Ken Borland

It’s been a tough week in the office for Bulls CEO Edgar Rathbone, with positive Covid tests materialising on Tuesday and their Currie Cup match against Griquas this weekend in Kimberley called off on Thursday due to the spread of the virus within the Bulls squad and management.

“It’s unfortunate that it has hit us now, but to be honest it was probably to be expected somewhere down the line. We had a few positives on Tuesday, which meant re-tests on Wednesday and that threw up additional cases and the game had to be cancelled. The numbers are not important but obviously they are substantial enough for the NICD to call the match off.

“Fortunately we did not train on Monday or Tuesday so that limited the risk of the spread. But for 10 days the infected must be isolated. We will have further tests on Monday morning and then we will make a call on the following week only after that. So at the moment it’s tough to say whether we can play the Lions on Boxing Day. If the virus has infiltrated the front row then things become more complicated,” Rathbone said on Thursday.

It seems inevitable that when the Bulls do get back on to the park, they will have to complete their Currie Cup charge with a weakened team. The two points from the cancelled Griquas game – when they might have expected five – means the Sharks will close to within two points with a game in hand if they beat the Lions with a bonus point on Saturday.

“We need to trust our squad depth and I believe only a number of infections in the front row could possibly make it impossible for us to fulfil fixtures. Obviously the team are disappointed not to be playing this weekend. but there are mixed feelings because they are obviously also concerned over their team-mates’ well-being because unfortunately a few of them are showing some symptoms.

“But the Griquas match had to be cancelled as a draw because if you look at the calendar and the number of weeks left it’s very difficult to find a space to postpone the game to. And we have to be consistent and keep parity between the teams who have also had fixtures called off,” Rathbone said.

The combination of left-arm seam and leg-spin that Duan Jansen and Shaun von Berg brought to the Knights attack really hurt the Imperial Lions in their Cricket South Africa 4-Day Domestic Cup match in Bloemfontein, with the Central Franchise wrapping up a nine-wicket win midway through the final afternoon on Wednesday.

Von Berg was the star of the show with four for 68 in 29 overs on Wednesday, giving him match figures of nine for 161 in 57 overs, as the Lions were bowled out for 262 and then 227 in their follow-on innings. That left the Knights with just 18 runs to score in the second innings for victory.

The 20-year-old Jansen chipped in with the vital wickets of first-innings centurion Rassie van der Dussen for 14 on the third evening, and then Lions opener Dominic Hendricks on Wednesday for an obdurate 98, as the paceman finished with four for 44 on franchise debut.

Ryan Rickelton was the only other Lions batsman to delay the Knights for long, scoring 46. The visitors were one man short in their second innings, Josh Richards being unable to bat after he retired hurt in the first innings.

In Port Elizabeth, the well-integrated Warriors attack swept them to victory over the Cape Cobras by 80 runs on an intriguing final day.

The Cobras were set a testing target of 265 to win and began the final day on 82 for three. But Marco Jansen had Kyle Verreynne (11) caught behind in the third over of the day and opener Janneman Malan, who had batted with sound judgement in scoring 65, then rashly went down the wicket to left-arm spinner Jon-Jon Smuts and tried to hit over the top, being beaten in the flight and stumped by Sinethemba Qeshile.

Glenton Stuurman, freshly added to the Proteas Test squad, then claimed his second bowled victim of the innings in Aviwe Mgijima (19), and Basheer Walters and Smuts then both claimed a pair of wickets to seal victory as the Cobras were bowled out for 184.

Smuts finished with three for 47, while Stuurman had two for 38 in 17 overs, Walters two for 36 in 14 and Mthiwekhaya Nabe took two for 26 in eight.

The Proteas will be looking to put Sri Lanka under constant pace pressure on fast and bouncy Highveld pitches as they try to ensure it is not a season of good cheer for the touring batsmen in their two-Test series starting at Centurion on December 26.

