Doug Bollinger, Andrew McDonald to make Test debuts

Debut at home ... Doug Bollinger

Pace bowler Doug Bollinger has been named to make his Test debut on his home ground when Australia play South Africa in the third Test at the SCG starting tomorrow.

All-rounder Andrew McDonald will be the other player putting on the famous baggy green cap for the first time while Tasmanian quick Ben Hilfenhaus will carry the drinks for the hosts again.

Captain Ricky Ponting said Bollinger and McDonald would come in for injured pair Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds and the decision between Bollinger and Hilfenhaus came down largely to the game's location.

"That's probably a lot to do with his overall skills at the SCG," Ponting said.

"He knows the conditions very well and will hopefully swing the new ball and late in the innings as well."

Australia are trying to avoid their first series whitewash in more than a century after the Proteas secured the series win with victories in Perth and Melbourne.

South Africa unchanged

South Africa will take an unchanged side into the Test after Ashwell Prince failed a fitness test on his injured thumb.

Captain Graeme Smith will play despite a painful elbow injury that will require a blood-injection procedure from his arm into his elbow tendon following the match.

Smith is desperate to score a 3-0 series sweep over Australia to hand the Proteas the top ranking in Test cricket, snatching the crown from Ricky Ponting's men.

"We are announcing an unchanged eleven for this Test match. Ashwell Prince wasn't considered," Smith said today.

"Yesterday in his training he still had quite a bit of pain in his thumb."

The decision means Jean-Paul Duminy retains his place in the middle order after scoring an unbeaten 50 in the Perth Test and a magnificent 166 in the Melbourne Test in his debut as Prince's replacement.

Smith will skip this month's one-day series in Australia to rest and recover in time for the home Test series against Australia starting on February 26.

Australia: Ricky Ponting (captain), Matthew Hayden, Simon Katich, Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Andrew McDonald, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle, Doug Bollinger, Ben Hilfenhaus (12th man).

Excited Bollinger wants to keep it simple

Ricky Ponting is flanked by Australia's two debutants

Doug Bollinger is the sort of bowler that could quickly develop into an Australian cult figure. He is fast, swings the new and old ball and takes wickets regularly, especially at the SCG. It was those traits that earned him a spot ahead of Ben Hilfenhaus for the third Test, but he also brings colourful off-field characteristics.

A year ago he was bald, but now has locks as lush as the outfield, and he speaks with the honesty of a guy who grew up in western Sydney. After hearing about his recall to the squad this week he said he would give 150,000% for his country; he was told on Friday morning he would become Australia's 405th Test player.

When asked whether he would rest well the night before the game he said: "I hope I sleep well, I'll just try and take it as another cricket game, basically. If I think about it too much I'll go insane." Are you nervous? "Yeah."

In the past 14 months Bollinger has taken five five-wicket hauls at the SCG, including 6 for 47 in his last match here against South Australia. A Sheffield Shield season of 45 wickets at 15.44 in 2007-08 won him tours to West Indies and India, but he had to wait for an opportunity after slipping behind Peter Siddle, who he will share the new ball with.

"I'm just going to go out there and just do what I've been doing for New South Wales and try swinging the ball," he said. "Just try to intimidate batsmen and just try and be competitive. I'd just like to compete and do well, I'm not out there to make friends."

Graeme Smith and the South Africans do not know much about Bollinger, but they are learning quickly about his quirks. "Any guy who is going to try 150,000% in this game is someone we're going to have to respect," Smith said teasingly. The tourists have traded jokes about Bollinger's hair on the team bus, but say they won't use them on the field.

While Bollinger spoke off the cuff, Andrew McDonald, the other debutant, was more cautious. McDonald's long-term options are less certain - he comes behind Andrew Symonds and Shane Watson on the allrounders' list - and he was not sure that he would be batting six.

Jacques Kallis is the player McDonald has looked up to most during his career, but he was reluctant to describe the balance between his batting and bowling qualities. "I'll let you guys make up your own minds," he said. "I'm not going to put myself in any category." He bats at five or six for Victoria and chips in with regular overs.

Hayden fails, Australia struggles

South Africa celebrates the dismissal of Matthew Hayden.

Scoreboard at tea on the fourth day of the second Test between Australia and South Africa at Melbourne Cricket Ground today.

Australia 1st innings 394
South Africa 1st innings 459

Australia 2nd Innings Mins Balls 4s 6s

M HAYDEN c Duminy b Steyn 23 47 28 3 0

S KATICH c Boucher b Steyn 15 56 40 2 0

R PONTING not out 87 184 138 7 0

M HUSSEY c Amla b Morkel 2 13 8 0 0

M CLARKE c McKenzie b Steyn 29 101 79 4 0

A SYMONDS c Kallis b Steyn 0 2 5 0 0

B HADDIN c Kallis b Ntini 10 31 35 0 1

B LEE b Kallis 8 20
Sundries (3lb 3nb) 6

Seven wickets for 180

Fall: 37 (Hayden), 40 (Katich), 49 (Hussey), 145 (Clarke), 145 (Symonds), 165 (Haddin), 180 (Lee).

