Talk is cheap from Proteas: Nielsen
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Australian coach Tim Nielsen says talk is cheap (file photo). (Getty Images: Kristian Dowling)
South Africa's latest round of pre-tour bluster will be as empty as all the previous ones if it cannot back it up with results, according to Australian coach Tim Nielsen.
Proteas captain Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur have had plenty to say in the lead-up about the prowess of their bowling attack and the confidence they harbour ahead of the three-Test series.
Nielsen, though, rightly pointed out that the South Africans are still to win a Test series on Australian shores, making their talk about as cheap as both side's recent series wins over lowly New Zealand and Bangladesh.
"They'd better be ready. They're talking themselves up a lot at the moment," he said.
"There's no doubt they've got some good bowling, but they've never won over here before, so they'd better play better than they've ever played before.
"We've got some high-quality players in our top order who are ready for the challenge of South Africa.
"We feel as though we've had some good hit-outs over the last two or three weeks to get ready for it.
"The great thing about this sort of series is our senior players have shown time and time again when the game is on the line that they're willing to stand up and do the job.
"That'll be the challenge for South Africa - talk's pretty cheap at this time of the summer."
Australia's hold over the South Africans dates back to the late 1990s, when the teams led by the Hansie Cronje and Bob Woolmer partnership repeatedly choked when faced by their southern hemisphere rivals.
"I'm sure our blokes let them know about it," Nielsen said of the history between the sides.
"And that's one of the things they're trying to break and the only way they're going to break that is by showing time and time again like our blokes have that they can do the job.
"That's what I'm trying to say, that talk's pretty cheap."
Self-belief
Nielsen watched his team regain self-belief and swagger in the course of a 2-0 series win over the Kiwis.
He said they were immeasurably healthier in mind and body than the group which trudged home, battered and beaten, from India early in November.
"Winning's nice, it always brings out a smile on your face," he said.
"It's always much more difficult when you're losing or not winning, so it's nice to have a couple of wins under our belt.
"We had a couple of guys who got some real personal success as well, which was a real fillip for them.
"Hadds (Brad Haddin) getting his big score and Mitchell (Johnson) getting his first five-for, and Brett (Lee) getting nine wickets (in Adelaide), all those little things adding up; Andrew Symonds coming back into the team.
"All those things add up to us being in a much better place than we were when we left Nagpur a few weeks ago."
The Australian side flew out of Adelaide in state-based groups last night and this morning, taking a few days off before reconvening in Perth.
-AAP
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