Ken Borland

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 entire Bulls playing and management staff will be in Covid isolation until December 27, CEO Edgar Rathbone announced on Tuesday, but the awfulness of their situation is at least tempered by the opportunity to spend Christmas with their families.

The log-leaders’ vital Currie Cup match against the second-placed Lions has already been postponed to January 6 at Loftus Versfeld and the Bulls will end their round-robin campaign by travelling to Nelspruit just four days later to take on the Pumas.

“We have postponed the testing we were meant to have on Monday until Sunday, December 27, because it is still less than 10 days since the first positive tests and testing now would not give conclusive results, so we can get a more realistic picture next weekend. In the meantime the whole team is in quarantine at home, which makes it easier to control the infection.

“They will have no contact with other people outside of their families and we hope getting to spend Christmas with their families means they can come back recharged and refreshed. Obviously it is not ideal, but it has given the bodies some time to recover. If the players are clear on the 27^th, then we will start training on the 28^th and that gives us a week and a bit to prepare for the Lions game,” Rathbone said.

Rathbone refuted suggestions that the Bulls were being unfairly favoured in being allowed to postpone their match against the Lions, who have already had to share the points from two of their matches, and said in fact it meant they were risking their top position on the log because they have to play twice in five days. If the Bulls beat the Lions, then they can afford to play a second-string outfit against the Pumas and even if they lose they will still finish second on the log, the Sharks going top if they win their remaining three games.

“In terms of the tournament rules, the option has always been there to reschedule games and you need agreement between the two provinces, which we got last week already when we could see the Boxing Day match was at risk. Luckily our bye weeks are one week apart and the Pumas agreed to play us on the Sunday. But it means we have two games in a week, heading into the playoffs.

“The Lions will also play two games in a week before their bye, but for the integrity of the competition it is important this match is played. If the other matches could have been rescheduled then I’m sure they would have been. The log is important and we obviously want to finish on top, and it is a gamble that means we might have to prepare two squads that week. But the results will have to look after themselves,” Rathbone said.

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.

Denied access to the front-foot ball they thrive on, the Sharks “were not able to fire a shot” in their 27-12 Currie Cup defeat to the Lions at Ellis Park at the weekend, coach Sean Everitt admitted after the game.

The Sharks’ points all came from the boot of flyhalf Curwin Bosch, with two of his four penalties coming from his own half, and the visitors were way behind the Lions in terms of possession and territory. With four of their first-choice tight five unavailable, their problems started in the scrums and the pressure just spread from there to the rest of their game.

“We can’t make excuses for that performance because we prepared well, but all the penalties against us – rightfully so – meant we weren’t able to fire a shot. The Lions put us under tremendous pressure for the full 80 minutes, but we have experienced individuals at Super Rugby level so it is no excuse. We had a penalty count of 14 against us and you’re not going to win many games with so many penalties against you.

“We are performance-driven and we are not happy with that performance because it was way below standard. The territory game is always important and it is affected by the number of penalties you concede. We had the Lions under pressure in their half, but then we would make a mistake, there would be a scrum and then we would concede a penalty which would release the pressure,” Everitt said.

The Sharks coach added that this chastening defeat was not due to a lack of effort nor was their game-plan at fault; under pressure, the Sharks simply failed to execute and made too many mistakes.

“You have to commend and congratulate the Lions for this pressure they put us under and they are probably the form team at the moment. It was not a lack of effort on our part, we just didn’t perform well and our kicking accuracy wasn’t good enough. We want to play according to the momentum and space and if we do have this momentum then we shouldn’t kick.

“I don’t think there were any kicks when we were on attack. But it’s not all doom and gloom, we were still in the game with 20 minutes to go. It’s hard to criticise the players for sticking to their structure, it has worked for us in the past when we came back from a nine-point deficit against the Bulls and 15 points against Griquas. If there were incorrect decisions made then we will rectify that,” Everitt said.