Ken Borland

So the mighty Indian team will indeed be gracing our fields for five weeks of what should not only be intense cricket for the Proteas but a timely financial boost that will help the constrained Cricket South Africa administrators keep the candle wicks burning.

While one hopes the Proteas are able to make it a hotly contested series, there is no doubt that in terms of global boardroom politics, CSA are in a much weaker position than the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Of course South African cricket are eternally grateful for India agreeing to honour their commitment to tour when it looked likely that the Omicron variant of Covid would snuff out the tour.

But hopefully that gratitude does not express itself in timidity which allows the BCCI to bully or ride roughshod over South African cricket.

India have been calling the tune in world cricket for a while now, deservedly so when one considers they bring the most money into the game, but there will come a time when CSA have to stand up for their rights.

India are so used to everyone just kowtowing to them that there are occasions when they take a chance and push the boundaries of fair play.

One such occasion occurred this week in Bloemfontein, where their A team, to whom we are also extremely grateful for completing their series against SA A, displayed some incredibly frustrating time-wasting techniques and skullduggery.

As soon as the SA A team, trailing by just eight runs on first innings, made a solid start to their second innings, reaching 89/1 at tea on the third day, India began to ensure much time was taken out of the game.

In the two-and-a-half hour session after tea, they bowled just 26 overs as their bowlers crawled through their deliveries. Field settings were regularly tampered with and then returned to what they were, and every couple of overs, one of the Indian players would go to ground roaring and writhing in agony. The physiotherapist spent so much time on the field he should have been in the starting line-up.

The responsibility in those circumstances lies with the umpires and match referee to ensure the game is played in the right spirit, and there are laws, penalty runs and fines at their disposal to help them do it.

But this is India, who are doing South African cricket a massive favour remember, so there was a decided reluctance to ruffle any feathers.

The Test series against India is likely to have South African umpires due to the problems of travelling in these times of Covid, and one hopes the International Cricket Council devolve enough power to those officials so that they are seen to be representing the ICC and not CSA.

Otherwise they may not feel empowered enough to make tough calls against India should the need arise.

Hopefully we will be spared any controversy though, and will just be able to enjoy the fine cricket we know both teams are capable of producing. Given the aggressive fast bowlers South Africa have at their disposal, and India’s ability to fight fire with fire, there will certainly be some feisty action.

Which is fine, as long as that mysterious, difficult to quantify, line between competitiveness and unsporting behaviour is not crossed.

But anyone who watches this intriguing series will also be expecting two very passionate teams to sometimes get very close to that line.

I say bring it on!

The measurements of the St George’s Park ground are perhaps conducive to spectacular run-scoring, but the bowling-friendly nature of the pitch has raised concerns that Cricket South Africa’s imminent announcement that the entire Mzansi Super League will be played in a bio-bubble in Gqeberha may be misguided.

CSA are set to announce that both remaining domestic white-ball competitions this summer – the Momentum One-Day Cup and the MSL T20 competition – will be played in bubbles, which are on course to be a staple part of the South African game for a while yet.

In fact, the International Cricket Council have apparently decided that all international cricket for the next two years will be held in bio-bubbles.

The MSL is set to be played between February 7-28. In the two four-day matches played at St George’s Park this summer, scores of 170, 54, 96, 173, 366 and 79 have been recorded. If conditions stay the same, batting is not going to be easy, which many fans believe will detract from what is meant to be the T20 showpiece of the season.

Batsmen and spinners are going to be happier to hear that the 50-over Momentum One-Day Cup will be staged in two bubbles, one in Durban and the other in Potchefstroom.

Given how spin-friendly Kingsmead has been in recent years, and how flat the Potchefstroom pitch generally is, the pacemen are going to be disappointed.

The Momentum One-Day Cup is set to start in early January and will be completed before the MSL. Last season’s competition ended in disappointment in Potchefstroom as the Imperial Lions and Dolphins were forced to share the title after rain washed out play after 55.2 overs on the reserve day.

