No need for knee-jerk reaction warns South Africa coach after test defeat

DURBAN, Oct 14 : South Africa coach Shukri Conrad cautioned against any drastic changes after their first test loss to Australia but warned his charges "need to get bloody better" if they are to stand any chance of a comeback in the three-match series.

South Africa, who had beaten Australia in last year's World Test Championship final in London, were handed a 214-run defeat on Tuesday in the first test at Kingsmead.

"We just lost a cricket test match. It doesn't mean that you've now got to go soul-searching and questioning all the things that we've done really well and are doing really well. We just need to get bloody better," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"We obviously need to look at how we can improve the side without being knee-jerk in our decision-making and panicky. We need to show composure.

"The question is always, will it make the boat go faster if we make changes, or will it slow the boat down?" he asked.

Conrad hinted at some changes, however, with fast-bowling ace Kagiso Rabada almost certain to return after a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined since June and potential changes higher up the batting order.

"We keep talking about the batting because that's where we felt we let ourselves down the most," he said.

"Dismissals in batting sit in one of three places. They are technical, tactical or mental. If we're brutally honest, a lot of our dismissals sat in the mental corner. Is that an easier fix than technical and tactical? Probably not. So we need to see our guys pull up fresh enough."

South Africa did show some glimpses of being capable of a stoic approach, notably at the start of the last day as they attempted to block the Australian attack and save the test.

But after resisting for almost two hours, wickets tumbled and in the end they were dismissed for 206 runs in their second innings with Aiden Markram the only home batsman to score more than 50 in the test.

"Aiden showed us in the second innings that there's nothing fancy about test match cricket. That single-bloody-mindedness, where I've got to bat for a day and a half now, irrespective of what it looks like, some of our batters can take a leaf from his book," Conrad added.

"There's always noise, and I think the top players are able to park that noise, and still be able to execute what they wanted to do."

It was a first defeat for South Africa after a run of 15 unbeaten tests. The second test at St George's Park in Gqeberha starts on Sunday.