Writing for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Chappell compared the venue selection to the Duke of Wellington choosing the battlefield of Waterloo to negate Napoleon Bonaparte's advantage in speed. He argued that Cricket South Africa's board looked hard at the historical record and concluded the 'Bullring' in Johannesburg is not the fortress it is often assumed to be against Australia.
Chappell noted that, despite commentators continuing to talk up Johannesburg as an unconquerable stronghold as if it were still 1996, Australia has won there repeatedly. He recalled Australia's victory in 2002, where Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist starred against an attack including Allan Donald, Makhaya Ntini, Jacques Kallis and Andre Nel. Australia won again in 2006, with Michael Hussey grinding, Martyn making runs when it mattered, and Brett Lee contributing with the bat. Most recently, Chappell remembered watching an eighteen-year-old Pat Cummins take seven wickets on debut in 2011, with six in the second innings, before he and Mitchell Johnson saw Australia home.
By omitting Johannesburg, Chappell suggests, South Africa has removed a venue where Australia has historically thrived, perhaps tilting the conditions in their favour for the series.