Individual excellence

After Australia spectacularly demolished South Africa by the second-greatest margin of victory ever inside three days of the first Test, the question arises as to how they achieved it. Not only how they won so devastatingly in the match just passed, but also how the No. 1 team defeated the No. 2 team so convincingly in the three Tests that preceded it.

While the larger reasons are simple enough - Australia possess more experienced cricketers and play an emboldened style of cricket that matches up supremely well against South Africa’s more cautious approach - few would have anticipated that that alone would lead to the disparity in performance and overwhelming victories that we have seen. After all, South Africa were considered by most to be genuine title contenders. Some even thought that their disciplined style of play which had seen them crush lesser opposition would unseat the flashier, risk-taking Australians, a fact one suspects Steve Waugh is only too happy to remind people of now.

So how have they achieved dominance over their rivals through four Tests of the "world championship" to date? While Australia have been renowned as a great team for a while, able to overcome perceived lesser ability or talent through cohesion and unity of purpose, what has really propelled them to a 4-0 scoreline over South Africa has been the number of players - specifically batsmen - who have individually excelled.

Of the seven Australian batsmen (Gilchrist can’t be classified as anything less now) South Africa have encountered, three are currently in the best form of their Test careers. Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden and Damien Martyn have been at various stages in the last two years either fringe players or on the outer altogether. They all made their debuts at least eight years ago but due to form or fortune never established regular places in the team. For Hayden and Martyn, their time seemed to have passed several seasons ago, while Langer’s career appeared over when dropped last year.

All three have undergone a remarkable renaissance in recent times that has seen them in outstanding form either in the last 12 months (Hayden) or since winning back regular places (Martyn and Langer), giving the Australian batting a potency and depth it has never before had during its reign as "world champions" since 1995.

With McGrath and Warne (now with 821 Test wickets between them) as its foundation, Australia has always possessed a powerful bowling attack through the latter half of the 1990s to now, the heart of its success. It has not, however, always had reliable batting, as the majority of its defeats owed to second-innings collapses in low-scoring matches. Rarely were defeats preceded by the opposition amassing a large first innings score.

With Taylor’s form slump, no-one established at No. 3 and either Ponting or Blewett trying to prove themselves at six, Australia’s batting did not have the imposing appearance or record it does now. It was customary to see Australia fall to 50/3 before Steve Waugh and the lower order would restore competitiveness with a fighting comeback.

Hayden, with four hundreds in four Tests, has been the key player against South Africa. The one time a South African opener, Kirsten, made a century South Africa scored 452 - one of only two times they have passed 300 in eight innings against the Aussies thus far - proving that it all starts at the top. That doesn’t mean the rest don’t deserve credit for ruthlessly finishing the job, frequently after Ponting and the Waughs went comparatively cheaply. But while Gilchrist was being overly modest in downplaying his own innings at the Wanderers - a lot could still have happened at 293/5 - it is true that Hayden again led the way to a score that at the very least would be competitive.

Hayden, Langer and Martyn have all been at the forefront of Australia’s improvement. In this season’s Tests against South Africa, Hayden has made 551 runs at 110.2. Since the start of the series in India 12 months ago and including a mediocre Ashes series, that average is 74.13 from 15 Tests, with seven hundreds. Langer, too, is averaging 65.60 in this season’s contests against the Proteas, and 81.50 since he regained his place against England.

Damien Martyn has been an accomplished fringe player for two years now, but only got his regular opportunity from the start of the Ashes. Since then, he ’s averaging 75.66, including 144 against South Africa with three hundreds. In the process, his career average has shot up to 57.25 from 36 innings (nine not out), with Hayden’s at 47.55 and Langer’s 44.63.

What their efforts have done is help Australia average 464 in its first innings over 15 Tests in the last 12 months, compared to 286 for their opponents. Australia’s lowest first innings total from four outings against South Africa is 439.

Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden

So with all the elements now together - Martyn at six, Langer joining Hayden, Gilchrist continuing to amaze - the batting has improved dramatically. Form is fragile, and on the basis of a few innings perceptions could easily change again. But for the moment, Australia’s batting looks invulnerable, and the form of these individuals from recent Tests culminated in the definitive team performance in Johannesburg.

Langer now calls his axing at the start of the Ashes the best thing that could have happened to him, and it seems to have given him a renewed focus. Martyn has reportedly been following a fitness regime that has seen him in the ideal shape and frame of mind to maximise his potential. And after much hard work Hayden is now in the "zone", sure of his own game and following a simple ball-by-ball philosophy that has brought him much success.

These are not Australian batsmen, unlike say Ponting or Slater or Katich, who have been anointed as the future or stars of the team. They were outsiders who have had to earn the reputation themselves and fight to be where they are now.

Injuries to leading bowlers have hindered South Africa’s cause against these rejuvenated batsmen. Shaun Pollock and Nantie Hayward were missing at the Wanderers, with Hayward out for the rest of the series with a damaged ankle. Allan Donald missed the first Test in Australia and then broke down at the Wanderers, and the champion fast bowler has now retired.

South Africa also had the misfortune of encountering an Australian team looking to rebound in both series. The first time, Australia had just drawn 0-0 with New Zealand, and were eager to respond emphatically to the resultant criticism that they might be "past it." For the return series, the Proteas again found a united team, this time keen on a show of solidarity after the one-day sacking of Test captain Waugh. If the reports that they’re plagued by political turmoil and uncertainty are at all true, then it’s no wonder they’ve been walloped.

The Australians were already talking up the perceived "psychological edge" they held over South Africa before the six Tests began. After this series, they might be believing in deep scarring, and this time it would be thanks to the unheralded batsmen just as much as Shane Warne and co.

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