Ken Borland

The way the Proteas played in the ODI series against Australia will provide a blueprint for their return-to-play series against England and the form shown by the South Africans at the IPL as well as the solid base four-day cricket will provide for those staying at home is most encouraging, national assistant coach Enoch Nkwe said on Thursday.

The Proteas’ first international action since March 7, when they completed a wonderful 3-0 whitewash of Australia, was confirmed this week with England arriving to play three T20s from November 27, followed by three ODIs from December 4-9.

“We did a lot of good things against Australia, but there was still a lot to get right. But in terms of individual and team confidence, especially with the squad we played with, that result will go a long way. That’s our reference point, we will build on that and there’s no better team to measure yourself against than world champions England.

“You do worry about the guys getting enough game time before returning to international play, but fortunately the IPL has got guys back into a competitive space and helped us. The fact that guys like KG Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Faf du Plessis and Quinny de Kock are doing well is even better; it means our core are competing very well and they will come back with energy.

“Domestically, we’re happy to be starting with four-day cricket because that will give the guys a lot of time on their feet, it will stretch them. Transitioning from red-ball to white-ball cricket is not a huge factor and they’ll have a good base, they can get their confidence right up there by scoring runs and taking wickets. We will have enough internal Proteas matches to sharpen things and raise the intensity,” Nkwe said at Cricket South Africa’s season launch at Hammanskraal Cricket Club on Thursday.

With both England and South Africa restricted to a biobubble at The Vineyard hotel in Cape Town for the duration of the series, Nkwe said making sure there were enough players to cover for any positive Covid tests would require a bigger squad and playing cricket during a pandemic would require other obstacles to be overcome.

“We’ll ned to broaden the squad, we’re always looking as a coaching team for who else is out there and we know we’ll pick up some new players along the line. Then it’s about deciding who to give time out too. But the mental challenge of being in a bubble is the biggest element. Our preparation won’t be as flexible as before and cricket is not just about skills, it’s about the mental health and emotional state of the players.

“So that’s a massive element added to our preparation. We want to create the best environment for the players, so that they are comfortable, but they also need to be stretched. The Vineyard is apparently quite open though and there’s a bit more room for the players to breathe a bit. Hopefully things will be flexible enough for us, but we just have to get used to it and not allow it to hold back our performance,” Nkwe said.