Ken Borland

While the Covid Lockdown was obviously a major blow to businesses, for Aiden Markram it was a time to clear his mind and he said on Wednesday that the Proteas as a whole are hoping to bring clarity of thought to the serious business of their Test series against Sri Lanka which starts at Centurion on Saturday.

South Africa’s Test form has been dismal ever since they suffered the shock 2-0 loss to Sri Lanka at home in early 2019 and Markram’s own fortunes also plunged at the same time. Both team and player have identified the need to start from scratch again in the longest form of the game.

“We’re excited to get back in the whites again and start playing good Test cricket. We’ve touched on what happened last time against Sri Lanka and at the end of the day our skills were not up to scratch, we did not perform well enough to win. It’s about performances on the board, that’s how you get results, and for the batsmen there is an individual responsibility to go really big and put the team in position to win.

“We haven’t done that enough in Test cricket lately and we need to do that from the start, it’s about hitting the ground running. Personally, I feel my performances certainly have not been good enough over the last 18 months and I am playing for my spot again so I need to score a lot of runs, get some big partnerships going so we can put big runs on the board.

“The biggest help of Lockdown was that it allowed me to clear my mind. I played a lot of cricket while I was struggling and when you’re out of form everything seems rushed and there are just so many games coming thick and fast. So I had clouded thoughts, but Lockdown allowed me to slow down and touch base with what worked in the past,” Markram said on Wednesday.

And the 26-year-old certainly seems to be back in the right frame of mind as Markram goes into the Test series as the leading batsman, in terms of average (77.71), in domestic four-day cricket, having scored three successive centuries.

It would be stupid for the Proteas to ignore such hot form and Markram is likely to join the same top six, with the exception of Rassie van der Dussen coming in for the retired Hashim Amla, that disappointed against the Sri Lankans in 2019.

Markram said as long as the batsmen don’t go on any crazy flights of fancy out of their individual game-plans then they should be able to re-establish themselves as a solid unit.

“It’s about spending time at the crease, batting time. A lot of it comes down to how good your game-plans are and how long you can stay in that plan. You need to stay in your plan for as long as possible, always looking to be positive, but if they don’t bowl bad balls then you have to be disciplined enough to not chase things. It comes down to what the conditions are and what the bowling attack allows.

“Hopefully there will be a few bad balls that we can put away and if we operate at a good intensity then we will be able to put away those bad balls when they come. The Sri Lankan attack is mostly similar to last time and they were certainly a handful, but we have put plans together to hopefully combat them this time. We need to bat long periods and put them under pressure,” Markram said.

South Africa are desperate to put right their humiliating 2-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka the last time they toured, and seven of the players who were involved in that 2019 embarrassment look set to get the chance to start the series off on the right note at SuperSport Park in Centurion from Saturday.

After the entire 17-man squad who entered the bubble at Irene Country Club returned negative Covid tests on Tuesday, it is now apparent that the two members of the original Proteas squad who are positive for the virus are Beuran Hendricks and Keegan Petersen.

The unfortunate Dolphins batsman Petersen, who is averaging over 50 for his third successive domestic four-day campaign, was probably next in line in terms of the batting line-up, and may even have made his Test debut if South Africa decided to go with seven specialist batsmen.

Left-arm paceman Hendricks will consider himself equally unlucky as he took five for 64 against England the last time South Africa were in the field in a Test match and has taken 12 wickets at an average of 20 in three red-ball games for the Imperial Lions this season.

Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock were all part of the batting line-up that failed to meet expectations against Sri Lanka in 2019 and are likely to play again in the first Test from Boxing Day, but Rassie van der Dussen, who has scored three half-centuries in his four Tests, looks the right fit at number three having scored a brilliantly-judged 98 against England in his last Test innings.

Proteas coach Mark Boucher showed his preference for having a genuine all-rounder in the No.7 position by playing Dwaine Pretorius in three of the four Tests against England, but the Lions stalwart has only just returned from a hamstring injury and Wiaan Mulder, who played one Test against Sri Lanka in 2019, has been in fine form with the bat for the same team.

The absence of Hendricks, who played in the last Test against England because Kagiso Rabada, now injured, was suspended for once again getting in the face of batsmen while celebrating their dismissal, opens the door for Warriors seamer Glenton Stuurman to make his Test debut.

Stuurman has taken 42 wickets in 12 matches for the Warriors but he is highly-rated by the Proteas management, who see him as being in the same mould as the recently-retired Vernon Philander. Stuurman certainly seems to have the same knack of bowling some incredible deliveries to get batsmen out and the only other pacemen in the squad who are competing to join Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi in the starting line-up are also uncapped players in Migael Pretorius and Lutho Sipamla.

Considering that South Africa have chosen a specialist spinner in their squad for their last five Tests at SuperSport Park, all of which they have won, it is likely left-armer Keshav Maharaj, another survivor of the 2019 Sri Lanka series, will play, not least of all because he is the team’s most experienced bowler.

