Ken Borland

Being a South African cricket fan can certainly be like a sugar rush as they have demonstrated this summer with their sterling deeds against India and in New Zealand. But it can also be like the massive shot of glucose that leads to hypertension and diabetes, especially when one considers all the boardroom shenanigans and our previous World Cup woes.

Which is why the last week has been an especially sweet one – in the healthiest sense possible – thanks to the irrepressible form shown by our Women’s Proteas at the World Cup in New Zealand and the great news that Cricket South Africa have finally found their new, permanent CEO.

And he was there all along, hiding in plain view, if you like, in the form of Pholetsi Moseki, who has been serving as acting CEO anyway for the last 15 months. Choosing the right person, which CSA did when Moseki replaced the disgraced Kugandrie Govender, has borne fruit for the organisation since December 2020. I am confident Moseki will continue to be the glue that is fixing many of the cracks and wounds the organisation suffered in recent years.

As the saying goes, to get the juice out of an orange you need to apply pressure and it has been incredible to see how Marizanne Kapp and the rest of the Proteas have blossomed when their matches have been on a knife-edge at the World Cup. Kapp has enjoyed a phenomenal week and is displaying the sort of all-round stardom that has previously been the preserve of Lance Klusener and Ben Stokes at World Cups.

In the sterilised, rarefied atmosphere of a World Cup, the Proteas are producing the goods and, with Australia, are the only unbeaten team after four matches. It is encouraging though, that with South Africa probably just one win away from the semi-finals, they have not yet produced their best cricket. There are still areas of their game that need cleaning up.

The Proteas will be anxious to sort out the middle-order batting collapses that have made it necessary for Kapp to produce her late heroics with the bat, in the company of, at various times, Chloe Tryon, Trisha Chetty, Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka.

Two key batters have not fired at all, with Lizelle Lee scoring just 28 runs in three innings and Mignon du Preez making 27 in four knocks. Plus Tazmin Brits has been uneasy at the crease and her 51 runs in four innings have come at a strike-rate of just 40.

If a couple of those batters can click next week, then South Africa will be hard to stop as they head into the knock-outs.

Magnificent is probably the best description of the Proteas bowlers, who can comfortably claim to be the best attack at the World Cup.

Ismail, Masabata Klaas, Khaka and Kapp apply such consistent pressure on the opposition throughout that the Proteas’ relatively low totals have proven to be enough.

As for the Proteas men’s side, they have their chance to once again enthral us in their series against Bangladesh. The ODIs are all on the highveld and South Africa will be favoured to win comfortably, having seen off the might of India 3-0 in their previous 50-over series.

Victory in the Test series will have to be achieved via their reserve strength, with five regulars deciding not to delay their departure for the IPL.

The fact is the IPL is their chief employer, at least in financial terms, so it is difficult to criticise the players for putting their livelihoods first.

But it is also unavoidable that Aiden Markram and Rassie van der Dussen have both put their shaky Test careers in doubt by not playing against Bangladesh in the two-match series.

One of them was going to fall by the wayside anyway with Keegan Petersen returning, and Ryan Rickelton has been in such good form this summer that, if he finally gets the chance, he might just imitate Sarel Erwee and make an immediate impression.

Springbok centre Lukhanyo Am is not only the Sharks’ captain but he has been the provider of numerous moments of beautiful magic on the field, so wing Sbu Nkosi acknowledges the team are certainly going to miss him against Scarlets in Durban on Friday night, but they have confidence the large hole he leaves will be adequately filled.

Am has left for Japan for a lucrative two-month stint with Kobe Steelers, meaning he will miss the Sharks’ next seven United Rugby Championship matches, returning in time for the last game of the round-robin phase, away to Ulster on May 21.

“It would be very difficult for any team in the world to lose Lukhanyo,” Nkosi said on Tuesday. “But we have very capable replacements and they are learning quickly.

“But it’s a huge loss for any team, Lukhanyo has exceptional quality and the ability to produce some great moments on the field when they are really needed.

“We will take time to adjust, but if each player brings 10% extra then that will more than make up for Lukhanyo’s loss.

“In terms of the captaincy, Siya Kolisi has played a leadership role since he arrived, he’s been very influential and involved. He’ll bring the same energy now, he’s just got the authority of the captain’s title now,” Nkosi said.

The Scarlets have travelled from the rain and temperatures of less than 10° of Llanelli to Durban perhaps expecting the weather to be a bit milder on the coast than it is currently in a place like Limpopo. But the temperature will be pushing 30° in Durban this week with humidity of 85%.

“It’s not gonna happen!” Nkosi laughed when asked about the potential for cooler weather now that summer has entered its last month. “It’s still very hot and humid and the ball is very slippery.

