South African coach Shukri Conrad brushed off criticism about the uneven scheduling of the World Test Championship after his team qualified for the final.
South Africa beat Pakistan in a dramatic two-wicket win in Centurion on Sunday to earn their sixth successive Test win. On the average points system used for the championship, the South Africans are guaranteed a place in the final next June, even if they lose their last match, the second Test against Pakistan starting in Cape Town on Friday.
"People abroad will be shouting that we had an easy draw. Well, I'm not going to apologise for that. We're just thrilled that we can be at Lord's next year," Conrad said after the victory against Pakistan.
Australia's win against India in Melbourne on Monday put them in pole position to join South Africa at Lord's, although they still have to play a fifth Test against India and two matches away against Sri Lanka.
South Africa's path to the final illustrated the imbalance in the quantity and quality of the fixtures for the nine teams contesting the World Test Championship (WTC), a fact highlighted by former England captain Michael Vaughan, who called for a revamp of the format.
"At the moment every team plays a wildly different number of games and that just does not create a balanced outcome or totally fair league table," Vaughan wrote in a column for British daily The Telegraph.
South Africa had six series, all of only two matches. They shared a series against India 1-1 but did not play against Australia or England.
Australia, India and England, by contrast, played each other in a five-match 'marquee' series.
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