Pollock: Tough for South Africa to dominate

Former South Africa captain Shaun Pollock believes it is going to be a tough ask for the Proteas to retain their number one spot in Test match cricket and dominate the five day game.

Pollock, who was covering South Africa’s recent 2-0 series over England, believes that the world number one ranking could change plenty of times over the next few years and that no team will be able to emulate the success of Australia in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

Should the Proteas be defeated in their next Test series in Australia, then they would be knocked off top spot, which goes to show just how tight it is.

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39-year-old Pollock has said: “It’s going to be hard, going to Australia later this year will be another big test.

“We’re playing in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, so that should suit our pace attack.  “But I don’t know if one team will dominate Test cricket like the Australian side of the late 1990s and early 2000s did.”

Putting the rankings to one side for a moment, Pollock also believes that beating England on their own turf was a fantastic achievement in its own right: “Being rated number one is obviously great but to come here and beat England, who were number one, to beat the team that’s on the pedestal is the thing they’ll enjoy the most.” He said.

“They are a mature team now and they are very well balanced. Sometimes you can look good on paper but not produce. The key is that they’ve been able to produce in the key moments.” Pollock added.

South Africa’s immediate aim now though is too add a One Day series victory to their Test one in England.

The five match series gets underway on Friday and looks to be a fantastic battle and one that the world number one Test side will feel confident about being victorious in.

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