Australia have more to gain in dead rubber
Cricinfo previews the third Test between South Africa and Australia in Cape Town
Match facts
March 19-23, 2009Start time 10.30am (08.30GMT)
Big Picture
The series is decided and the Cape Town Test has become a dead rubber but for several individuals there is still plenty to play for. The Australians in particular will be keen to keep up their strong form ahead of their next Test appointment. The Ashes begin in July and with the likelihood that established players such as Stuart Clark, Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds will be available for selection, the newer faces in the squad will be desperate to push their cases for spots on the tour. Men like Ben Hilfenhaus and Marcus North have all but booked their places for the England trip and a strong performance in Cape Town would cap off their auditions.Form guide (last five Tests, most recent first)
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Watch out for
Ashwell Prince has been asked to open and it's not a job that he is used to. A trial run for the Warriors on the weekend worked well - he made a handy 254 against an attack boasting both Morkel brothers. Prince will also be keen to prove a point to the selectors, who left him out at the start of this series despite his standing as the team's vice-captain, after he missed all three Tests in Australia due to a cracked thumb.Team news
There has been nothing but team news for South Africa over the past week. After the Durban loss, McKenzie and Morne Morkel were dropped and with Smith injured, it meant three changes to a side that hadn't altered at all since the start of the tour of Australia. Prince and Khan will form a new and experimental opening partnership, while Albie Morkel is set to make his debut at the expense of his brother.Pitch and conditions
Less than 24 hours before the game, the Newlands pitch was sporting significant patches of grass, although there were sizeable bare spots at either end. It will be given a shave before the match and should become the best batting surface of the series. The forecast for the first few days is for perfectly sunny conditions and temperatures of around 25C.Stats and Trivia
- Australia's Test record at Newlands rivals their record anywhere in the world. They have won nine of their ten Tests at the venue, losing for the only time in 1969-70
- Australia are the only team to have beaten South Africa in Newlands Tests in the post-Apartheid era
- Ricky Ponting needs 52 runs to reach 11,000 in Tests, a mark that only Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Allan Border have achieved
- This will be the last Test appearance for the umpire Steve Bucknor, who will quit the game having stood in a record 128 Tests
Quotes
"There's a lot of upsides in Bryce playing in this game but with this group of players we've got together and the work that they've done over the past few weeks it is going to be difficult to break the side up."Ricky Ponting
Jacques Kallis, South Africa's acting captain
Brydon Coverdale is a staff writer at Cricinfo