Kallis: SA bowling must improve

2008-08-04 22:03

Altus Momberg

London - South Africa's bowling will have to improve drastically for the Proteas to have a chance of beating the Australian cricket team at the end of the year, says Jacques Kallis.

Kallis, the most experienced player in the SA team that sealed a series win over England at the weekend, on Monday praised the batsmen but added, "Our bowling was certainly not what we expected it to be. We can do much better."

The SA team leave for Australia at the end of November and will play three Test matches and five one-day internationals on tour.

The final Test of the four-match series against England starts at the Oval in London on Thursday. However, the Proteas have an unassailable 2-0 lead after winning the third Test by five wickets at Edgebaston last Saturday.

"To some extent it is a positive that we won the series despite our poor bowling," Kallis said. "It shows we can still improve.

He said one of the reasons for the inconsistent bowling was the lack of experience of fast bowlers Morné Morkel and Dale Steyn.

Nothing wrong with the sightscreen

Kallis, South Africa's leading scorer in Test cricket, explained the problems he had had with one of the Edgbaston sightscreens.

Several British newspapers reported at the weekend that there had been nothing wrong with the sightscreen and that Andrew Flintoff's bowling had merely been too good for Kallis.

"If I were the only one who was unable to see his full tosses one could say there was something wrong with my eyes.

"But Mark Boucher, Neil McKenzie and even AB de Villiers had similar problems. Ian Bell also misjudged a ball from Morné Morkel on the first day of the match," the veteran all-rounder said.

It appears that Flintoff's height enables him to benefit from the fact that the sightscreen has a window on the balcony just above it.

Batsmen find it hard to pick up the flight of a full-pitched ball when it is released with one of the dark windowpanes directly behind the bowler's hand.

"You can't see the ball at all. Your first reaction is to duck. You don't know where the ball is going," said Kallis, who was dismissed lbw in the second innings when he ducked into a full toss.

- Die Burger