Ken Borland

New South Africa limited-overs captain Temba Bavuma said on Monday that he hopes to define a style of play for the Proteas that will be fit for every condition and for every occasion.

Bavuma will lead South Africa for the first time in the three ODIs against Pakistan which start at Centurion on April 2, followed by four T20 Internationals.

The Proteas’ failure to win any of the world cups is well-documented and their performances in the global tournaments seem to be getting worse rather than improving, their most recent failure being their dismal showing in England when they failed to advance to the knockout stage. South Africa have not played an ODI since their tremendous 3-0 whitewash of Australia little more than a year ago, but since the 2019 World Cup they have completed just five matches.

“South Africa have always been more than competitive in ODIs, we’ve been No.1 in the world before. As the leader I’m just going to try and define a style of play that we will be able to execute in any conditions and under any occasion. To do that, mentally we need to improve a lot, we need to get stronger. I’ll be trying to inspire and get the guys into a space where they can perform as well as they can.

“We want to be aggressive and able to dominate in all conditions. We definitely want to test ourselves more in conditions that may be ‘unfavourable’ for us, we want to see if we can execute our brand of play at all times. The mood is optimistic and hopefully I can lead the team to a couple of victories as we build to 2023. We really want to define our style of play,” Bavuma said on Monday.

Bavuma’s landmark appointment – he is the first Black African to lead South Africa – comes after he has played just six ODIs, but has scored 335 runs at a strike-rate of 92 in those games. While the 30-year-old has now scaled the Drakensberg in terms of his career, he knows he needs to keep posting performances to add to the rocks already on his cairn on top of the mountain.

“Those conversations about where I’ll bat are still ongoing, but it will probably be in the top three, I would like to think no further down than number four. But being versatile is something I pride myself on, it’s something I’ve always had to do. I’ve got to make sure I’ve got the skills to achieve whatever role I’m in. Obviously I’m excited by the responsibility.

“I’m going to enjoy the journey and this new chapter in my career, and I look forward to adding value with the bat. I have to stamp my mark on the game and I will be the guy on the field who the players will look to for decision-making and plans. It starts with communication off the field and then hopefully we can execute the plans,” Bavuma said.

The domestic cricket season will come to an end next week with the Dolphins hosting the Titans in the 4-Day Domestic Series final at Kingsmead following the KwaZulu-Natal side’s seven-wicket win over the Warriors at St George’s Park on Friday.

The Warriors themselves had an outside chance of topping Pool B and qualifying for the final, but their defeat and the comfortable draw secured by the Titans against the Imperial Lions at the Wanderers on Friday means the Pretoria team go through to the showpiece game, which will be played over five days.

The Dolphins were chasing just 112 to beat the Warriors and, although Aya Gqamane picked up a couple of cheap wickets, opener Senuran Muthusamy dug in with 57 not out to see them home.

The Dolphins are certainly the form team at the moment, having overtaken the highflying Knights in spectacular fashion over the last two rounds.

The Knights’ form away from home is a concern though, with the Cape Cobras beating them by a record innings and 215 runs at Newlands on Friday to blast them out of top spot in Pool A.

The visitors, trailing by 342 runs on first innings after Pieter Malan’s 264 and a century by Kyle Verreynne, began the final day with little hope on 106 for seven.

Left-arm spinner George Linde, who is rapidly becoming one of the most dangerous all-round cricketers in the land, took the last three wickets to fall to finish with exceptional figures of seven for 29 in 21.2 overs, the Knights being bundled out for just 127. Farhaan Behardien scored a gutsy 48 not out.

Thanks to Wiaan Mulder’s accomplished 56 not out, the Imperial Lions were able to set the Titans a target of 313 in 89 overs, a required run-rate of 3.51. Openers Dean Elgar (68) and Aiden Markram (64) gave them a great start as they added 125 in 36.5 overs.

But left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks produced a superb delivery to have Markram caught behind, and Elgar then holed out against spinner Bjorn Fortuin shortly before the tea break. With the Titans ending the session on 149 for two after 48 overs, and the clouds starting to build up, both teams agreed there was little point in going into a third session and hands were shaken on the draw.

Titans paceman Lizaad Williams celebrated his selection for the Proteas squad for the first time with another fine performance, taking four for 74 in 18 overs.

Covid-19 has dealt South African sports fans a cruel deck of cards, never mind a hand, with the much-anticipated British and Irish Lions rugby tour now almost certainly not happening in this country this year. But there is still something to look forward to with the Rugby World Cup Sevens coming to Cape Town next year.

Megapro, who are the giants of commercial rights and sponsorship sales in South African sport, were appointed as the exclusive sponsorship sales agency by WorldRugby earlier this month and they are busy ensuring they lay on a feast of entertainment. The overriding hope, of course, is that the pandemic has eased to such an extent by September next year that sport would have returned to normal with spectators cramming into the wonderful Cape Town Stadium.

It is reassuring to know that it is a former Sevens Springbok, Steven Hunt, who is spearheading this drive as the sales manager of Megapro.

“It’s a waiting game still for the Lions tour, which is sad because it only comes around every 12 years and we could miss out on the enormous benefits it brings to the country. But the light at the end of the tunnel is the Sevens World Cup next year and there is great excitement around that. Everyone wants to see sport return to normality and the hype of a big event.

“At the moment, putting on big sporting events is weighed down with challenges, but a world cup unites the country and to lose that feel-good factor is the major loss we are currently having. But it’s good to see the professional set-ups moving again, it shows why keeping sport going is so important. The Sevens World Cup could have a very similar impact to the Lions tour,” Hunt told me in their Bryanston offices this week.

