The series may be won, but don’t anyone tell the South Africans that thefifth Test against the West Indies which begins at Sabina Park on Thursdayis any less important than the four which have preceded it.There are always a bundle of platitudes offered ahead of a dead rubber, but somehow the SouthAfrican desire to rub salt into some gaping West Indian wounds has a veryreal ring of truth about it.
Donald- ready to go
Photo CricInfo |
</table"There's everything to play for," said veteran fast bowler Allan Donald,now back to full fitness and expected to take his place in the startingeleven. "We can't take our foot off the pedal now – we've got to go outthere and make sure that we finish it off 3-0. The West Indies areprobably going to come out and play positive cricket and try and get somekind of a result, but we can't afford to be relaxed. We've got to go outthere with the same intensity that we've had in four previous Tests."It's a view echoed by coach Graham Ford, keenly aware that SouthAfrica's rivals for global bragging rights will be significantly moreimpressed by a 3-0 series win, a feat achieved by just one side here inthe Caribbean, the 1955 Australians captained by Ian Johnson."I think everybody's fairly relieved that the job's been done because ithas been a very tough series with a lot of tough cricket up until now," Fordsaid. "But I also feel that there's a desire to make it 3-0 rather than2-1."There won't be any trouble motivating the guys for the fifth Test.We're well aware that the rest of the cricketing world have their eyes on thisseries and a 3-0 result shows a real position of strength. It would alsobe good to create a psychological 'plus-factor' going into the one-dayinternationals."The main selection dilemma for the South Africans is whether to go intothe test without a spinner. With Nicky Boje now back in South Africa forsurgery on his shoulder and Donald fit and raring to go, the choice wouldappear to be between the unorthodox left-arm spin of Paul Adams ot theall-round abilities of Justin Kemp. However, at practice on Wednesday,captain Shaun Pollock appeared to indicate that both players could get thenod, with Makhaya Ntini standing down."I'm always a bit loathe to go into a Test match without a spinner"Pollock said. "Nicky Boje not being here does upset the balance of the sidebecause he gives us that extra batting option coming in at nine, so we mighthave to wangle things a bit and, for example, maybe Justin Kemp plays and weleave out one of the big quicks to give us more depth in our batting. We'lltalk about it tonight but I think I would be very loathe to go into the Testwithout a spinner."Of course, Pollock has already on this tour referred to Lance Kluseneras 'our version of a spinner', so it is quite possible that Ntini willretain his place and and Adams will miss out.
