The Australia tour of South Africa: A walk to remember

In words of Vincent van Gogh,“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

A month ago, when Australia announced their tour of South Africa, everyone anticipated it to be a great contest between the two teams. Much to everyone’s surprise, the series got off to a flyer with Australia winning the first Test quite comfortably, thus reminding everyone their formidable record against the hosts.

But to everyone’s surprise, South Africa pulled a comeback out of nowhere and left Australia in dire straits. With the series going in South Africa’s favor, this Test series has been one to watch out for, with controversies flying right from the first match to players getting banned and some exciting cricket being played over the past 30 days, this series is not something one would soon forget.

The reasons why South Africa V/s Australia is a series not to forget:

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#1 South Africa’s formidable home record

South Africa, has been a dominant side when it comes to playing a Test series, especially in South Africa. Then be it the dominant phase where they did not lose a single Test series except for Australia in the span of six years (2007-2013) or be it the series victory against the Indian team led by Virat Kohli who came unbeaten to South Africa, they have been a side to look out for.

Despite being high on confidence, the Australian side has been able to get the better of the hosts on their home soil for years. Be it the 2008/09 Test series where Australia defeated South Africa by 2-1 or be it the 2013/14 Test series between the two with the visitors defeating the hosts again by a margin of 2-1.

And with Australia announcing their tour of South Africa this year, all the memories came back and the eyes were again on South Africa as they had a task in its hand to undo what was done before.

Although Australia defeated South Africa in the first Test in Kingsmead, Durban, this time South Africa came back stronger with some good performances from Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander and gave it back to Australia. With South Africa winning the last Test by its biggest margin ever, South Africa will surely be glad to have a home Test series victory against Australia since their readmission in 1992.

#2 Renaissance of South Africa as a team

South Africa is altogether a different team when it comes to the longer format.

After the thrashing by 5-1 and 2-1 in ODI and T20 series by India, the stakes were high for South Africa before the series. The notable feature of the series was that the senior players of the South African team were back after being injured. Despite that, the loss of their spearhead pace bowler Dale Steyn before this series was a big blow for the hosts. But boy! Faf du Plessis did a commendable job by getting the team together especially after the defeat in the first Test match.

Whereas, his counterpart Steve Smith was unable to get his team together after the first match. The Australian side never looked like the team which a few months ago defeated England in the Ashes. The current Test side lacked luster in their performance and was incompetent when it came to giving a tough competition with either bat or ball.

#3 Controversies after controversies

The "leadership group" of Steve Smith was the highlight of the Test series.

Unsurprisingly, the series became heated in the very first match with Warner-De Kock incident taking place right from day 3. The things did not end there for both the players as David Warner provoked Quinton De Kock after his face-saving innings on the last day and things got worse between the two players on their way to their respective pavilion.

With David Warner getting fined for the incident, the table turned towards Kagiso Rabada. The fast bowler has been known for his aggressive approach on the field and this exact approach almost spelled his own doom. The bowler got the better of Steve Smith and shouldered him while celebrating and with few demerit points to his account earlier, this incident earned him some more, resulting in a fine and a match ban (which was later removed).

With controversies flying throughout the series, what caught everyone’s eye was the Smith-Bancroft “Ball tampering” incident. With Cameron Bancroft using the sandpaper to change the condition of the ball, he came out successful in fooling the umpires when caught earlier but to his bad luck, the cameraman caught the player slipping the yellow tape down his trousers and then there was no hiding for Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft.

Steve Smith who was earlier accused of the famous “Brain-Fade” incident again caught everyone’s eye. Facing the cameras, Smith said, "The team's 'leadership group' had a plan, carried out by Cameron Bancroft, to tamper with the ball to get an advantage". He, later on, added that the coaching staff had no involvement in the matter and was unaware of this act. Right after accepting all this, much to Steve Smith’s knowledge the world changed around him. Steve Smith and David Warner were banned by their association for a year with Cameron Bancroft facing a nine-month ban.

#4 Change in captaincy

Tim Paine has shown some really good glimpses of a good captain.

The fired up “Sandpaper gate” incident saw the departure of Steve Smith and David Warner with Tim Paine handling the Australian ship for rest of the series. The way the captaincy of the team was given to the player, it came more as a surprise to him rather than a dream come true. With Steve Smith and David Warner left, the Australian team was left with no experienced player to lead their ranks. And the way Tim Paine handled the post, seeing the situation that the team was going through, was commendable. He not only handled the team well but showed why he deserved to be the captain among the remaining bunch of players by putting some fight alongside Pat Cummins despite the former having a hairline in his right thumb.

Similar instances have occurred in the past. The last incident involved Allan Border. Kim Hughes - Greg Chappell’s replacement as captain - resigned from the leadership with a flood of tears in 1984. Allan Border was appointed the new skipper and, along with innovative coach Bob Simpson, set about rebuilding the Australian team - without success. Border didn’t have much to work with, especially since many of his best players were banned from Test cricket (in some cases for three years) for their participation in a 1985-86 rebel tour of apartheid-era South Africa.

Much similar is Tim Paine’s scenario seeing the way Steve Smith and David Warner departed and Darren Lehman is set to resign as the head coach of the current Australian team.

#5 The rise of Aiden Markram and Morne Morkel swansong

Aiden Markram is getting better day by day.

The rise of Aiden Markram in the current series was remarkable. Questions were raised on the player’s caliber before the series. He was not counted as the best fit as a Test opener, the player rose to the occasion at a time when the team was struggling and proved the trust that was bestowed upon him by Faf du Plessis.

The scores of 143 in 340 balls in the second innings of the first match, 84 of 145 balls in the second innings of the third match and 152 of 216 balls in the first innings of the fourth Test came when the other batsmen were struggling. The player currently is the second fastest South African batsman to reach 1000 runs mark just behind the great Graeme Smith.

While one player rose to prominence, another player bid adieu to the beautiful game.

Morne Morkel played his last game for South Africa who had decided to retire after the conclusion of this series. Morne Morkel had been too hot to handle in the ongoing series. The Australian batsmen especially the openers were left searching for answers against him. He was bowling the spell of his life and was also the man of the match in the third Test where he registered the figures of 9/110.