High performance sport is like a fire that needs oxygen in order to burn, it needs spectators in order to oxidise and catch alight.

“Professional sport needs spectators, both for the commercial aspects and for the players themselves. It never happened to me in my career that we ever played with no crowds, but it affects the whole life cycle of the game. And Sevens is all about the fans and the fan engagements, the festivities and fun. The whole event lives on that energy.

“Obviously the positive about this Lockdown is that the supporters can’t wait to come back to live events and hopefully they come back stronger. We’re 100% expecting the crowds for rugby to come back bigger, better and stronger. There is still massive value in playing the tournament in an empty stadium though because we will still be putting it in front of the world,” Hunt said.

South African rugby was on an absolute high when Covid struck, having just won the XVs World Cup in sensational fashion in Japan, but now they are in a fight for survival. How long this ‘state of emergency’ for SA Rugby lasts is anyone’s guess because government is ill-equipped to provide many answers or an efficient vaccination programme.

“It’s terrible that the great momentum of the 2019 World Cup has been lost. SA Rugby pushes for answers about when fans can return but there are still none – the numbers could still go up, we just don’t know. And it boils down to WorldRugby whether there will be no spectators or not at the World Cup. Fortunately we have the Cape Town Sevens this year as the last event on the circuit and we can gauge a lot from that.

“The Cape Town Sevens has set massively high standards as an event so we will stick to that formula, keep how that is structured. SA Rugby also had success with the event in George and Port Elizabeth, so the World Cup is in good hands. It’s also the first global event that we have the exclusive rights for, so it is massive for Megapro. It will be a huge success, a top-class tournament, as long as there is no more Covid,” Hunt predicted.

South African rugby may miss out on the British and Irish Lions tour, but hosting the Rugby World Cup Sevens with international spectators will be like getting a kitten for Christmas.

For someone still making their way in the international game, Lara Goodall has made scoring runs in India and chasing down targets look as easy as someone relaxing in their poolside cabana enjoying a long, cool cocktail.

The 24-year-old was one of the stars of the South African women’s team’s 4-1 demolition of India over the last two weeks, her 59* in the fourth ODI being a series-winning effort. This year has very much been the second coming of Goodall, who played sporadically for the Proteas between 2016 and 2019, before being dropped after their disappointing previous tour of India.

The ‘new’ Lara Goodall is a much stronger player mentally, however, according to the Cape Town-born talent herself.

“In every international game there is massive pressure and I just try to stay calm, keep a clear head and stick to the basics. It’s a nice feeling to be there at the end after you’ve grafted so hard and I have a different approach nowadays. I’ve always had the shots and the ability, but it has required a mental shift. I felt always in control in that chase.

“My private coach Rushdi Jappie [the former Western Province and Titans batsman] throws me thousands of balls but his biggest influence on me has been mentally. He’s a mentality giant and he has improved my situational awareness, taught me to let go of my emotions after every ball. You want to show off your flair, but if you play boring shots for long enough you generally win in the end,” Goodall, who unfurled a couple of superb reverse-sweeps for four in the closing stages of the fourth ODI, told Saturday Citizen.

As well as things are going at the moment, life has not been a beach for Goodall in the last few years as it has been very difficult to break into a settled Proteas batting line-up and gain regular playing opportunities. The Pinelands High School product has seized her chance with both hands in the absence of the injured duo of captain Dane van Nierkerk and the talented Chloe Tryon.

“We were actually chatting in the changeroom about doing so well in India and we didn’t even have our fully fit squad. Imagine when Dane and Chloe come back because they are massive cogs. My main goal is just to cement my place, try and become a mainstay of the team. Coach Hilton Moreeng has been one of my biggest fans but he’s always challenging me to keep doing what I do, to keep knocking on the door,” Goodall says.

The left-handed batter comes from a sports-mad family and admits there was some debate growing up over whether she should focus on cricket or football.

“My family are massive sports fans generally, I have an older brother as well who taught me how to play cricket, and my parents support both of us as much as they can, they never miss a game. Sport is part of our culture and I was quite a good footballer too, that was a very big part of my life and we probably thought I was more likely to play for Banyana Banyana than the Proteas.

“But cricket kind of came out of nowhere and when I was 16 I realised that I can actually play this game and make something out of it. My parents used to take me to Newlands when I couldn’t even walk yet and one of my first memories is watching JP Duminy bat there for the Cobras. I am a massive fan of his, JP being a left-handed batsman from the same city,” Goodall said.

One of South African women’s cricket’s pressing issues is bridging the gap between the mostly amateur domestic version of the game and the increasingly professional Proteas, who have certainly become a force to be reckoned with on the international stage. Fortunately for her, Goodall is based in Cape Town with one of the strongest teams in Western Province and she says provincial nets are an intense affair which helps prepare their players for the step up.

“Training back at home is very competitive and we have someone like Laura Wolvaardt, who has played a lot of Big Bash cricket in Australia. I learn so much from her daily and Nadine de Klerk as well. So there’s a nice national contingent at Western Province and our coach Claire Terblanche really challenges us, she is a former international. So no-one is in their comfort zones, which works so far for us. I’ve also worked a lot with Dinesha Devnarain, another former Protea who is national academy head coach,” Goodall said.

South Africa’s national women’s team has been blessed for several years with some of the best bowlers in the world, but the batting depth was the albatross around their necks. That would seem to be a problem of the past though with the likes of Goodall, with many good years ahead of her, showing that she has the mettle to excel on the international stage.

A veteran like Mignon du Preez can rest secure in the knowledge that when she does retire one day, there will be a ready-made replacement.