Since the time of the state's stirring Sheffield Shield triumph of 1995-96,
returns from South Australian teams have remained modest. There have been
fleeting appearances in limited-overs semi-finals but little more than that
to write home about in the way of challenging for titles.
There's naturally a chance to redress that record as another season begins,
but the Redbacks know as well as anyone that there's a significant amount
of work to do before success can be achieved. Particularly at first-class
level.
Coach Greg Chappell, for one, remains under no illusions as to the extent
of improvement required, having already spoken publicly of the need for the
team to gain far more for itself in the way of respect.
And, if they're being honest with themselves, many of the batsmen in the
squad must realise that the challenge rings especially true for them.
Darren Lehmann and Greg Blewett continue to have far too much of the
responsibility for making big totals thrust upon their shoulders.
Lehmann and Blewett have carried such a burden over recent years, in fact,
that it has not been hard to foresee the result on those occasions when
they've failed. They are a brilliant duo and each remains capable of
winning matches single-handedly. But the reality is that, for South
Australia to succeed on a more consistent basis, it needs more of its
batsmen firing - not merely the same ones as usual.
Nonetheless, the Redbacks do still have a few things running in their
favour as they approach this new campaign.
Unlike any of the other states, they will start the season with as few as
two of their players on the wrong side of the age of 30. And even one of
them is only 31.
The South Australians have also suffered over recent years from the
unusually high rate of attrition caused by a series of untimely injuries.
Last season was particularly unfortunate in this respect. Spinner Brad
Young was absent for virtually the entirety of the season; Paul Wilson
missed a number of matches near the end; and exciting batsman Chris Davies
was lost to the side from February onwards just by way of example.
Though Davies and all-rounder Mick Miller will start the season on the
sidelines, the same bad luck is probably unlikely to blight the squad quite
so grievously again.
And they certainly shape as having one of the better balanced limited-overs
squads in the country. It's in this arena that they would appear to have
their best chance of doing themselves justice in 2001-02.
Even in Jason Gillespie's absence, the South Australians have one of the
best one-day bowling line-ups in the land: Wilson and Brett Swain form a
tight, economical new ball unit and generally receive fine support.
On song, there are also very few limited-overs batsmen in the country as
capable as Lehmann. Jointly named the Player of the Series last season,
his runs came at the sublime average of 131.00. And his destruction of a
full-strength New South Wales team in difficult conditions was a fitting
testament in itself to the fact that he is often near-impossible to
contain.
The Redbacks clearly gained increasing confidence from their one-day form
during the 2000-01 season and they finished the preliminary round with a
spectacular triumph in a high scoring game against Victoria. It will be
particularly interesting to see how they build upon that recollection this
summer.
The key player: Darren Lehmann. Who else? The process of identifying
South Australia's most valuable player has become a near-monotonous
exercise for some time now. But, given that the skipper's exceptional
prowess with the bat shows very little signs of waning, there's still no
compulsion to look elsewhere. Has just come away from another brilliant
season with Yorkshire - where he was the chief architect of the county's
first first-class title triumph in 33 years. Less than 500 runs away from
becoming the most prolific scorer in the history of first-class cricket
between the states, he is again poised to create a big name for himself at
home too.
The up-and-comer: Paul Rofe. Only 20 years old but Paul Rofe has been
gaining in stature steadily over the past few years. He's not all that
well known outside South Australia as yet but it's not hard to imagine that
he soon will be. Very much in the Glenn McGrath mould, he is tall and
bowls an excellent, disciplined line on and just outside off stump. Will
be one of the mainstays of the Redbacks' attack for years to come, and this
might well be the season in which his interstate career genuinely kicks off.
The draw: Not a bad draw for the South Australians, with a nicely
alternating balance of home and away matches scheduled. Possibly a little
unfortunate in the sense that they have to travel to remote venues at
Launceston and Coffs Harbour inside the space of seven days in early
January but otherwise there should be no obvious quibbles. Given their
recent history, better performances undoubtedly need to come from the
Redbacks in matches at away venues this season. So the fact that two of
their closing Pura Cup games are at arguably the most daunting of all in
the 'Gabba and the WACA should provide a stern and very important
challenge.
Predicted Pura Cup finishing position: 6th
Predicted ING Cup finishing position: 2nd
