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PERTH. — South Africa cricket coach Russell Domingo says the team has improved over the past few months because of a renewed commitment to the national side ahead of T20 leagues.Russell said the players had vowed to focus on the Proteas ahead of the likes of the IPL and Big Bash, and had bonded together strongly as a team this year.

As a result, they are looking to move back up the ICC Test rankings after dropping from first to sixth at the start of this year. They lead the Test series in Australia one nil.

Domingo said: “I am going to get abused for saying it again, but there’s so much cricket being played and when you do things like go to a tour to West Indies, and guys are arriving a day before you play, the intensity will never be what it needs to be.

“As a group, we’ve made a collective decision that our main focus and our main decision is playing for our country and giving everything when we play for our country. At times, with the amount of cricket you can play, it can be seen to be playing another game, and it is not (just) another game when you play for your country.

“That is something the team, the coaches, the management, might all have been a little bit guilty of.

“Every single time you play for your country or you are involved in a national game, that space has got to be honoured and respected. Maybe that’s the mental shift we have made.

“Maybe in the past, with the number of games being played and the number of tournaments and events — IPLs, Big Bashes, CPLs — maybe the focus wasn’t where it needed to be.”

He added: “We’ll be making sure that mentally and physically they are absolutely switched on when they play for their country.

“Maybe, in the past, it wasn’t always that.” Meanwhile, Australia coach Darren Lehmann warned his wounded squad “every spot is under pressure” for the second Test this weekend after their capitulation to South Africa in Perth.

The Proteas won the opening Test by 177 runs after poor batting and string of dropped catches consigned Australia to a fourth successive Test defeat. They lost all three Tests on their July-August tour of Sri Lanka.

Opener Shaun Marsh has already been ruled out of the second Test in Hobart from Saturday with a broken finger, with Joe Burns expected to take his place. The uncapped Callum Ferguson has also been drafted into the squad with Adam Voges under an injury cloud, while paceman Joe Mennie, 12th man in Perth, or Jackson Bird will get their chance with Peter Siddle Tuesday ruled out with a sore back.

Depending on the Hobart conditions, spinner Nathan Lyon could be a casualty after he failed to take a wicket in South Africa’s second innings at a cost of 146 runs.

“I would say every spot is under pressure,” said Lehmann, who is aware that the last time Australia lost four in a row, then coach Mickey Arthur got the chop. — AFP.