- Proteas reserve coach Malibongwe Maketa said the gap between them and Australia was not as wide as the series results suggested.
- The Proteas lost the first two Tests of the three match series against Australia by wide margins, but fought back to draw the third Test.
- Maketa said that the series could have been different if they had touched the green in the first Test in Brisbane.
Proteas interim manager Malibongwe Maketa feels the gap between them Australia is not as big as some suggest despite being on the receiving end of a heavy series loss.
The Proteas lost the first Test in Brisbane by six wickets and the second Test in Melbourne by an innings, but sank in the third Test which concluded on Sunday to force a draw.
The Proteas, for most of the series, especially in the hitting department, did indeed seem fleeting.
Maketa acknowledged the quality of the Australia team, but felt that had they had the brush of the green with the draw in Brisbane, the outcome of the first test match would have been different.
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“The quality of this Australian team is there for everyone to see, and they don’t give you anything,” Maketa said.
“They control their lengths very well and set up their pitches intelligently, so from an experience and quality perspective, I can’t say it’s hard to gauge the gap because they beat us 2-0.
“How big is the gap? At the moment it can feel big now, especially with the way we played in the first two Tests.
“However, I don’t think it’s that big. If you look at our bowling attack and you look at the fact that we compete here, I think if two batsmen raised their hands in the first Test, we were in the game. .
“We would have needed a 100-run lead and our bowling attack would have thrived in those conditions.
“Who knows?”
However, Maketa also recognized that the quality of Australia’s bowling attack rendered even the best of national systems irrelevant.
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“A lot of the guys at home are scoring runs, but I don’t think any top-class system around the world will prepare you for the quality of this Australian attack,” Maketa said.
“That means their top-class players need to be exposed to the next level to close the gap for Test cricket.
“I believe in exposing the guys who are performing at a first-class level through South Africa A and this team to get a taste of what it means to be at this level.”