“That’s just how it is and I expect that on Friday night as well. We’ve been training in that, we are moulded in heat and our coaches have us training when the sun is at its highest.

“We want to use the humidity and heat to our advantage. Scarlets are flying from the cold to extremely hot weather.

“But it does not matter where they are placed on the log [12^th], that does not always reflect the quality of a side. We ourselves were in a totally different place on the log three weeks ago, so we will approach them with respect,” Nkosi said.

The Northerns Titans sang long and lustily to celebrate their remarkable triumph in the CSA 4-Day Series, but coach Mandla Mashimbyi is not the sort to grab the mike and do a solo. It is just not his style and his coaching is the same, with the former pace bowler praising a team effort for their first trophy since 2018/19.

“It was a great effort from the boys as a collective, it was a team effort,” Mashimbyi said. “Trophies are always nice to have, but the process of rebuilding the team started two years ago. It usually takes three years for the players to bind to your philosophies, so we are in the middle of that process.

“We didn’t start this competition as well as we would have liked, but we have put a lot in place since then and the team responded beautifully. Whenever we needed them to, they came through nicely.

“My responsibility was to keep the players believing, even when the Lions had a massive lead, and they responded brilliantly. We won four out of our last five games.

“It was an unbelievable finish, we finished like the Lions started,” Mashimbyi said.

Considering the powerhouse outfit they were before Mashimbyi replaced Mark Boucher in December 2019 and the new-look team they now field, Titans cricket is certainly in a healthy space.

The batting was superb with nine players averaging more than 40, Heinrich Klaasen topping the averages with 84.75 and Grant Mokoena the leading run-scorer with 482 runs at 48.20. While Simon Harmer led the bowling with 44 wickets, the most in the competition, he was well supported by the seam bowlers. Lizaad Williams was only available for two matches due to injury and Proteas call-ups, but topped the averages with 10 wickets at 12.60.

“Heinrich returned to us from the Proteas with a really good attitude and Grant Mokoena can now see his name up at the upper end of the best performers,” Mashimbyi said.

“Grant has always shown potential, but to come out and do what he has done is unbelievable for him. He understands his game now, he does his own things but it works for him.

“Lizaad came back with a lot of heart and passion, he really brought fight. The pace bowlers and Simon Harmer were magnificent as a unit,” Mashimbyi said.

Sisanda Magala may have bowled 20 overs and batted for more than two hours to rescue the Central Gauteng Lions this week, but as far as the national selectors are concerned, the bowling all-rounder is back in the dog kennel when it comes to the Proteas as he has been omitted from the squad for the three ODIs against Bangladesh starting on March 18.

Magala was declared unavailable for Proteas selection because he failed a fitness test. But that fitness test was held before the Lions’ CSA 4-Day Series match against the Northerns Titans. Not for the first time, the burly 31-year-old did not meet the national team’s fitness criteria, but his omission from the Bangladesh series has raised eyebrows because he put in a typically wholehearted effort against Northerns and was one of the few Lions’ players to shine.

All-rounder George Linde has also been left out in the cold in the only two changes to the squad which hammered India 3-0 in such impressive fashion in January.

Fast bowler Anrich Nortje was also not considered for selection because he is still struggling with his hip injury and is unlikely to play in the Tests against Bangladesh either. And Lungi Ngidi is in the squad but still needs to prove his fitness following his back problems in New Zealand.

Apart from the Magala controversy, the other main talking point around the selection was the retention of Aiden Markram, and he is likely to continue batting in the middle-order and providing a valuable sixth-bowler option. Apart from the other five batsmen who played against India – De Kock, Malan, Bavuma, Van der Dussen and Miller – the only other batters in the squad are reserve wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and Zubayr Hamza, who would be an option for the top three.

“With World Cup qualification points in the balance, it was vital for us not to tinker with a winning combination,” selection convenor Victor Mpitsang said in the CSA statement announcing the squad on Tuesday.

“After a great performance against a very strong India side, we felt it was important to reward the good performances of the previous series and continue to back this growing team.

“Consistency in selection and performance are just some of the key elements that need to be looked after, especially when building up to a World Cup, and we are looking forward to seeing what this group will produce against fresh opposition,” Mpitsang said.

The first ODI is on Friday, March 18 at Centurion, followed by the Pink Day ODI at the Wanderers and March 20 and then the third and final match back at SuperSport Park on Wednesday, March 23.

Squad – Quinton de Kock, Janneman Malan, Temba Bavuma, Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Marco Jansen, Wayne Parnell, Kyle Verreynne, Zubayr Hamza.