Steyn granted license to attack

Like most of us, Dale Steyn does not always get exactly what he wants, but the last few months have been particularly frustrating for him.

South Africa's premier paceman wanted a Test series win over Australia at home. Instead, he got an on-field confrontation with Michael Clarke. He wanted an apology for the said altercation, but did not get that either. Instead, he got to hear of a few 'I'm sorries" that Clarke issued in public, and did not accept them. He may have hoped to meet Clarke at the other end of 22-yards but barely got that either when Clarke's re-injured hamstring ruled him out of the latest South Africa-Australia clash.

But there is one thing Steyn has got, thanks to his captain AB de Villiers. "He's given me a license to run in and try to hit the stumps and attack the body a little bit more," Steyn said ahead of the third ODI. "So I feel like I might go for a couple more runs, which is fine. Generally when you are attacking, you're bowling more boundary deliveries but you might pick up a couple more wickets too."

What that means is that Steyn no longer has to concentrate as much on containing, and can focus on two length: short and full, with not much of the in-betweens. "If you want to strike you've got to bowl short and attack the body, and then you've got to pitch the ball up, hit the stumps and find the edge of the bat," Steyn explained. "If you want to contain, you kind of bowl that back of a length, you don't give a guy room, you tuck him up and you don't give him the freedom to hit you down the ground but also not too short to be able to pull you. It's never a wicket-taking length, you're kind of waiting for the batsman to make a mistake."

That is now the task of the rest of the attack, with someone like Vernon Philander taking on a more Test-match-style role in order to tie up an end.

"You're still trying to bowl good lengths to find the edge of the bat when you're opening up the bowling and I'm speaking specifically on someone like Vernon, he attacks the stumps, he attacks the top of off stump so he's always in the game with an lbw, bowled, caught behind," Steyn said. "He would admit himself he's not the quickest guy in the world to rush you with a bouncer but he does bowl a skiddy bouncer and can catch you off guard at times. But his biggest strength is his line and length and that's exactly what he does for us in the Test side."

Although Morne Morkel is able to extract significant bounce from certain surfaces, he has also played a containing role by concentrating on tight lines and lengths. Even Imran Tahir has become an important part of the strangle strategy. What South Africa have mainly lacked, though, is an extra bowler, following the injury which ruled JP Duminy out of the series. "It shows how important JP is, he plays such a massive role for us, being able to bowl off spin. We were so lucky to have him," Steyn said.

In both ODIs so far, South Africa have needed Farhaan Behardien's medium-pace, more so in the second game where Ryan McLaren was left out. Behardien accounted for Shane Watson and as far as Steyn is concerned, showed the importance of having part-timers who are ready to step up.

"We did set up the game for Fudgie but the guy's still got to land the ball in the right place, and pick up a wicket like Shane Watson - that doesn't just happen," Steyn said. "The guy is bowling in the nets right now, even AB de Villiers is bowling in the nets. If David Miller didn't have such a bent right elbow he's probably also bowl a couple overs"

Although Duminy is expected to recover from his knee niggle in time for the World Cup, South Africa understand that they have to come up with contingency plans, in case they have to do without him, or anyone else at the World Cup. To be able to learn that in the same place the tournament will actually be played is even more beneficial.

"It's nice we're finding out those lines and lengths, getting used to the crowd, getting used to the fields and those sorts of things. It's very important for us to get that kind of experience."

For Steyn, this is mainly a chance to get the feel of being the assassin-in-chief, which he will be expected to replicate at the World Cup. "It's a great opportunity for us to figure out how we're going to pick up wickets, because wickets are what slows the game down quickly, and also what wins you games," Steyn said " For me, I can only do that by bowling two lengths, I've got to bowl full and short."