Ken Borland

You can’t buy experience, so the saying goes, and the sort of talent and skill Rilee Rossouw can bring to the Proteas team is also not available in the shops and South Africa captain David Miller said he is delighted to have the left-handed powerhouse back in the squad for the first T20 against England in Bristol on Wednesday night.

The 32-year-old Rossouw is poised to play for the Proteas for the first time since October 2016. The Grey College product, swift of foot and hand, then signed a Kolpak contract with Hampshire and has made his dashing mark in T20 tournaments around the world. He has been especially successful since joining Somerset for this year’s T20 Blast, lashing 623 runs at an average of 47 and a strike-rate of 192.

“It’s great to have Rilee back, we began our professional careers around the same time back in the day,” Miller said on Tuesday. “The team is right behind him, he has immense experience from playing in leagues around the world.

“He’s also spent a few years in England and it’s great to have that local knowledge for this series. He has a good head on his shoulders and he’s a matchwinner.

“He’s a lot stronger since I last played with him. He’s a seriously good player. A very relaxed guy who takes everything in his stride, but really competitive and fiery on the field. I’m really looking forward to playing alongside him again,” Miller said.

With Temba Bavuma unable to take the reins due to his elbow injury, Miller will captain South Africa for the second series, having led for two matches against Pakistan in 2019. The Proteas won that home rubber 2-1, with Miller commanding a largely second-string squad. Only Hendricks, Van der Dussen, Klaasen, Phehlukwayo and Shamsi are still in the picture.

In those games Miller learnt the importance of staying in contact with his bowlers when T20 inevitably gets hectic.

“It can get a little crazy,” Miller admitted. “It’s about having clear plans. You have to learn pretty quickly our there, it’s about knowing what my bowlers are like, what I want and what they want to do.

“It’s about being well-prepared and you have to trust the bowlers to execute their skills, you can’t control everything as a captain. I do have that trust, so it’s just about executing at the right time.

“In the last year-and-a-half, we’ve got our squad together and we’re pretty comfortable. England have a serious team, but us too. It’s about who does the right things at the right time.

“We’ve played some really good cricket lately and we feel confident. We’re definitely taking this series very seriously so we can continue our momentum heading for the World Cup,” Miller said.

The match starts at 7.30pm SA time.

New CSA director of cricket Enoch Nkwe has expressed a desire to keep his predecessor Graeme Smith involved in South African cricket, saying “you can’t take it away from him, he is one of the legends of the game”.

Smith’s tenure as director of cricket came to an end on March 31 and, given the often-strained relationship between him and the CSA Board, which unsuccessfully charged him with racism, he decided not to pursue a renewal of his contract.

Nkwe, the former assistant coach of the national team, was announced as Smith’s successor on June 30 and held his first press conference on July 8. Having already revealed he has a good relationship with Proteas head coach Mark Boucher, and the pair had held a fruitful meeting before the team’s departure to England, Nkwe then stated his willingness to also work with Smith.

“For the betterment of South African cricket, it will always be good to have some level of contact with Graeme, to ensure continuity,” Nkwe said.

“You can’t take it away from him, he is one of the legends of the game and our most successful captain. You want to tap into that cricket brain, see how he sees things from the outside.

“He’s been involved in the IPL, he’s still based in South Africa and he’s only a call away. Why not use him? You don’t want to lose him to the wilderness.

“So I will look to use him in whatever capacity I can. It’s the same with all of our ex-players, we want to get them closer to us,” Nkwe said.

The former Central Gauteng Lions player and coach said the Proteas team were supportive of the positive brand of cricket he wants to introduce to all CSA teams.

“It’s a very positive brand. As South Africans we are so diverse and I would like us to show the world that we can lead the cricketing space,” Nkwe said.

“Whenever we have thrown the first punch then we have been very dominant. I’d like to see that attitude spread down the pipeline, I want us to become trendsetters.

“Every time we have been positive, taken risks, not been afraid, then we’ve been a strong force. Other countries have spoken highly about our talent, we want to be in a position to win a lot more often.

“Most of the players understand my philosophy, although there are quite a few things from a strategic point of view which we still need to unpack,” Nkwe said.

Proteas coach Mark Boucher was no doubt still feeling the sting of beating almighty England but still not advancing from their pool after just one defeat when he said “you can’t describe our campaign as successful” as they exited the T20 World Cup on Saturday.

South Africa beat previously unbeaten tournament favourites England by 10 runs in Sharjah, but failed to qualify for the semifinals because their nett run-rate – 0.739 – was lower than Australia’s (1.216), the only team to win against the Proteas. Having posted an impressive 189/2, South Africa needed to restrict England to less than 131 on Saturday night to make the final four.

“You can’t describe our campaign as successful because we were knocked out, but it’s a bitter pill to swallow because we beat the in-form side in white-ball cricket for the last few years, a very dangerous England side,” Boucher said.

“It’s a tough one. We were under pressure after we lost that first game to Australia and the equation today was very difficult for us to get through, even though we did the job today.

“That was a tight first game, but we just didn’t bat well enough. We lost the toss, it was the first game and we weren’t sure what would be a good total. We thought 160, but 130 would have done the job.

“Maybe we could have gone harder against Bangladesh, but the pitch was going all over the shop and we lost a couple of early wickets. It’s all ifs and buts and it’s no good starting with those now,” Boucher said.

But the Proteas, considering in what disarray they were in a year ago, have given plenty of reason to believe they are on the right track, especially with the next T20 World Cup coming up in less than a year’s time in Australia.

“The team knows they are on a journey, they are on an upward curve and this tournament will stand us in  good stead. We did really well in some highly pressurised games, we will take confidence from that and hopefully go from strength to strength.

“We are heading in the right direction and we have won a lot of games lately, even though we unfortunately did not pass the test at this World Cup. I’ve said all along that we are improving.

“It’s about results as well of course, but we have played some really good cricket for quite some time. The players have been upskilled and they are learning to play in different situations.

“We are not the finished product, but we are working hard to get back to where we should be in world cricket. It’s going to be an exciting next year and we just need to be patient and keep challenging the players,” Boucher said.