Finger spin is hard enough on Australia's concrete-hard pitches. When your name is Claude you would surely get the impression life is going to be difficult. But South Africa's Claude Henderson must have been well briefed before today's opening day of the series. Henderson's early overs matched his name. He appeared to be the most genteel of left-arm spinners, but later in the day his patience exposed Australia's weakness against spin. Although the Australians began well and looked set on their way to another day of 300-plus, the South Africans held firm. Their bowling lacked bite but at least carried the virtue of concentration. As expected, the South Africans will be hard to crack. A little boring perhaps, but then this is Test cricket and five days are always available, if not always needed.

On the other side of the coin, the question that will be asked of Australia is how they will cope with the dripfeed approach of the South Africans. Do they muster the patience they have seldom needed in the recent past or do they counterattack and so risk losing wickets cheaply against a team that will always be there or thereabouts, close enough to make the most of any gains? This will be the main challenge facing Australia's batsmen in this series. And then they must handle the added pressure of a series that will decide the world champions' tag, a pressure that was evident today as the Australians struggled to break free.

With Allan Donald a spectator in this match, proceedings fell a little flat. South Africa will be pleased with the final scoreline after Australia appeared set for a fruitful day's batting. But this was a day for both teams to circle each other, checking for faultlines and limitations. The passion and the powerplays will come soon enough.

Mark Ray has covered Australian cricket since 1987 and is also the author of a number of books on the game.

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