Titans fast bowler Lungi Ngidi should be right at home in familiar conditions and Anrich Nortje, who has taken nine wickets at 25.77 in three red-ball matches in Centurion, is likely to join him in the starting XI.

Proteas squad: Dean Elgar, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Anrich Nortje, Glenton Stuurman, Lungi Ngidi, Dwaine Pretorius, Migael Pretorius, Lutho Sipamla, Sarel Erwee, Raynard van Tonder, Kyle Verreynne.

The Proteas are looking to hit the Sri Lankans hard and early as they strive to avenge their shock 2-0 Test series defeat the last time they hosted the islanders in 2019, South Africa captain Quinton de Kock said on Monday.

Having enjoyed themselves on the slower and lower coastal pitches at Kingsmead and St George’s Park last time around, this time the Sri Lankans are being taken to the pace-bowling paradises of SuperSport Park and the Wanderers. While the practicalities of having their bio-bubble for the series in Gauteng – at the Irene Country Club just outside Centurion – obviously played a part, there is also no doubt the Proteas want to play their sub-continental opposition on the Highveld.

“We’re obviously all very eager to get back on the Test field, it will be a nice change of format after a lot of T20 cricket this year, and the guys are hungry and excited to see the red ball again. We want to play clever Test cricket, be streetwise, but we want to be quite aggressive. We want to throw the first punches, in the past we’ve maybe let the other teams do that and we want to get better at that.

“They hurt us on our own grounds last time so now we want to win convincingly. Not a lot of the squad [7 of them actually] were part of that losing battle last time but we do have the memories and we obviously want to rectify that. The pitches at Centurion and the Wanderers speak for themselves, they usually have pace and bounce and get a bit up-and-down later on.

“Sometimes they do spin a bit, but the typical nature of those wickets, good pitches for cricket, is what we expect. Whether we get that or not is another thing, but we don’t feel the need to send any messages to the groundsmen,” De Kock said on Monday.

South Africa’s best batsman of last year, De Kock confirmed that the Test captaincy was only a short-term option for him and the goal was to find a new long-term skipper this summer.

“The selectors told me the situation they were in and I understand where they’re coming from. It’s just for this season, not long-term, and until someone really puts up their hand for the leadership role. I have a lot on my plate but I’m happy doing the Tests as well in the short term. I will also keep wicket in the Tests because I need to. But we are trying to get things off my shoulders and I wasn’t going to keep against England in the ODIs.

“We have young players in the squad who need to learn fast. When I see where the rest of the cricket world is, teams like Australia and India, they have solid line-ups and they have got their game sorted. We need to learn fast so we can play some structured cricket. We have to make sure that we are a step ahead when we go out on the field because [Sri Lanka coach] Mickey Arthur knows what to expect here,” De Kock said.

Mickey Arthur pronounced himself as a very happy coach after Sri Lanka’s first training session in South Africa on Monday and, while acknowledging conditions will be tougher for the tourists than the last time they were here, he says they have very good players and all bases are covered.

Arthur, who coached the Proteas from 2005-2010, brought Pakistan to these shores two years ago for a Test series they lost 3-0. And two of those Tests were at Centurion and the Wanderers, where Sri Lanka’s two matches are this time around, a far cry from the slower and lower pitches of Kingsmead and St George’s Park, where they beat South Africa 2-0 later that same summer.

“Conditions were totally different to what Sri Lanka had when they just followed Pakistan here and played down at the coast. We had Centurion and the Wanderers and I don’t want to bring up old scars but I did have a bit of a whinge and moan about the pitches. I saw Centurion today and I think we will get good South African pitches – a bit seamer-friendly, but that’s okay.

“The boys only arrived two days ago but they were outstanding today in training, I was very impressed by the standard, the effort and the attitude, so I’m a very happy coach. The Proteas are a very dangerous team for sure, they will be very well prepared, coached and led, and we are by no means favourites but I know we are playing very good cricket and we have some very good players, all bases are covered,” Arthur said on Monday.

While replicating the shock result of 2019 is obviously the Sri Lankan team’s overall goal for the series, Arthur said the focus is on constant improvement for a team that is currently sixth in the ICC World Test Championship, two places higher than South Africa.

“This is a young team but I expect them to just get better and better. The focus is very much on ourselves as a team instead of on the opposition. We want to create consistency around selection and roles, although our strategies and game-plans will be a lot different over here. This is a massive series for us, Sri Lanka were the first Asian team to win a series in South Africa and we would love to replicate that.“

It goes without saying that Proteas coach Mark Boucher will be extremely determined to reverse the 2019 result under Ottis Gibson. But Arthur played a major role in Boucher’s career when he was still coaching in South Africa and Sri Lanka’s coach is obviously still a bit of a cheerleader for his opposite number.

“Mark Boucher and I go back a helluva long way. He was always an aggressive player so I’m sure he’ll be an aggressive coach and I look forward to locking horns with him. I know the psyche of the Proteas, how they will attack us, and I’m sure they will play good, hard, aggressive cricket. Quinton de Kock is a wonderful player, he leads from the front, and he always plays his cricket in the same way as Boucher,” Arthur said.