Hundemarkt » Morrison got an injection in his injured forearm and is

Despite a dearth of Test cricket compared to the Big Three and several months between fixtures, South Africa, at times, took their place in the format for granted and in so doing lost some of their stature. That was the startling admission of stand-in captain Faf du Plessis ahead of the two-Test series against New Zealand, which sees South Africa competing from No. 7 on the rankings after starting the year on top.We had a nice culture because we were playing well and then you can almost just leave it be. Now, we want to challenge each other more and that goes right from the top, from the coaching staff to the guys carrying drinks on the field. We are trying to challenge each other more to be better and to not accept mediocrity, du Plessis said. We have fallen in a few traps where we play so much cricket, you just rock up and play another game of cricket but playing for South Africa is a huge honour and its about challenging each other to be better and to get back to being No. 1.The ladder back to the top cannot be climbed immediately but any margin of victory for South Africa over New Zealand will see them move up to fifth spot and for du Plessis, thats a start. Weve got series at home now which can make a difference and which we will need to win. Weve got New Zealand now and Sri Lanka later this year and in both those series, if we play well, we should win, he said.If South Africa hope to turn things around, they have to start by exorcising the demons that discovered them in India late last year. We suffered a bit; we had a few ghosts after the Indian series and that was most of the guys. India was tough for us a batting unit and it left a few scars, du Plessis said. Now its a new season, we can focus on the strength of our batting again. The only way we can do that is by putting runs on the board.Du Plessis was one of the players that struggled most. In seven innings in India, he recorded three ducks and only made more than 10 runs once. Although he managed one fifty in five innings against England at home, he was dropped for the final Test at Centurion. Now, he returns as captain with a point to prove. I had been very successful up until that point, where I averaged close to 50 in Test cricket so to look to dramatically change things would be wrong, he said. But its about going back to my game plans and what worked really well. If you have good form, you can just run with it and score as many runs as possible. If you are on the other side of that, you need to fight to get back in. In the England series, we were fighting to get back into form after the Indian series. Its an important series for me personally to try and make a statement in that middle order and be a powerful batter in our line-up.Batting was only half South Africas problem though. They were also deficient with ball in hand last summer, during which they were without Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander. The pair have returned from their respective injuries and du Plessis believes it will make a big difference to South Africas ability to compete. We saw when they werent there against England that you cannot replace an experienced attack. Take Southee and Boult out of New Zealand or Anderson and Broad out of England and its just a different team, he said. Theres no substitute in Test cricket for guys who can bowl relentlessly in good areas for a long period of time. Young bowlers can come in and do well in any other format but, especially in Test cricket, experience is really important.New Zealand have Southee and Boult in their ranks, to complement an inform batting line-up in which Tom Latham, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson and BJ Watling all recently scored centuries in Zimbabwe, which should make for what du Plessis predicts will be an evenly matched series, but what he hopes will put South Africa ahead is their new approach. After a pre-series team-building camp in which South Africa promised to form a new culture driven by a lot more honesty, they also took a decision to be more assertive on the field.We are a very resilient team and sometimes we waited for the chips to be down and then we came back and played really good cricket. We did that extremely well and there was a time when we were the only team that could stick it out and fight back and draw, du Plessis said, making reference to matches like the Adelaide, Wanderers and Colombo Tests, where South Africa forced draws from what seemed like lost causes.Now South Africa want to move from that defensive style of play to a more attacking one. For us to move forward as a team, we need to throw the first punch more and play a more aggressive brand of cricket, du Plessis said but tempered it a touch. Aggressive never means doing anything stupid. We understand what we need to do. The basics in Test cricket will always remain the most important thing. Its just more a mindset to be a little bit more attacking. Lions Jerseys China . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . 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OAKLAND, Calif. -- Getting the chance to play first base for the first time, Tim Beckham figured he might as well hit like a slugging first baseman instead of a middle infielder.Beckham made the most of his emergency position switch by hitting a homer and sparking a four-run inning with his eighth straight hit over three games to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 7-3 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday night.Thats not an easy thing, manager Kevin Cash said. Thats uncomfortable to go play somewhere in a big league ballgame. You can imagine theres probably some nerves and anxiety.With Logan Morrison sidelined by an injured right forearm and Steve Pearce needing a day off, Beckham was Tampa Bays best option to play first despite never having played the position.He took infield before the game and got some quick lessons from bench coach Tom Foley before taking the field with one of Pearces gloves.I just told myself I trust in my ability, Beckham said. Just trust in my ability and be comfortable over there. It helped out.While he played error-free defense and made a nice play on a forceout in the ninth, it was his bat that did the biggest damage.He followed up a five-hit game in Colorado on Wednesday by hitting a solo homer in the second against Sonny Gray (4-9) and then adding a leadoff single in the big fifth inning that gave Tampa Bay the lead for good.Beckham, who started the streak with a single in his final at-bat Monday, was finally retired when he popped out to end the sixth but by then he had done his damage. His eight hits in eight at-bats -- he walked in his other plate appearance -- were one more hit than he had in 41 at-bats in all of June.Corey Dickerson homered and drove in three runs, and Logan Forsythe, Brad Miller and Evan Longoria added RBI hits in the fifth inning to back a solid start by Matt Moore (6-7).Moore allowed a three-run homer to Jake Smolinski in the second but nothing else in seven innings to earn his first win in eight road starts this season.I think that kind of woke mee up, Moore said of the homer.dddddddddddd It was early in the game. We were just trying to set the tone by throwing strikes, pounding the zone early.Alex Colome got three outs for his 21st save in as many chances to give the Rays their first three game winning streak since June 12-15. Tampa Bay has won four of five following a 3-24 stretch that was the worst in franchise history.Gray, who snapped a seven-game losing streak last Saturday against Toronto, was unable to build on that success. He allowed seven runs and nine hits in five innings.That game kind of went how my years been, giving up the home run then having the big inning, Gray said. I thought at the start of the fifth inning I made some pretty good pitches, and suddenly its first and second with nobody out and then it didnt go well from there.TRAINERS ROOMRays: Morrison got an injection in his injured forearm and is expected to be fine in a day or two.Athletics: LHP Rich Hill (blister) played catch before the game with protection on his middle finger. He is still not ready to throw curveballs or pitch off the mound. ... RHP Zach Neal was recalled from Triple-A Nashville and LHP Patrick Schuster was optioned to Nashville.TRADE TALKAs RF Josh Reddick said hes tuning out any talk about a possible trade before the Aug. 1 deadline, saying the game is hard enough without worrying about things out of his control. But Reddick did say he is upset there hasnt been more progress on a long-term deal to keep him in Oakland past this season.Its kind of disheartening to know something hasnt been worked out so far, and weve been four months into it, he said.UP NEXTRays: Jake Odorizzi (4-5) snapped a six-start winless streak last Sunday against Baltimore when he allowed two runs in six innings for his first win since June 8.Athletics: Sean Manaea (3-5) faces the Rays for the first time in his career in the second game of the series. ' ' '