Tour of Australia 2008-09          Captain: Graeme Smith

45th official Test tour

Ninth Test-playing tour of Australia by South Africa

       (December 2008 -

                      January 2009)

Australia had not lost a home series since 1992-93 but the South Africans had good reason to be confident after beating Pakistan, Bangladesh and England on recent tours, and drawing a series in India. Skipper Graeme Smith felt this was their best chance to beat Australia in a Test series since readmission in 1991.

The South African were due to face Tasmania in the lead-up to the Boxing Day Test but this fixture was squeezed out by the Champions League. When the Mumbai atrocity caused the tournament's postponement, it was possible to add an extra warm-up match before the tour

South Africa won the first Test match at Perth, pulling off the second-highest run chase in Test history by scoring 414 for 4.  Following up with a win at Melbourne they won the series 2-1. This gave them victory in a Test series on Australian soil for the first time, and they later took over as the world’s number one one-day international team after handing the Australians a 4-1 series defeat.

Other South African tours

Previous Tour

England 2008

Next tour

India 2009-10

Next tour of Australia

2012-13

Members of the Test tour party (15)

Opening batsmen  Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie

Middle-order batsmen  Hashim Amla, J P Duminy, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince

Wicket-keeper  Mark Boucher

Spin bowlers  Paul Harris, Robin Peterson

Fast bowlers  Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Monde Zondeki

Representation of Supersport Series teams:   

CC(Bo, WP) - Cape Cobras (3)

D  (KZN) - Dolphins (1)

E  (FS, GW) - Eagles (0)

HL(G, NW) - Highveld Lions (1)

T(Es, No) - Titans (4)

W(EP, Br) - Warriors (6)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(17 December 2008) :

      28 yrs  5 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Kallis 125,  Boucher 120,  Ntini 93,  Smith 72,  McKenzie 53,  Prince 47,  de Villiers 46,  Amla 31,  Steyn 27  Harris 18,  Morkel 12,  Peterson 6,  Zondeki 6,  Duminy 0,  Tsotsobe 0.

Team Officials

Selectors

Craig Matthews (acting Convenor of Selectors  as Mike Procter would not take up the poisiton until December),  Mustapha Khan,  Winky Ximiya.

Selection

Unavailable:   Andre Nel (surgery to repair knee ligament damage.)  Albie Morkel (shoulder injury).

Tour Party Announced :  22 November 2008.

Not selected : Herschelle Gibbs. 

Peterson was included as cover for Paul Harris who had fractured a thumb in the first Test against Bangladesh. This meant the team had seven non-white players in the squad

The ODI and 20/20 squads were named on 22 December with Graeme Smith as captain, but he withdrew and Johan Botha (vice-captain) took over as skipper.

Time between selection and departure from South Africa

  14 days

(22 November to 6 December)

Travel

Five of the squad members - Graeme Smith, Morne Morkel, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn - were to be involved in the Twenty20 tournament but became available to travel to Australia with rest of the squad on 6 December when the Mumbai bombs caused ithe IPL to be postponed.

The South African arrived at Perth on Sunday 7 December and were whisked off to a boat cruise on the neighbouring Swan River before retiring for the night.

Duncan Fletcher signed on a 50-day coaching consultant contract and travelled with the team to Perth for 12 days ahead of the opening Test match against Australia.

The one-day specialists arrived on 8 January 2009.

Time spent in Australia

   56 days

(7 December  - 1 February)

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

Vaughn van Jaarsveld joined South Africa's Test squad in Perth on Sunday 28 December as cover for the injured Ashwell Prince (thumb) and Graeme Smith (tennis elbow).

Fixtures/Results

† not first-class

§  one-day international

⊕ Twenty 20 international

Time spent in Australia before First Test: 

11 days

(6 December- 17 December)

Test appearances on tour

3  -   Amla,  Boucher,  de Villiers,  Duminy,  Harris,  Kallis,  McKenzie,  Morkel,  Ntini,  Smith,  Steyn.

0 -    Peterson,  Prince,  Tsotsobe,  Zondeki.

Highlights

•   In Perth South Africa achieved the second-highest successful run chase in all Test cricket.

•   Graeme Smith (108) and AB de Villiers (106*)  scored centuries as South Africa reached the target of 414 set by Ricky Ponting.  Debutant JP Duminy (50*) made the winning hit.

•   Duminy scored his maiden Test century (166) at Melbourne : his partnership of 180 with Dale Steyn was the third highest ninth wicket stand in Test cricket.

•   Graeme Smith walked out to bat with a broken hand at  Sydney and defended the last wicket until within five minutes of the close of play.

Tour Summary

Return to South Africa

Graeme Smith withdrew from the ODI series and left the tour at the end of the Third Test to have treatment on his elbow injury. He had in any case fractured a hand while batting.  He arrived back at Cape Town International Airport (from Johannesburg) on Thursday night 8 January.

Harris, Prince, Peterson, Zondeki and McKenzie also returned home on 9 January as they were not in the limited-overs squad.

Makhaya Ntini flew back to Johannesburg from Perth on 29 January to be with his wife and children after they were involved in a car accident in the Eastern Cape.

Hundreds lined the streets of Perth on the morning of Saturday 31 January to bid the team goodbye as they drove to the airport. Their flight landed in Johannesburg on the Saturday evening.  More than a thousand fans gathered at OR Tambo International Airport to greet them and Smith flew up from Cape Town to join the team’s celebrating winning the Test and one-day series.

Time away from South Africa    56 days  

(6 December - 31 January)

Finances