Compared to the Australian team, which will take the field on June 11th for the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, the South African team not only lacks in the experience of playing the format but also lacks in the pedigree of playing and winning the big ICC tournaments. Australia is also the defending champion of the tournament, hence they have the advantage of know-how of winning this competition. Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody says Australia has an edge over the South Africans because of their experience of winning tournaments in the past.
“Historically, many of their players have won multiple ICC tournaments, and they’ve grown up watching previous generations achieve the same success. That winning mentality is ingrained in them,” said Moody, speaking to Star Sports.
“The Australians have built that reputation through consistent success in major tournaments. When it comes to ICC events, Australia somehow elevates its game to another level as a team. They genuinely embrace the challenges of tournament cricket and thrive under the pressure of these high-stakes matches,” Moody added.
Coming into the showpiece event, both sides have not played the red-ball format in a long time. “It can be difficult, but it’s like any big occasion, it’s like any final, it’s bringing the best version of yourself to the stage at that very moment. So, you need to trust your instincts and make sure that you sort of cut out the negativity of the fact that you haven’t played Test cricket for several months, or you’re suddenly turning up in England and you’ve got completely different conditions,” Moody said.
“That’s the nature of Test cricket, and that’s the beauty of Test cricket, being able to adapt and evolve on the move to be able to respond when you need to. So, I think both teams will be very aware of that. I think Australia has got a slight advantage purely because they’ve played more big matches than South Africa have over recent years,” he concluded.
