Proteas ‘acclimatising well’ ahead of Australia tour - Maketa
Proteas interim head coach Malibongwe Maketa says the players have been acclimatising well to conditions in Brisbane following their arrival in the Australian city over the weekend.
South Africa will play three Test matches against the hosts starting on 17 December, with the tour kicking off with a four-day warm-up fixture versus a Cricket Australia XI starting on Friday.
“It won't be a first-class game so it will work in our favour that we can hopefully give all our batters a chance to bat and our bowlers we can monitor them because we've gone hard for the first three days that we've been here,” Maketa told the media on Tuesday.
“It is important for us. Luckily some of our guys are coming off some big performances back home but getting here and being exposed to the wickets means this game is very crucial for each and every one of us from that point of view.”
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Maketa also spoke about how he and captain Dean Elgar have been working together since his appointment to the role on a short-term contract for the tour.
“It is quite exciting to get the opportunity to work with Dean,” he explained. “I have worked with him, obviously not in the same capacity, and our relationship is strong. And it's really based on hard work so we're quite similar in a sense in terms of what we're looking for in terms of the team and the performance itself.
“Like I said when I joined the team, I’m here to support Dean in every way. So it has been a nice start to our journey so far.”
South Africa will go into the series currently ranked second on the ICC World Test Championship table and they will be hoping for some good results in order to maintain their hopes of reaching the Test final in London next June.
It will be the first time the Proteas play red-ball cricket since their 2-1 series defeat during a tour to England earlier this year.
