Australia plan to use the same intimidatory tactics that unravelled England in next month’s tour of South Africa, opening batsman David Warner said on Tuesday.
Warner claims members of South Africa’s top-ranked team are “on the back foot as players” and will miss newly-retired Jacques Kallis in the three-Test tour in the republic.
He said a combination of sledging and thunderbolts from express paceman Mitchell Johnson unhinged England’s experienced batsmen in the Ashes, with Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen all averaging under 30 in the 5-0 series annihilation.
Even though the Proteas feature some of the most established and successful run-scorers in cricket, Warner believes the South Africans are ripe for the picking. “We know a couple of their blokes are probably on the back foot,” Warner told reporters at a reception for Australia’s Ashes team at Sydney’s Opera House. “We’ve got to work out how to get their players out as well. I know our bowlers are ready to go over there and give it to them.”
He added that sledging would play a part in their approach, but the team would not go too far. “Apparently I said some rude things on stump mic (microphone) that they couldn’t (broadcast during the Ashes), but I don’t recall anything,” he said.
“On the field you don’t cross that line. We nudged that line a couple of times but I think we really got into their heads.“Especially with Johno (Johnson) and the pressure of the other bowlers up the other end.”
Harris delays knee surgery until after South Africa tour Ashes hero Ryan Harris said on Tuesday he will put off knee surgery until after Australia’s three-Test tour to South Africa next month to play against the top-ranked Proteas.
Harris, the man-of-the-match as Australia wrapped up a 5-0 series clean sweep against England in Sydney on Sunday, said he needs a clean out of his right knee to remove fragments of floating bone. “My knee is no different now than it was a month ago or six weeks ago,” the veteran paceman said. “Unless something really bad goes wrong, which I don’t think it will, after Africa we’ve got enough time off to get it (knee) cleaned up and go from there.”
Following the tour of South Africa in March, Australia will not have another Test series until October against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates which will allow Harris time to recover from the surgery.
Harris, who took 22 wickets in the Ashes series, revealed he considered having knee surgery that would have ruled him out of the fourth and fifth Tests against England. He said he had discussions with his surgeon before Christmas as he felt the effects of back-to-back second and third Tests in Adelaide and Perth.
He went on to play through the pain and earned man-of-the-match honours in Sydney with match figures of 8-61 as Australia completed a series whitewash.
Thousands celebrate Ashes win Thousands of Australian cricket fans flocked to the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday to honor the Ashes-winning Australian cricket team. Prime Minister Tony Abbott introduced the team, with the exception of one member, veteran left-handed opener Chris Rogers, who was absent because he slept through his alarm. Many of the other Australian team members looked slightly worse for wear after two days of celebrating following their win on Sunday.
Man-of-the-series Mitchell Johnston, who took 37 wickets in the five tests, received the biggest ovation from the crowd. He and captain Michael Clarke and other members of the team later signed autographs.