Meanwhile, the final round of fixtures in the first stage of the 4-Day Franchise Series, due to start on December 19, is set to be postponed because several teams have large numbers of Covid-positive cases within their squads.

The four-day competition is due to resume on March 4.

Quinton de Kock’s previous absence from the Proteas team caused much discussion on microphones and keyboards around the world, but South Africa’s ace wicketkeeper/batsman is set to miss at least one, probably two of the forthcoming Test matches against India.

He will miss the second Test at the Wanderers from January 3 for a reason that nobody could rationally criticise: The 28-year-old and his wife Sasha are awaiting the birth of their first child and that is due to happen in early January. But because of the strict Covid protocols the series will be played under, players will surely not be allowed to leave and then return to the bio-secure bubble, meaning De Kock will also be absent from the third Test in Cape Town from January 11.

De Kock’s previous withdrawal from a Proteas match came in controversial circumstances as he pulled out of the ICC T20 World Cup match against the West Indies in Dubai in October, rather than follow a CSA Board directive to take a knee in support of the Black Lives Matter initiative.

This absence will have the blessing of the selectors, however, even though it robs the Proteas of one of their most imposing batsmen.

De Kock’s situation is why the selectors have chosen three wicketkeepers, Kyle Verreynne and Ryan Rickelton, being the others, in the 21-man squad they announced on Tuesday. Keegan Petersen also has some experience behind the stumps for the KZN Dolphins.

The strict Covid protocols, with replacements not being allowed to be brought into camp, means the selectors have had to cover all the bases up front in the original squad.

Verreynne made his Test debut in South Africa’s previous Test series, against the West Indies in June, but Rickelton has been in impressive form for the Central Gauteng Lions with two centuries in three innings and an average of 93.

Oliver Bekker has always seemed to be one of those cheerful, almost happy-go-lucky characters out on the golf course, but in private he was probably anguishing over winning more tournaments.

But the 36-year-old is now experienced enough to know that too much expectation can be as damaging as a lack of confidence.

Bekker still looks so comfortable and under control on the course and his maturity is reflected in how his career is progressing. Having won seven times on the Sunshine Tour, he competed on the European Challenge Tour this year and finished seventh on the order of merit, earning his card for the 2022 DP World Tour.

Now he leads the South African Open by three strokes midway through the tournament at the Gary Player Country Club, adding a 67 on Friday to his brilliant 65 on the opening day.

But proving that he is now at a different level by winning the SA Open is not on his mind.

“I don’t want to put myself under a lot of pressure,” Bekker said on Friday. “Every round I just want to try shoot under par and I’ve learnt that one or two under par every day is generally good enough.

“So I just try to grind it out every day, keep chipping away, and if you do keep under par then you will be there or thereabouts at the end of the day.”

That pragmatic approach combined with a razor-sharp short game saw Bekker collect six birdies in the second round, with his bogey on the par-four second hole his only dropped shot. He chipped in from just off the green for birdies on both the 14^th and 16^th holes, while he sunk a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-four eighth. And then there were also the up-and-downs when he managed to salvage par.

“It was really tough today, especially at the start when judging the wind was so tricky. You had about a five-second window to play your shot otherwise the wind would come from a different direction.

“But it settled down a bit, it was more consistent on the back nine and I got a bit closer to the pins and chipped in twice. I also scrambled really well and made my up-and-downs.

“Having the halfway lead means I’ve done half the job pretty well, now to finish the job. I haven’t made many mistakes and it helps when you’re so sharp around the greens. If I can keep sharp then there should be lots of opportunities over the weekend,” Bekker said.

Neil Schietekat, who shared the first-round lead with Bekker, did not manage quite as good a demolition job on the course on Friday, but still fired a two-under-par 70 to stay in touch on nine-under-par, three shots back.

“I was searching for my swing a bit and if that’s my bad round then I’m chuffed,” Schietekat said.

Justin Harding shot a wonderful 67 on Friday to join Schietekat on nine-under, while Danie van Tonder (68), Lyle Rowe (71) and Hennie du Plessis (70) are on seven-under.