Graeme Smith believes the fear of playing on spinning wickets got into the minds of the South Africa batsmen during their 3-0 Test series
defeat in India.
More significantly confidence in their batting ranks appears shattered ahead of a big summer on home soil against England.
Key batsmen Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis struggled to make a major impact while AB de Villiers did not reach three figures in seven innings.
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“I think we were outstanding in the first part of the tour in the shorter formats and we’ve fallen away horribly actually,” Smith, who is the most successful captain in the history of Test cricket with 53 wins from 109 matches, told Sport360 exclusively at the Masters Champions League player auction in Dubai on Monday.
“The wickets have changed – the wickets have spun – and I expected that from the start really. We haven’t coped with that well, we’ve looked a bit tense – like things have got into our head a little bit in terms of the conditions.”
The 34-year-old opening batsman admitted it was tough to watch his country struggle in the sub-continent and felt South Africa failed to establish themselves, despite the experience in their ranks.
“In the first two days of a Test match you’ve got to try and get yourself in a solid position and we’ve just not been able to do that, we’ve always been behind the eight-ball and when you’re there in India – catch-up is not an easy place,” Smith said.
“We haven’t been able to win the small moments when conditions are tough like that and we’ve been on the back end of it. Once you fall off that little edge then it’s very difficult to fight back in those conditions.”
It is perhaps a blessing that South Africa have next to no time to dwell on the defeat with England set to arrive later this week ahead of a four-match Test battle at home.
But Smith is concerned whether his former team-mates can recharge quickly and find form with such a short turnaround window.
“The guys have been away in India now for 74-75 days and have struggled for the past six weeks, so it’s easy to take that sort of attitude that you’re down and disappointed and take it back home with you.
“They’re going to need time to reflect, spend some time with their families – but really they need to regroup their energy levels quickly so when they start against England they’re on the money because it’s now become an even more important tour for the South Africa team.
“It’s going to be a massive series, I think the atmosphere around South Africa this summer is going to be huge. England coming to South
Africa – everyone is going to be interested in it.”
While the hosts’ form and confidence has taken a hit, England are not without their own problems too.
After suffering a 2-0 Test reverse to Pakistan in the UAE, England bounced back to win the subsequent one-day international and T20 fixtures.
The victorious #TeamIndia members are all smiles after their 3-0 series victory #IndvsSA https://t.co/lQXQ7zeQo6
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 7, 2015
However, with question marks surrounding the make-up of England’s top-six batting line-up and the axing of Jos Buttler hanging heavy, Smith feels the tourists could also be in for a difficult time.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of pressure on Alastair Cook and Joe Root to perform, and there’s a lot of new batsmen around them,” he said.
“I was surprised they left Ian Bell at home as I thought his experience might be hugely beneficial but if South Africa have Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel fully fit it’s going to be a challenge for their batters.”
