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Setting the standards Australia, South Africa start 2001 in a class of their own
Australia and South Africa proved that they are in a class of their own with resounding home test wins to mark the start of the 2001 cricketing calendar. As Steve Waugh's Australians were completing a 5-0 sweep of the West Indies in Sydney, Shaun Pollock's South Africans gave Sri Lanka its heaviest test defeat in Cape Town. The two Southern Hemisphere countries won't face each other until the end of 2001. In the meantime, they are likely to inflict some more drubbings on other international teams. Even so, Australia faces a difficult assignment starting in February: trying to win its first series in India in more than 31 years. Despite the devastating effects of its match-fixing inquiry, India will bounce back to provide the world champion with a stern challenge. The Aussies will be hard-pressed to prolong their world-record winning streak of 15 test matches on wickets that aren't conducive to their aggressive style. Much of their success has been based on the ability to score sizeable totals quickly and then intimidate teams with a slick pace battery on fast and bouncy wickets. The dusty and slower tracks in India will stretch the resources of the Australians. While needing to stay positive, they may need to be more watchful with the bat, especially at the top of the order. Australia's first-3 was far from consistent during the Windies' series. Tasmanian off spinner Colin Miller will carry a big responsibility for his side to take wickets and bowl many overs economically. The Aussies would also be well advised to rush the veteran slow-bowler Shane Warne back into the Test squad after injury. While his rival leg-spinner Stuart MacGill did reasonably well against the West Indies, his occasional lack of control could be exposed in India by the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid . South Africa has been almost as impressive as its Commonwealth rival in the wake of Hansie Cronje's sacking as captain and the King inquiry into corruption. Like the Australians, the South Africans are confident, aggressive, mentally tough and have a deep player-base to call on. After the completion of the home series against Sri Lanka, South Africa will play five tests and seven one-day internationals in the West Indies. Without doubt, skipper Pollock will be challenging his side to repeat Australia's feat of whitewashing the Windies, even though it is an away series. Much can happen between now and the end of the year, but already South Africa and Australia's reciprocal tours from December to April are shaping as the unofficial world championship of test cricket. Here are my current rankings for test cricket: 1. Australia 2. South Africa 3. India 4. England 5. Pakistan 6. New Zealand 7. Sri Lanka 8. West Indies 9. Zimbabwe 10. Bangladesh Australian-born Jason Dasey is an anchor for 'World Sport', a 30-minute sports highlights and news program shown on CNN-SI and CNN International.
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