Buchanan blames lack of discipline

This pull from Justin Langer went for four, but the shot cost Australia four wickets © Getty Images

Australia's coach John Buchanan has blamed a lack of discipline from the batting as he watched a solid position slip away on the first day against South Africa at Perth. Shortly after lunch Justin Langer and Ricky Ponting had carried Australia to 1 for 111, but a rash of poor strokes against persevering bowling resulted in them falling to 258.

"It was a game of two parts today. Up until lunch, South Africa were lacking in discipline with their line and length and we took advantage and exploited that," Buchanan told reporters. "But come the second part of the day it was vice-versa, they tied their discipline up and we probably didn't. We made some wrong decisions on shots."

Four of the batsmen - Langer, Matthew Hayden, Mike Hussey and Andrew Symonds - fell trying to pull the ball on a bouncy WACA strip. It is only five days since Australia returned from their Chappell-Hadlee series in New Zealand but Buchanan refused to use that as an excuse.

"The transition is not always easy but that's what we have to do. I thought our preparation was very good and there are no excuses about the way we prepared for this game," he said. "Both teams were a little bit rusty today but I'm sure both will improve tomorrow."

In an unusual comment from Buchanan he also said that is was inevitable Australia would not always hit the high standards that everyone expects. "It would be nice if we could live up to everybody's expectations every time we bat and every time we bowl but the reality is that it is international sport, it's very competitive and we're just not super-human."

Makhaya Ntini, who captured 5 for 64, was the main enforcer in the South African attack, removing four of the top five to complete his best figures against Australia: "It has been a good day for South Africa. From a bowling point of view, it was an amazing day."

He admitted that the pre-match hype had probably got to the players during the first session, but they settled down as the day wore on. "From the beginning we were a little bit nervous because it's the first time we've played a test for six months. But after lunch everyone was pumped up and it paid off.

"We needed someone who was going to do something special today and to take five wickets against Australia is a huge achievement."