Ken Borland

After five months on the road, travelling from the Caribbean to Ireland, the subcontinent and then to Arabia, the Proteas can finally look forward to playing some cricket at home for the next couple of months.

They might not have won the T20 World Cup or even made the semi-finals, but it has been quite a while since there has been so much positivity around the performance of the team.

As ever in sport, patience has been rewarded and, as consistency in selection has led to a settled squad, so the performances have been getting better and better.

Few would argue that rebuilding the Proteas into a force on the international stage was an onerous task given how low fortunes had sunk a couple of years ago, partly caused by a great generation of players retiring and partly by all the turmoil in the Cricket South Africa boardroom.

But there is an old saying that “teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success” and perhaps the most important thing to come out of the T20 World Cup had little to do with game-plans or individual performances: To see a South African team playing with that old never-say-die spirit, to see the passion they displayed on the field and the unity of purpose they showed as a squad, makes one believe that the glory days could be back soon.

The resilience and togetherness of this team was illustrated by the way they pulled together in the wake of the Quinton de Kock saga; the star player’s ill-judged actions could well have ripped the team apart, but instead it brought them closer together. De Kock was never hung out to dry on his own either.

It was disappointing to see the new board display the same sort of reactive, uninspiring leadership as their awful predecessors, but it is probably their first mis-step and they did move quickly to tidy up their mess.

In the midst of that upheaval, Temba Bavuma stood tall and showed that he is prime leadership material to help take the Proteas forward over the next five years.

The Black Lives Matter movement and the importance of the Proteas making a unified gesture of support continues to provide grist to the mill of the media and the woke, and Bavuma’s comments on the matter when they returned home were pure quality.

“It’s about how it translates into everyday life. We can all raise our fist or go down on our knee, but deep down in the heart, if we are not for the cause and we don’t show it in our everyday living, then you have to question the authenticity.

“The South African team was put under immense pressure, more than any other team, which I think was unfair. Not enough acknowledgement has been given to this team because people don’t get to hear the conversations we have had behind closed doors.

“The decision about Black Lives Matter has to be a collective one. We should avoid things being dictated to the team. Our country has big, big problems and that’s where our energy should be focused,” Bavuma said.

Although the Proteas captain was too polite to mention it, I’m sure he also rages about the unfair criticism of the Proteas batting strike-rate. Yes, T20 is generally a game where batsmen are meant to go berserk, but it is frustrating that critics don’t realise that conditions in the UAE were not conducive to rampant batting.

New Zealand have roared into Sunday’s final, but their key batsmen have had strike-rates not too dissimilar to those of the Proteas: Daryl Mitchell 140.71 v Aiden Markram 145.94; Martin Guptill 131.38 v David Miller 133.33; Kane Williamson 94.24 v Bavuma 108.33; Devon Conway 108.40 v Rassie van der Dussen 116.44.

With a massive series coming up against India, for the blinkered it’s time to stop being angry with the Proteas and instead roar out our support, especially since crowds will be allowed back into the stadiums.

South Africa’s women have never won a series in the West Indies, but coach Hilton Moreeng is confident the Proteas can knock their hosts off that perch when they tour the Caribbean for three T20s and five ODIs starting on August 31.
Much of Moreeng’s confidence is based on the return of players such as captain Dane’ van Niekerk and Chloe Tryon, plus the wonderful form shown by South Africa’s representatives in The Hundred competition in England that ended last weekend. All-rounder Van Niekerk was named player of the series as she led the Oval Invincibles to the inaugural title, and pacer Marizanne Kapp was named player of the match in the final, her record figures of four for nine destroying the Southern Brave.
“This is the first time we’ve had the entire squad fully fit and raring to go since the last World Cup. We have not won a series before in the West Indies and our last tour there was not very joyful. But this time we are anticipating a very good tour as we welcome back Dane’ and Chloe. We’re very happy where we are sitting now.
“To see how our players contributed in The Hundred, the way Dane’ and Marizanne dominated in the final, shows the quality we have. We’re very happy with their achievements and it means we have players who are in good nick. And along with someone like Shabnim Ismail, they show the other players how to handle that high-pressure environment and execute your skills on the day,” Moreeng said on the morning of their departure on Monday night.
South Africa’s previous away series against the West Indies was in 2018 when they drew both the ODI and T20 series. In the final wash-up it was the slowness of the pitches that caused the Proteas the most problems.
“We know what to expect, we have players who have played a lot in the West Indies. The hardest thing are the very slow pitches, the West Indies play well on those and use their bowlers very well. We’re used to more pace on the ball, but over there you have to deal with the ball keeping low and facing lots of spinners.
“Our expectation though is to win a series in the West Indies, something we haven’t done before. We arranged slow pitches on this side to prepare better and it’s up to us to adapt. Our last tour to India was a good indicator of how well we can bat in those conditions and we must make sure we continue with that,” Moreeng said.

