South Africa, Australia Ready for Big Series

Cape Town: Australia may go into the first Test against South Africa in Cape Town as underdogs but Michael Clarke's men will be confident of upsetting the hosts.

That's because they'll have been buoyed by their recent Test success away to Sri Lanka, not to mention their strong form so far on this tour and of course their series victory in South Africa in 2008-09.

The tourists took out the one-day series 2-1 and then crushed South Africa A by seven wickets with four sessions to spare in Potchefstroom last week in a game that saw Mitchell Johnson grab nine wickets.

The left-arm quick captured match figures of 9-112 and found strong support from Peter Siddle (3-16 and 2-76) and Shane Watson (3-32), who bowled eight overs in the first innings.

Having recently had problems with a hip and also battled back spasms, Watson hasn't bowled a lot on tour but has dispelled any concerns that he will only be able to bat in the first Test.

Nestled at the foot of Table Mountain, the picturesque Newlands is expected to be conducive to spin which would suggest Nathan Lyon will play.

The South Australian, who captured 5-34 in his debut innings in Test cricket against Sri Lanka in Galle and finished the series with eight wickets, is fresh from taking 0-41 and 2-40 from a combined 18 overs against South Africa A.

It remains to be seen though who will partner Johnson, Ryan Harris, Watson and Lyon in the attack with Trent Copeland and Siddle seemingly fighting to win the nod ahead of young gun Patrick Cummins.

With the bat, the players to impress against South Africa A were Clarke, Watson and Shaun Marsh who all made half-centuries including a pair of them from Marsh.

One player who will be eager to recapture his form from the last time Australia played Test cricket on South African soil is opener Phillip Hughes, who managed scores of four and 19 in the tour game.

After starting with a four-ball duck Hughes bounced back with 75 in the first Test and then followed up with twin tons in the second, including a second-innings 160, to help Australia to an unassailable 2-0 lead.

The hosts meanwhile will welcome back AB de Villiers who missed the ODI and T20 series with a hand injury. De Villiers scored 12 for the Titans in a domestic one-dayer on Sunday.

Jacques Rudolph returns to the Proteas squad as a man in form after several years in the wilderness. The 30-year-old topped the domestic run charts last season and has kept that form going with more than 550 runs from four matches at the start of the current season.

The only two players in the first Test squad who represented South Africa A had solid rather than spectacular outings, Vernon Philander capturing 2-63 and 0-38 while JP Duminy made 10 and 32.

The Australians have a great record at Newlands with nine wins from 11 Tests.

But they will take little comfort from their last appearance there in 2009 which resulted in an innings victory to the hosts inside four days.

After knocking over the Aussies for 209, South Africa racked up a mammoth 651 with the major contributions coming from AB de Villiers (163), Ashwell Prince (150) and Jacques Kallis (102).

Doubt about AB de Villiers' readiness after a broken digit has ebbed away, leaving the South African side reasonably settled. Tahir is expected to come in for his Test debut at the expense of Harris, and if he does, there could be a toss-up between Vernon Philander and Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Rudolph will make his return to the Test team at the top of the batting order.

Australia's only major questions surround the shape of the bowling attack, with Siddle and Copeland duelling for the third seamer's spot behind Ryan Harris and Mitchell Johnson. Siddle's good rhythm and fuller length in recent times, added to his solid record in South Africa in 2009, is likely to give him the edge over the ultra reliable but less pacey Copeland.

Teams from

South African: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher (wk), AB. de Villiers, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

Australian: Michael Clarke (capt), Michael Beer, Trent Copeland, Patrick Cummins, Brad Haddin (wk), Ryan Harris, Phil Hughes, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Shaun Marsh, Ricky Ponting, Peter Siddle, Shane Watson

Pitch and conditions
Cape Town's surface has been the subject of much theorising so far, and early inspection revealed a pitch that offered hope to both the pace bowlers via plenty of grass, but also the spinners thanks to a prominent bare patch at one end.

Stats & trivia

• South Africa's last Test match was also in Cape Town, against India in the first week of January, a gap of some 305 days.
• Australia have not lost a Test series in South Africa since the South Africans were re-admitted to international cricket. A 1-1 draw in 1994 was followed by 2-1 wins in 1997 and 2002, a 3-0 victory in 2006 and another 2-1 win in 2009.
• In Cape Town, the record is a little more evenly balanced. South Africa and Australia have won two Tests each since 1994, though each of the home side's wins arrived after the series had been decided in the visitors' favour.

Match facts
November 9-13, 2011
Start time 1030 local (0830 GMT)