|
|
|
| December 31, 2001 | Monday | Shawwal 15, 1422 |
Pollock not sure where to turn
MELBOURNE, Dec 30: South African cricket captain Shaun Pollock’s blunt assessment of his team’s dismal Australian tour includes an inability to cope with pressure and the admission that the home side is simply too good.
On the verge of a 3-0 series whitewash after a nine-wicket loss Saturday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, giving Australia a winning 2-0 lead, Pollock couldn’t identify how South Africa can remedy its problems.
“I don’t know, you tell me,” he said.
South Africa lost the first Test in Adelaide by 246 runs and narrowly avoided an innings defeat at the MCG.
“We had high hopes when we came to Australia (but) at the end of day we’ve been beaten by a better team,” Pollock said.
“It was billed as the championship of Test cricket and we’ve definitely been disappointing _ and maybe putting too much pressure on ourselves has caused it.”
Pollock said his side is struggling to cope with the losses after winning 11 and drawing one of its past 12 series.
“In sport there are a lot of ups and downs and you take quite a few knocks but we haven’t taken that many in the recent past,” he said.
Pollock’s captaincy has been reviewed on this tour as lacking imagination, and he agrees with some of those comments.
“As much as we came up with ideas, their tactics were better equipped for Australian conditions,” said Pollock. “As captain, you try to lead your side in the best way.
“The tactics are the ones you think will win you the game but some times no matter how many ideas you come up with, you come up against a better side.”
He also admitted Australia was a more skillful side, with very few of the South Africans stacking up one-on-one with their opponents.
“Their skills have been better than ours,” he said. “We were inferior in all parts of the game. Our fielding hasn’t been as good as theirs, they batted really well and their bowling has been better than ours as well.”
The one saving grace for South Africa is that it can still take over as the No. 1 Test side in the world if it wins the return series in February-March in South Africa.
“The Test championship is something in the back of our minds,” said Pollock. “If we play good cricket and win that series we’ll be classed as champions.”—APP/AP
|
|
|
|