Bowling: D Steyn 14-3-46-4 (1nb), M Ntini 12-1-24-1, M Morkel 11-2-35-1 (2nb), P Harris 13-0-30-0, J Kallis 8.3-1-42-1.

Batting time: 234 mins. Overs: 58.3.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK), Billy Doctrove (WIN).

Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SRI).

Third Umpire: Bruce Oxenford (AUS).

AUSTRALIA's hopes of keeping the series alive and Matthew Hayden's fading career took another hit when South Africa instigated a dramatic top order collapse on the fourth morning of the Boxing Day Test.

But it was the controversial dismissal of Michael Hussey that caused Australia most heartache.

Towering paceman Morne Morkel produced a nasty bouncer that reared up off the pitch and appeared to strike Hussey on the helmet, before ballooning up to Hashim Amla at mid-wicket.

The stony look on the faces of Hussey and his batting partner Ricky Ponting told the story after the West Australian batsman was given out for 2 by umpire Aleem Dar despite the ball missing both his bat and gloves.

The poor decision added to the catalogue of disasters for Australia and Hussey in this Test. Hussey made a duck in the first innings and on Sunday panicked underneath a high catch that was lost in the sun.

After Australia resumed at 0-4, still 61 runs behind South Africa following the day three heroics of JP Duminy and the Proteas tail, Hayden made an encouraging start, playing a nice drive before he popped a simple catch up to short extra cover for 23.

Australia lost three wickets before wiping out the deficit, after Simon Katich was caught behind chasing a wide ball off Dale Steyn, who has seven wickets for the match.

After a frenetic start to the session, Ponting and his deputy Michael Clarke restored some calm and guided Australia to 3-86 at lunch.

Ricky Ponting century covers for Australia's failings

Captain's knock: Ricky Ponting's century held together the Australian innings on day one of the second Test at the MCG

Australia captain Ricky Ponting scored a superb Boxing Day century at the MCG, but South Africa continue to make the running in this riveting series

Pilloried in the Australian media for his captaincy at Perth, Ricky Ponting responded with a feisty, angst-fuelled century. It was a thunderous innings, studded with booming drives, and for most of the afternoon he seemed to have the South Africans at his mercy. But when he fell, his team began to crumble. Australia were a shaky 280 for six by the close.

Increasingly grim-faced and gimlet-eyed, Ponting is starting to resemble another captain who led from the front - that 1980s icon Allan Border. The founder of Australia's recent dynasty, Border began his 10-year reign with a scrappy sort of side: a mixture of naïve newcomers and ageing has-beens, who could not even be relied upon to beat the Poms. Ponting now finds himself in a similar boat, and is even beginning to wear Border's familiar put-upon look, if not the trademark moustache.

Australia do still have plenty of talent in the ranks. Their recent discoveries include Mitchell Johnson, arguably the fastest bowler in the world, as well as the clean-hitting batsman-wicketkeeper Brad Haddin. But there are also some major structural problems to be addressed. As with so many struggling teams, the senior players are not pulling their weight, which makes it so much harder for the juniors to establish themselves.

Here at the MCG, the cracks began showing within half-an-hour of the start. Matthew Hayden, Australia's one-time enforcer, scooped the first half-volley he received to backward point. It was a shot of a man who is uncomfortable with his own game. Now, if Hayden does not produce in the second innings, he will leave the selectors facing a difficult decision. Do they stick by him for the Sydney Test, in the knowledge that he is a virtual passenger at present? Or do they bring a distinguished career to a close?

Ponting took over from his old friend and ally, and looked almost as uncomfortable early on. On 24, he could not decide whether or not to play at a widish ball from Dale Steyn, with the end result that he steered it to third slip. The ball seemed to travel in slow motion - too slow, Ponting later suggested, for Neil McKenzie, who made a mess of a simple chance. It was the first catch that has gone down in the series, and it turned out to be an expensive one.

Freed up by his reprieve, Ponting went on the rampage when the teams emerged after lunch. As the adrenaline surged, his personal run-rate immediately ratcheted up from just over 2.5 to a little over six. A glorious punch down the ground from the first ball after the interval was followed by a driving masterclass - three boundaries in three balls from Makhaya Ntini - as the ball was dispatched to all points of the compass. A 60,000-strong crowd rose to salute his second century on Boxing Day, the blue-riband occasion of the Australian sporting calendar. Both have come against South Africa.

Ponting's mastery was in sharp contrast to the struggles of his team-mates. Simon Katich ground his way to 54 before missing a straight one. Mike Hussey, whose statistics are becoming less Bradmanesque by the minute, was caught in an agony of indecision by a ball from Steyn, and flicked a thin edge through to the wicketkeeper. After successive scores of 0, 10 and 0, the man known as Mr Cricket is in danger of becoming Mr Nick-it.

Ponting fought on until just before the tea-break, when he pushed forward to Paul Harris's surprisingly effective left-arm spin and was held at short-leg. The final session was left to Michael Clarke, whose 36 not out occupied the best part of four hours, and a couple of contrastingly breezy cameos from Haddin and Andrew Symonds. South Africa were the happier team by the close.