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Cape Town - Proteas batsman AB de Villiers says they cannot afford to start slowly in their upcoming two-match Test series against Australia.
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The Proteas have gained a reputation of starting slowly in Test series' at home in recent years, and De Villiers has warned that a similar pattern would prove costly against the men from down under.
De Villiers told the Rapport newspaper that they must come out firing from the word go as the shortened series "could be over in the blink of an eye".
"It's a real pity that we only play two Tests because even three or four Tests aren't really enough to test yourself properly against the Aussies.
"It takes time to come out on top against them, but we realise that we cannot afford to start slowly again this time.
"The series could be determined in the first session of the first Test - the team that wins it (first session) will be in charge and be tough to haul in," said De Villiers.
De Villiers also believes coach Gary Kirsten has made sure they've got all their "cards neatly in order" for the Test series - despite South Africa's failure in the recent ODI series.
"Gary is fantastic and we had some fruitful discussions about the Tests during the recent T20 and ODI series'.
"Because I didn't play (due to a fractured finger), we had the chance to put a few ideas together about how we want to go about," said De Villiers.
Sign up for Sport24 promo mailers and win
WIN with Nike Vision
The Proteas have gained a reputation of starting slowly in Test series' at home in recent years, and De Villiers has warned that a similar pattern would prove costly against the men from down under.
De Villiers told the Rapport newspaper that they must come out firing from the word go as the shortened series "could be over in the blink of an eye".
"It's a real pity that we only play two Tests because even three or four Tests aren't really enough to test yourself properly against the Aussies.
"It takes time to come out on top against them, but we realise that we cannot afford to start slowly again this time.
"The series could be determined in the first session of the first Test - the team that wins it (first session) will be in charge and be tough to haul in," said De Villiers.
De Villiers also believes coach Gary Kirsten has made sure they've got all their "cards neatly in order" for the Test series - despite South Africa's failure in the recent ODI series.
"Gary is fantastic and we had some fruitful discussions about the Tests during the recent T20 and ODI series'.
"Because I didn't play (due to a fractured finger), we had the chance to put a few ideas together about how we want to go about," said De Villiers.
