Christmas in Australia and the sledging season starts

As news of Hansie Cronje's confessions of dealing with bookmakers were relayed to an international media conference, Shaun Pollock had a glazed look in his eyes. In cricketing terms, the morning of Tuesday 11 April 2000 rocked the world as much as the morning of Tuesday 11 September 2001.

Thrown the captaincy, Pollock took his disbelieving team out the following day and beat Australia in a one-day match. South Africa had found the man to restore pride in the country, confidence in the game.

Twenty months later, rivalry against Australia resumes, starting this week in Adelaide, in the first of six home-and-away Tests to determine the best side in the world. Solid proof that there is life after Cronje.

Steve Waugh's Australia remain deservedly No 1, and a series defeat in India and a recent three-Test draw against New Zealand will not have altered their swagger. "Mentally they are able to cope with the pressures. They have a lot of experience," Pollock said during the tour loosener in Perth. "We know what to expect from them. Obviously we respect them, but we're not going to stand back and let them dominate."

The ICC Test championship puts South Africa marginally behind in second place. "It would be great to be part of a team that's rated the best in the world, but that's not the motivational factor here. We have come to win a series and have a squad talented enough to beat Australia away from home," Pollock said.

It's little secret that Steve Waugh rattled South Africa's psyche in the 1999 World Cup; a routine catch shelled by Herschelle Gibbs in the Super Six stage was greeted with a "You've just dropped the World Cup, mate". That statement was still ringing off the dressing room walls in the wake of their epic semi-final tie.

Again, Pollock is quick to point to the hardening mentality of this South African side. India were rattled on their recent visit to the Republic by the verbal aggression of their opponents. "Look, we make no apologies for that aggression," said Pollock. "We play our cricket hard and we enjoy the challenge that the Australians will bring. We know what to expect from them too in this regard, for they dish it out as well."

Indeed they do. In the mid-1990s, soon after South Africa's readmission to the international arena, Shane Warne gave the quietly spoken Andrew Hudson such a verbal "send-off" that the opening batsman today still shies away from revealing the contents. And Merv Hughes famously took his bat to a spectator at the Wanderers.

Given that Australian paceman Brett Lee was fined 75 per cent of his match fee for breaching the International Cricket Council's code of conduct against New Zealand, this series could give the umpires, and even match referees, some awkward moments. "They're a hard bunch," continued Pollock. "But off the field we get along well, we're actually quite similar in our thinking." The South African admitted the current Australian line-up, laden with experience in the Waughs, Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, plus the emergence of the swashbuckling Adam Gilchrist, is the toughest test in cricket, but he was quick to point to his own side's strengths.

Alongside himself, a bowling all-rounder of the highest class, and Allan Donald, the likes of Mark Boucher, Gary Kirsten, Gibbs and Lance Klusener have matured into steely individuals and should not be adversely affected by the "friendly verbal fire" of the Australians. They may even draw strength from one of the classic put-downs in recent times at the expense of McGrath, replaced by Pollock on Friday as the world's No 1 ranked Test bowler.

Having seen the Zimbabwe tailender Eddo Brandes streakily dispatch two successive balls to the ropes, McGrath glared at his opponent. "Why are you so fat?" he asked dismissively. "Because every time I'm with your missus she gives me a biscuit," the chicken farmer retorted.

That sledging will take place between the two sides in the forthcoming series is not in doubt. "There will be," admits Pollock, "but we're out to prove that we have overtaken Australia as the best Test-playing side in the world. Sledging doesn't get you there, it's what we can do with bat and ball, and we feel we have the goods."