ADELAIDE, Dec 13: South African captain Shaun Pollock intends fighting fire with fire in a sledging war with Australia when the unofficial Test cricket world championship getting underway here Friday.

Australia’s mantle as the leading cricket nation is under attack from rivals South Africa and in the three matches the Australians will put the Proteas’ mental toughness to the test.

Shane Warne has been talking up Australia’s chances, saying they have the mental dominance over the Proteas in recent years.

Pollock knows that if his team beat Australia in a series for the first time since 1969-70 they will have to compete mentally as well as physically with Steve Waugh’s experienced team.

“There’s no doubt that if you want to perform well against Australia you have to be mentally strong,” Pollock said Thursday.

“They will put you under as much pressure as anyone in world cricket.

“When you play against Australia it’s hard cricket and you don’t expect any favours from them so the guys had to come to terms with that even before this tour began.

“They’re ready for it and know what to expect, we’ve played against them before and we don’t expect anything to be different this time.”

Australian cricketers believe they have mental supremacy over South Africa going back to the 1999 World Cup semifinal in England when the Proteas self-destructed after being in prime position to win.

There was the classic sledge when Steve Waugh reportedly said to Herschelle Gibbs after he had fumbled the Australian captain during that match, that he had just dropped the World Cup.

Pollock said he had left it up to his players individually how best to counter the expected war of words during play.

“Sledging is part of the game, if you can make a person uncomfortable out in the middle of the field then if not, why not?

“Obviously, there are certain laws you have to abide by, but in general making the guys out in the middle uncomfortable is probably a good tactic, so that’s what we expect.”

Pollock said his team had no hard and fast tactic to counter Australian sledging.

“Each guy knows what to expect and he’s worked out how he’s going to handle it, but once the bowler runs in with the ball you have to be quiet and concentrate on the ball.”

Aggressive fast bowler Glenn McGrath has targeted South Africa’s most experienced player Gary Kirsten, seeing it as gaining a psychological advantage for his team.

McGrath, Australia’s most prolific wicket-taking bowler behind Shane Warne, has made a habit of making a bee-line for key batsmen in opposing teams.

Former Australian opener and South African captain Kepler Wessels says the Australians have grown complacent and lost the intensity that allowed them to dominate the game in recent years.

Others have labelled the home side susceptible to pressure and there’s a suspicion the Aussies have lost their ability to intimidate South Africa.

“Look, you’re entitled to say what you want to say. There’s been Pat Symcox, Kepler Wessels, Tony Greig, who have all come out and said things,” Steve Waugh said Thursday.

“I guess they’re trying to unsettle the Australian side, it’s a big Test match series, but on the other side of the coin if we play well I would like to see Barry Richards and Kepler say that we play good cricket... let’s see if that happens.

“I really enjoy playing against South Africa, they’re an excellent cricket side, they’re very tough and competitive, the way I like to play my Test cricket.

“They’ll have things to say out there, which is the way I think it should be.”

One of Waugh’s great strengths is the confidence and belief he instils in his players since taking over the captaincy from Mark Taylor.

“I’m confident that we will play well under pressure, what South Africa do is up to them,” he said.

“I believe we are very good under pressure, that’s our strength and we’ll be hoping to prove that in the next three Test matches.”

Much has been made that Australia has an aging team. Nine of the 12 players are 30 or older, with Steve and Mark Waugh 36.

“I think it is an excellent squad, I guess we are an aging squad, but that doesn’t make us any less,” said Steve Waugh.

“When you get older, you are more experienced, you know your game better and in certain ways you should be better players when you reach 30, so age doesn’t worry me.

“I believe we are yet to play our best cricket as a team.”

Teams (from):

Australia: Steve Waugh (captain), Matthew Hayden, Justin Langer, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie, Stuart MacGill, Glenn McGrath.

South Africa: Shaun Pollock (captain), Gary Kirsten, Hershelle Gibbs, Jacques Rudolph, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher, Claude Henderson, Allan Donald, Makhaya Ntini, Nantie Hayward.—AFP