Ken Borland

South African pacemen bowling too short in foreign conditions has been enough to give their fans and coaches kittens in the past, but current bowling coach Charl Langeveldt has been stressing the need for fuller lengths in New Zealand.

The Proteas on Monday had their first look at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch, the venue for the first Test against the Black Caps starting at midnight on Wednesday evening, South African time. They have also been practising at the university ground in the largest city on the South Island.

“We had our first practice at Hagley Oval and there were overcast conditions and a green pitch,” Langeveldt said on Monday. “But it can be misleading because it actually played better than it looked.

“With the new ball there was a bit of swing and seam, but then batting got better, easier when the ball got older. So batsmen need to stay in and take it deep and our bowlers need to make them play at the new ball.

“So we need to bowl a fuller length and once the ball is old we can go back to the usual four-to-six metres from the bat. We have to adapt and get fuller, normally we bowl back-of-a-length in South Africa.

“So it can be harder for the guys to get those fuller lengths going. But everyone is looking good out in the middle, the bowlers are doing it,” Langeveldt said.

And the changeable weather also plays a big part in a team’s tactics.

“When the sun comes out, it gets a bit easier for batting and there’s not so much swing and nip,” Langeveldt said. “The grass starts to look a different colour.

“In New Zealand, generally everyone needs to chip in with a coupe of wickets, but if it is your day then you must exploit the conditions and go with it. It’s not as warm so you can bowl longer spells, it’s not as testing on the body.

“Our confidence is high after the India tour and momentum is important for both batsmen and bowlers. The batsmen must take it deep and then they can score big if they rake care of the new ball.

“The bowlers must challenge them and make them play. We will look at how often the opposition batsmen have been out caught behind or lbw, but we will focus on our strengths,” Langeveldt said.

Pressure at the highest level of sport often equates to a lack of time and space and Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt is hopeful that his charges will be able to execute their skills better as they move from T20s to ODIs against England.

The first ODI in the three-match series is at Newlands on Friday afternoon and South Africa will be desperate to put their 3-0 hammering in the T20s behind them. Time is on their side, as their 50-over form has generally been better than their T20 efforts in recent times.

“Most of the guys have been playing four-day cricket and got some bowling in there, but we haven’t had a lot of T20 cricket recently and we missed out on two of our warm-up games because of Covid. It’s about match-fitness and T20 is very difficult because it comes down to execution under pressure. You can train as much as you want in the nets, but it’s not the same intensity.

“We’ve got work to do to be able to execute under pressure, but the first two T20s came down to two big moments, just two overs, and we have learnt from it to identify the big moment and embrace it. Fifty-over cricket is still high intensity but it’s longer time. The batsmen take more time to settle in so that means more time for the bowlers to settle into a rhythm and get used to the pitch,” Langeveldt said on Thursday.

There will be at least two changes in South Africa’s batting line-up with the in-form Faf du Plessis being rested for the ODIs and Reeza Hendricks released from the squad. The Proteas will be eager to get the experienced duo of David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo back into action after they were in Covid quarantine.

The absence of the injured Kagiso Rabada means the Proteas could well bring Junior Dala in, with Langeveldt saying a big part of their ODI strategy is to be in the opposing batsmen’s faces and try to strike in the early overs.

“KG is a massive loss for us because he always strikes with the new ball and we speak a lot about taking wickets in the first 10 overs so we can shift pressure on to the opposition. We see Junior as purely a 50-over bowler because he hits hard lengths and is aggressive, he can use the two bouncers and two new balls you get in ODIs. We’ve worked on upskilling him with slower balls and yorkers.

“Junior gives us that extra pace and aggression and to have Andile back would give us six bowlers which is great for us in 50-over cricket. He has a special one-day record and is also an option bowling at the back end. We need to be clever and be able to have that next level of intensity. We must be aggressive in both our batting and our bowling, you can’t sit back against England,” Langeveldt said.

Kagiso Rabada has made the most sensational start to a Proteas ODI career since Allan Donald exploded on to the international stage when South Africa returned to world cricket in Kolkata in November 1991, and the former national bowling coach says he believes the 20-year-old prodigy is only going to get better and better.

Due to Apartheid, Donald was already 25 years old when he took five for 29 against India, but Rabada claimed the world record for best figures on ODI debut with his six for 16, including a top-order hat-trick, against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Donald became one of the greatest bowlers the world has seen, but began his career as a young tearaway with pace to burn, but who was often erratic in terms of control. Rabada’s greatest attribute seems to be his control, at good pace, which is extraordinary for one so young.

“His overall skill just blows me away and even his control is exceptional, it’s a bit freakish. I still think he’s going to get quicker and it stands him in good stead that he’s grooving that control for when the extra pace comes later. He’s already ahead of where he should be, his rhythm is good, he’s tall, athletic and can bowl a heavy ball, and when you combine all of that together, as he grows into his body he’s definitely going to get faster,” Donald told The Citizen at the launch of the Titans’ and Nashua’s Art of Fast Bowling Programme at the weekend.

Rabada came into the national squad last summer when Donald was still the bowling coach, and the spearhead of South Africa’s return to international cricket says the St Stithians product is an absolute pleasure to work with.

“You can just sit back and watch him, his action, ability, athleticism, I don’t have a bad thing to say about him. He has a wonderful work ethic which makes a coach’s job so much easier, he wants to compete so badly and he asks a lot of great questions, which you don’t normally get from a 20-year-old. I just loved him, he’s well-grounded and full of humility as well.

“And he has a natural action, there’s absolutely no need to interfere with that. It’s clean, uncomplicated and all in sync. Are we looking at a legend? I’m pretty sure we are,” Donald said.