Proteas wary of being deceived by a possible Green Mamba as spinner debate continues

The Proteas are wary of being seduced by the lure of a proverbial Green Mamba at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch when they commence the first Test against New Zealand on Thursday.

It's a point first raised by bowling coach Charl Langeveldt earlier in the week, who noted that bowler-friendly conditions can sometimes be misleading and one that's now been drive home by skipper Dean Elgar.

"Sometimes you definitely can get carried away when you've seen green grass on the pitch. You might then not execute your skills and line and lengths," said the combative opener.

"That happens when you think the grass is going to do everything for you and you just put the ball in an area you think is going to give you success. That definitely doesn't work in those conditions. We need to be mindful."

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Not that Elgar is too concerned about that factor given how brilliant his pace attack of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi performed in the momentous series victory over India last month.

"That's obviously been a success of ours of late," he said.

"We've done that very well from a bowling point of view."

The potentially deceptive nature of the conditions also ties in with one of the hotter topics from a South African perspective going into the series: Where does the frontline spinner fit in?

Head coach Mark Boucher has made it clear previously that he's generally uncomfortable not going into a Test without a tweaker, while Keshav Maharaj has cultivated the necessary technical adjustment and mindset to do a job in unhelpful circumstances.

Simon Harmer has also been irrepressible as wicket-taker on the English county circuit despite the country also not being