Temba Bavuma is recovering well from his dislocated finger and is expected to be in charge of the Proteas team for their T20 series against the West Indies that begins on Saturday, with all-rounder Wiaan Mulder and left-arm quick Beuran Hendricks also called into the squad after being in the Caribbean for the Test series.

Bavuma missed the two Tests in St Lucia after first suffering a hip injury and then dislocating his finger during training ahead of the second Test. But team management released a statement on Thursday saying he is “responding well to his middle finger dislocation rehabilitation and is expected to lead the team in the upcoming T20 series”. Bavuma has been lined up by the Proteas to do the traditional captain’s press conference on Friday on the eve of the game.

Mulder, who impressed with the ball and with some outstanding catching behind the wicket in the Tests, has remained in the West Indies as a replacement for Dwaine Pretorius, who unfortunately had to stay behind in South Africa after testing positive for Covid-19, but is asymptomatic. Swing bowler Hendricks has been added to the squad as extra pace cover.

The absence of Pretorius could be a lifeline for Andile Phehlukwayo, whose rather unkempt bowling of late has seen him concede 9.85 runs-per-over in T20 internationals since the start of last year, while he has also scored just 54 runs off 46 balls in nine innings in the same period of time.

South Africa’s four frontline bowlers are likely to be Tabraiz Shamsi, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi, with George Linde favoured as a spin-bowling all-rounder. That leaves the Proteas with a choice between playing another all-rounder at number six or another specialist batsman.

Aiden Markram, who has been a clean striker of the ball lately in T20 internationals, can bowl a couple of overs of tidy off-spin, and South Africa do seem a little reliant on David Miller and, to a lesser extent, Linde to clear the boundary in the closing stages.

Having played on seam-friendly pitches with pace and bounce on the island of St Lucia, the Proteas are likely to find themselves back on a more usual Caribbean pitch that offers some turn, but T20 is all about runs so a true surface is expected, albeit a little slower than the Test wickets.

The West Indies will pose a formidable challenge because they are able to call on all their T20 stars such as Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle and Andre Russell.

Proteas T20 Squad – Temba Bavuma (captain), Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Sisanda Magala, Janneman Malan, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne, Lizaad Williams.

The West Indies are famous for producing the most ferocious fast bowling attack of all time, but conditions in the Caribbean have changed so much since then that low and slow pitches are now far more common than hard tracks with pace and bounce.

South Africa, nevertheless, have won their last three series in the West Indies largely through the use of menacing pace bowling. Of the Proteas bowlers who have taken more than 10 wickets over there, Allan Donald (20), Andre Nel (17), Dale Steyn (15) and Morne Morkel (14) all average less than 25.

Jacques Kallis, who was certainly genuinely quick when the mood grabbed him, has taken the most wickets (27) on tour there, but played four more Tests (12) than any other bowler. Left-arm spinner Nicky Boje is the third-highest wicket-taker, but his 20 scalps came at an average of 40.55.

Current coach Mark Boucher also played 12 Tests in the Caribbean and it looks like the Proteas will be backing their fast bowlers again when the first Test starts on Thursday at Gros Islet, St Lucia.

“These are new conditions for us because we have not played here in the rainy season, normally it’s warmer and dryer. But it has felt more like England: overcast and although I have never seen it rain over here before, the last three days have been rainy. So there is a lot of movement and we are using the Duke ball and not the Kookaburra we used to over here. The Duke stays harder for longer and ball-maintenance will be key.

“We have got the right balance in the bowlers we have over here, we have four seamers that are probably hoping to play and then a spinner. Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi are all different and Keshav Maharaj can bowl well on any surface. Then there’s Wiaan Mulder too. We want to put the West Indies under pressure with ball and bat,” bowling coach Charl Langeveldt said.

So it seems unlikely that wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi will play and George Linde, who kind of does the JP Duminy role of back-up spinner who can bat, is likely to lose out to seam-bowling all-rounder Mulder.

Langeveldt admitted that the Proteas have not done themselves justice in Test cricket recently, and new captain Dean Elgar is certainly giving his team no peace about it in their team chats so far.

“We really want to turn our Test cricket around and the captain has talked about doing the basics for the longest. It might mean boring cricket, but that’s what you want in Test cricket. Dean certainly brings something different, he demands professionalism, discipline and that team ethos, which is something we’ve needed to revisit.

“He has asked the senior players to lead by example and to speak to the youngsters. We need to keep our disciplines for long periods,” Langeveldt said.