Australia’s latest tormentor in Tests was none other than Kyle Abbott, as the South Africa pacer demolished the Australian batting line-up at Hobart. As a courtesy of Abbott’s impressive performance where he made the most out of the conditions on offer, South Africa went on to wrap up the series at Hobart itself.
However, Abbott is far from being fully content as the right-arm pacer is eager to make the most of his form. South Africa’s pace battery remains a star studded one with Kagiso Rabada, Vernon Philander, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn in the fray as well. Due to such heavyweights being present, Abbott is bound to face an intense competition.
“I don’t think anything is secure at this level unfortunately, or cricket in general,” Abbott said. “At the end of the day, we’ve still got to put in performances. As long as the team is winning, those selections become easier. It’s a case of putting in the performances and winning games. I will go about like I do every game, probably still having to prove myself – but I will cross that bridge when I get there.”
The Proteas quick admitted the current lot of pacers complement each other well. “We complement each other so well, which is key. Although fairly similar, I think there is quite a bit of variation amongst us. We work well together. “We look at what the other guy is doing from the other end. It’s not like one of us has to do something and stick to it. It changes through the Test match and through the series.
“We always feel we are in the game here as fast bowlers because we get to bowl wicket to wicket,” he added. “We are attacking the stumps, attacking the pads quite a bit and it brings in quite a few different dismissals. Sometimes on bouncy tracks you get caught out a bit in the channel and are only really looking for the nick off but on a wicket like this we are bringing in lbws, bowled, caught midwicket, some scrappy dismissals,” Abbott concluded.