South Africa require a win at the Wanderers in the final test against England on Thursday to ensure they don’t lose the series.

Conditions are expected to favour the bowlers, and by all accounts South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has requested a result wicket with plenty of grass. Being 1-0 down in the series, there is plenty at stake as South Africa don’t want to lose the Basil d’Oliveira trophy, nor lose valuable ICC test match ranking points.

Jacques Kallis reported that the pitch wasn’t as bowler-friendly as many initally expected. “I’ve had a look at the pitch and it’s not as green as some of the pitches I’ve seen here in the past. It will do a bit, there’s no doubt, and the batsmen will need skill”

Kallis felt the Proteas’ batsmen would have the advantage in adapting to the conditions. “Our pitches do the most in the world and our guys may be better equipped and more used to the conditions. The ball will probably bounce and move around more than it does in England.”

It is important for South Africa to focus on playing well and forget the fact they possibly should be ahead in the series.

“We have discussed it because the feeling could be that we have dominated the series but somehow haven’t managed to get a win, we are still behind, and we could feel hard done by. But we have to look to the future, it’s useless feeling that way, we need to move on and control what we do going forward. England have never given up and they’ve managed to get out of tough situations, they’ve shown fight and character. We were in England’s situation in Durban and we crumbled in that same situation, so we have only ourselves to blame”  said Kallis.

Whilst the feeling within the South African camp appears to shown confidence in their own abilities, I for one have been very disappointed with the way our side has played since gaining the number 1 ranking. We seem to wait until times are desperate before coming out fighting or playing attacking cricket. Graeme Smith’s captaincy reflects this. He waited until the final hour to really start attcking at both Centurion and Newlands. Who knows what could have happened had he been prepared to attack earlier.

Ian Chappell is another who shares my point of view and recently on Cricinfo said “South Africa look like they have gone off the rails and the more I look at them the more I feel they are not as good as I thought they were.”

There is plenty for South Africa to prove in this test match, and only an emphatic victory would temporarily lay to rest many of the critics. I don’t want to contemplate a series loss. Losing to England at home is simply not good enough for a side that simply never seems to dominate an opposition. I’m hoping the desperation they need to exhibit during this test match show them the way they need to be playing every test match. Go fo the win!