’t the case last Test, and we want to, I guess, right those wrongs.”

Proteas wicketkeeper Ryan Rickelton said the major goal for the Proteas is defending the WTC title.

But he acknowledged that beating Australia, which has not lost a series since a tour of India early in 2023, would be a significant achievement.

“Australia, for a long period of time, have been the No.1 team in the world and a superior team as well,“ he said.

“For us to even beat them in our conditions is massive. And if we had to go No.1 in the world, that’s great. But if we’re looking and talking about the bigger picture of things, we’ve got a full home summer series.

“If those go according to plan, then we’ll eventually end up (at the WTC final) in London, hopefully in June. So ask me that question at the end of June. Hopefully if we get to that game and win that game, then my answer will be a bit of a direct yes.

“For now, both teams are very evenly matched. Australia definitely, through recent history and maybe past history, have got a lot on us in world cricket. We’re just living to fight another day and hopefully we can have a really good week this week.”

The Australians have significant selection questions to answer on both the batting and bowling fronts.

The fact Marnus Labuschagne batted far later than he usually would in a main training session during the Aussies main session on Sunday has inflamed chatter about his status.

The pitch, meanwhile, looks like one that would favour champion off-spinner Nathan Lyon, who was left out in Gqeberha for Scott Boland, who performed extremely well with both the bat and the ball.

Cameron Green is the one certain chance, almost certainly in place of Nic Maddinson.

The former batted against the fast bowlers in the middle on Sunday while the latter faced a wanger in the nets at the same time a subdued Steve Smith was receiving throw downs from batting coach Michael Di Venuto.

After assessing the pitch, Carey is expecting it will provide something for every skill set after both the first two Tests extended to five days, though bad light in Durban and rain in Gqeberha played a role as well.

“I had a look yesterday and it looks pretty good,” he said.

“We’re still a couple of days out, but it’s looking like another great surface. When you look back at Durban, a five-day test match, a great contest between bat and ball. Same in Port Elizabeth, and I think this should be no different.

“It looks really nice. It looks a bit less grassy … I think the length of grass looks a bit less. I think there hasn’t been too many Test matches this time of year here, but yeah, it’s presenting as a really nice cricket pitch all the same.”

Rickelton, meanwhile, said the Proteas believe they have the momentum behind them after winning by an innings and 31 runs at St George’s Park last week.

“To be able to force a result in PE (Gqeberha) was massive for us and the confidence they gave the group. We’re now sitting in a similar position of 1-1 coming into Cape Town, like we were in 2018 as well,” Rickelton said.

“The confidence is there. The importance of it as well. We’ve obviously got Australia here. We’ve got England coming. We’ve got a good Bangladesh side as well coming. To be able to consistently do that is something that we’ve spoken about. It’s something that we’re looking forward to.

“If we can get over the line this week, the confidence that injects into this side, into the coaching staff, and just the way that we do things is quite important for us.”