Sri Lanka’s batsmen enjoyed playing at coastal venues Durban, where the tourists also drew in 2000 and won by 208 runs in 2011, and Port Elizabeth on their last visit in February 2019, on their way to a famous, shock 2-0 win over South Africa. This time they will be hosted at SuperSport Park and the Wanderers and subjected to a pace barrage on quick wickets. And the addition of another fast bowler to the Proteas squad on Wednesday in Migael Pretorius of the Knights is a clear indication that the home side might even be thinking of going down the route of fielding an all-pace attack.

The original squad, with Kagiso Rabada out injured, only contained four specialist fast bowlers in Anrich Nortje, Beuran Hendricks, Lungi Ngidi and Glenton Stuurman. So if South Africa decide to play all four of them in an XI, then they will obviously need a back-up quick in the squad should one of them have to withdraw shortly before the Test. In these days of Covid, that has become even more of a possibility.

Convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang confirmed to The Citizen on Wednesday that none of the original quartet have any niggles, so the addition of Pretorius is purely tactical.

“Because we are dealing with a pandemic and we will be in a bubble, we decided we needed extra back-up in case one of the seamers goes down. So it’s just a case of having extra cover. The fact that we only have one specialist spinner in the squad in Keshav Maharaj tells you where we are playing – on the Highveld where, if conditions are viable, you might go for an all-pace attack.

“But conditions will determine that and so far in domestic cricket the guys have been playing on proper good pitches at those venues so it would be difficult to leave out the spinner,” Mpitsang said.

The 25-year-old Pretorius is one of the leading wicket-takers in this season’s four-day competition and is also averaging 28.50 with the bat with a couple of half-centuries, so he can also strengthen the tail, potentially in the No.8 position, if the Proteas play an all-rounder like Wiaan Mulder at No.7.

“We’re big on rewarding consistently good work and the player has done a lot to make a case for himself. We hope that the experience will be a great learning one for him and that this can serve as encouragement for players across the country, showing them that their chances may not be as far off as they think,” Mpitsang said.

The Bulls have enjoyed one of the longer occupancies at the top of the local rugby log this season and it has been the sort of success which could lead to complacency. Which is why hooker Johan Grobbelaar said on Wednesday that the narrow loss to the Sharks last weekend has given them the opportunity to look more closely at what they are doing before the knockout rounds begin on January 15.

The Bulls still enjoy a five-point lead at the top of the Currie Cup log, but one more slip-up and the Sharks could catch them, so the Durban defeat has been a timely reminder that nothing is assured yet.

“We’ve had a good run and we are still in a good position. You are always going to make some mistakes in every game, but last weekend has forced us to look at ourselves, it has forced us to look at our game a bit deeper and it will make sure we don’t get too comfortable. There’s never a right time to lose, but rather now than in the knockout rounds.

“It’s given us a good chance to look at our mistakes, but our preparation this week has been more or less the same as previously. It’s important that we don’t try and make massive changes, we need to stick to the things that have worked for us. Like our lineout is still good, we don’t have to be too worried about that and we still want to make it a physical battle against Griquas in Kimberley on Saturday,” Grobbelaar said on Wednesday.

Playing brilliant, freeflowing attacking rugby is not always that easy in the mid-summer heat and at Tafel Lager Park on Saturday, with the temperature expected to be in the mid-30s even at their 4.30pm kickoff time, there are going to be mistakes made my tired bodies as the game progresses.

“Playing in Kimberley is not that big a problem for me because I come from Paarl where it gets really hot, and we train in a lot of heat in Pretoria. But the high temperature does make a difference, it means there’s extra sweat all over the ball and your jerseys are wet as well. So the ball becomes more slippery and that leads to more knock-ons.

“It means we have to take on more fluids and the game is possibly a bit slower because there are more mistakes. But apart from that, for every away game we try to make things as comfortable as possible. Playing Griquas is always tough and you can never underestimate them, they beat us here at Loftus last year and at the beginning of the season they gave us a tough game here as well,” Grobbelaar said.