McGrath slams 'negative' South Africa over series loss

Australia fast bowler Glenn McGrath has branded South Africa's tactics as negative after they crashed to defeat in the first two matches of their three-Test series.

"From the start of this series, I've said the South Africans are under more pressure because the series has been built up so much," McGrath said in a column in The Sunday Herald Sun newspaper in Melbourne.

"It was up to them to raise their game and be competitive against us, but so far they've been unable to do that and we've completely dominated them.

"The way they bat and bowl is very negative and I don't know how they expect to beat us while they are playing like that."

Australia, confirming their status as the world's top side, won the second Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground by nine wickets on Saturday after also dominating the first. The third and final Test starts on Wednesday in Sydney.

South Africa came into the series as Australia's closest rivals but McGrath, who has taken 68 wickets from 14 Tests this year, said they had shown they could not handle pressure.

The bowler said some of Australia's batsmen had noticed how quiet the South Africans fielders became once a big partnership started to build.

"So I'll say it again...I still don't believe the South Africans think they can beat us."

Matthew Hayden, meanwhile, the highest run-scorer in Test cricket this year, said Australia were keen on improving still further.

Hayden, who scored his fifth century of the year in the second Test in his total of 1,388 runs from 14 tests for the calendar year, said: "We're still wanting to train, we're still wanting to become better players and be the best at what we do."

He told Australian television on Sunday: "We're very proud of our title of being number one and we want to maintain our strength in world cricket."

Mail Cricket Editor