Will South Africa's top gun be more of a scattergun in Australia? © Getty Images

A lot of hype has been generated about South Africa's pace attack, but former coach Eric Simons believes it could prove to be the team's weak link. He writes on iafrica.com:

The biggest concern is our bowling unit. We have POTENTIALLY the most devastating attack in world cricket, but there is some distance to go before we reach that potential.

Our control is a huge concern — I saw Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel bowl more balls down leg in one Test match against very weak opponents than Shaun Pollock bowled in his entire career. Bangladesh could not punish the wayward bowling but Australia will.

I must, however, commend the selectors for picking specialist in key positions. We can debate whether they have picked the right players but their strategy has been to select what they believe are the best bowlers and not have not tried to fill gaps by giving too much consideration to their batting ability. Bowlers need to take wickets and their runs, while vital, should be seen as a bonus.

Daryl Cullinan, the former batsman, has a few interesting observations in the Weekender.

A feature for both teams is the wicket-taking abilities of their spinners. Paul Harris and Jason Krejza are still not getting serious mention in the media.

Fielding is often neglected in pre match talk, and I think it may well come down to which team holds its catches best.

SA has never caught well in Australia, particularly behind the wicket. When it comes to skills and talent both teams have enough.

Ultimately it will come down to who has the better discipline and who can sustain that discipline for 15 days of cricket.

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