The fight for World Cup glory is still three months away, but South Africa will be aiming to deal Australia an early psychological blow during the upcoming five-match one-day series, starting at the WACA Ground on Friday.
The Proteas have brought over a 16-man squad for the series, and are keen to expose most of them to Australian conditions in preparation for the World Cup.
Star batsman Hashim Amla said the congested nature of the scheduling this series – with five matches to be played across four states in 10 days – meant rotating the squad was essential.
And even though the Proteas are unlikely to field their strongest side for every match, Amla said they were desperate to post a series win over their arch enemies.
“Beating Australia would be great. If we win the series here, we would definitely take that confidence with us,” Amla said.
“It’s all about the preparation for the World Cup – getting used to playing here.
“Guys will probably want to give other players a chance to get used to the conditions here and get some game time before the World Cup.
“Both teams could do that. But a lot of it would depend on how the series goes.”
South Africa have a history of flopping at the World Cup, with the cricketing powerhouse having never reached the final.
Their most famous failure was in the 1999 semi-final against Australia, when the match ended in a draw after tail-ender Allan Donald was run out in comical fashion.
Australia progressed through to the final ahead of South Africa because they had beaten the Proteas during the group stage.
In-form batsman Faf du Plessis, who cracked two centuries against Australia in September, said it was a tad harsh to criticise South Africa for their World Cup failures.
“People judge you for not winning the World Cup at the time … but in the past we probably weren’t the best side,” du Plessis said.
“This time around I feel we’ve got a really good side and we’ve been winning.
“Everything is stacking up nicely for us now.
“We’ll probably face Australia in the semi-final or something like that in the World Cup, so (this series) is a really good challenge.”
