Ken Borland

Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will likely be fit for the first Test against England starting at Lord’s on Wednesday and coach Mark Boucher is confident his attack will be able to take 20 wickets no matter how aggressively the hosts bat.

Rabada is recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of South Africa’s last three T20 matches, but Boucher struck a positive note about his availability on Monday.

“KG is coming on well, he’s a great athlete, he’s recovered nicely and there’s not too much pain. He’s having a fitness test later this afternoon. He’s a massive player for us and hopefully he pulls through,” Boucher said.

“It was sad to see Duanne Olivier leave the tour with a hip injury, he was very unlucky. But the guys are pretty much in position in terms of our attack and I don’t think we’ll change too much from that.

“We’re in a good space in terms of our bowling and I believe they can take 20 wickets, like we have done it recently against other teams. We’ve got to be adaptable because we don’t know what conditions will be like.

“There’s been a lot of media hype about how aggressively England will bat, and we will try and negate that on the day. You need certain conditions to be able to play that way,” Boucher said.

The Proteas looked sadly ill-equipped in their warm-up match against the England Lions as they were walloped by an innings and 56 runs in Canterbury. The home side belted 672 runs in just 117 overs, but it was very much a second-string South African attack, with only Keshav Maharaj sure to play in the first Test.

More concerning was perhaps the batting, with the Proteas slipping to 129/5 in the first innings and then being bowled out for just 183 in the second.

“We learned how to fetch the ball!,” Boucher wise-cracked. But it was exactly that – a warm-up. We got certain things out of it, although it’s never great to lose. But our focus was on what we needed to do to be ready for the Test.

“We lost to the England Lions in a white-ball match at the start of the tour as well, and those series came out okay. The pitch was pretty flat in Canterbury and it was tough for the bowlers.

“But we were able to spend some time on our feet, so we did achieve something. We had guys coming out of an off-season and they were all a bit rusty, so we’re not too fazed by the result.

“There’s no panic. It’s going to be about handling the situation given to you, having the smarts to do that. Hopefully if we get on top then we can drive that home, or find a way to switch the momentum if they get on top,” Boucher said.

Proteas Test captain Dean Elgar admitted on Monday that getting his beloved fast bowling spearhead Kagiso Rabada fully fit for the first Test against England is now their main focus as they prepare for the series, which starts on August 17, in Canterbury.

Rabada injured the ligaments in his left ankle 10 days ago and missed the third T20 against England and both matches versus Ireland. Elgar’s relationship with Rabada can almost be described as a love/hate one because the skipper clearly relies on his great fast bowler, but has also used some interesting tough love motivational tactics to get the best out of him.

“KG’s fitness is one of our top priorities,” Elgar said. “He has bowled again in the nets, but his workloads are the biggest concern at the moment, ensuring he can handle the intensity and carry himself through several days of Test cricket. But there are still eight days to go before the first Test.”

Elgar is backing his bowling attack to counter the powerful England batting line-up’s ultra-aggressive, sensational ‘BazBall’ approach.

“Good for them [England]. They’ve obviously taken a few risks that have paid off, but in conditions that have helped that style of cricket. ‘BazBall’ has caused a few conversations around the world.

“But I’m not too concerned, I’m just focused on my squad. It’s great to have Anrich Nortje back, we’ve missed him because he was injured for most of the last year. He’s big for us, he brings a whole different aspect in terms of pace.

“Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj give us more options coming to the UK, and it’s by no means off the table playing two spinners, they may well start again. But we could also go four seamers and one spinner too,” Elgar said.

And the skipper says he will not be cussing at his Proteas team-mates in the build-up to the first Test.

“I will give the players more love going into the Test match. I like to think what we’ve created and what I’ve learnt over the last year has given us a lot more resources.”

And amongst those resources are batsmen fresh off good form in the white-ball part of the tour, as well as players who have shone in county cricket – Ryan Rickelton, Harmer and Keegan Petersen.

“We have some brilliant options, we tick all the boxes, with guys from county cricket who have done pretty well. So that’s a massive asset, their experience in these conditions, knowing how the ball will react,” Elgar said.

“Plus our white-ball batsmen have been pretty successful and they’ll be bringing confidence into the series. It’s like a breath of fresh air.

“I’m very much inclined to have those players around who have vast experience in county cricket and use them to our advantage. It would be stupid not to use them even if they’re not playing.

“The biggest thing about Ryan Rickelton is that he was given opportunity and I felt he took it with both hands. Now what he has done on the county circuit with Northamptonshire will be a massive confidence boost for him.

“How we view him is that he’s obviously a massive contender to keep his spot. He’s done everything the right way, he’s put numbers on the board,” Elgar said.

Despite now being faced with the toughest of selection conundrums, coach Mark Boucher feels no sorrow at all for the difficult decisions he will have to make ahead of the T20 World Cup following the Proteas adding a series win over Ireland to their heady triumph over England.

With Reeza Hendricks in rampant form at the top of the order, Aiden Markram continuing to be an explosive presence in the middle-order and Rilee Rossouw showing his class, it seems inevitable that one of stalwart Rassie van der Dussen, appointed captain Temba Bavuma or even a struggling Quinton de Kock will not be selected for the World Cup in Australia in October.

Wayne Parnell’s superb five-wicket haul in the last T20 against Ireland also complicates the all-rounder situation, where he, Dwaine Pretorius and Andile Phehlukwayo are probably competing for just two spots in a 15-man squad.

“As part of the selection panel, there are some tough choices to be made,” Boucher admitted after the 44-run win in Bristol on Friday night. “But it’s a good headache to have, especially with the World Cup around the corner.

“There’s great competition in the squad in quite a few different positions. We gave guys opportunities and they have come good. I like the brand of cricket they have played, it has been brave but smart.

“The guys coming back in have had fantastic attitudes and put in good performances, they’ve definitely added a different dimension. There’s not space for anyone to rest, guys keep challenging for selection and pushing the others to greater heights.

“It’s a very healthy place to be in for South African cricket. A year ago we would not have been having these discussions, so we have a lot more depth now,” Boucher said.

The coach said he was particularly impressed with what Hendricks has done, as he has basically reinvented himself as an aggressive opening batsman.

“Reeza has really come good, being Man of the Series twice in a row and scoring four successive fifties against very good opposition. We always knew he could play.

“But the way he has gone about it, his change in mindset to now being more aggressive, has really stood out. I know Justin Sammons [batting consultant] has done a lot of work with him.

“So credit to Justin, he’s been fantastic with the blueprints he has come up with and he’s had tremendous conversations with the players.

“As the coach, it’s up to me to come up with strategies – how we want to play in different conditions in Australia. The selection panel will then decide what characters they want to get that done,” Boucher said.

Stand-in Proteas T20 captain David Miller said coach Mark Boucher can be delighted not only with the team’s groundbreaking series win in England but also the way all members of the squad stepped up and ensured all three disciplines were firing in the last two games.

Having been well-beaten by 41 runs in the first match of the T20 series, South Africa clicked in batting, bowling and fielding as they won the last two games by 58 runs and 90 runs to win their first white-ball series in England since 1998.

“It’s a huge achievement, I hadn’t realised it had been as long as that,” Miller said after sealing the series in Southampton at the weekend. “It’s really tough to win here, they like to come hard at you and they’ve been really successful.

“So the guys are extremely happy and we’ll have a few drinks tonight and enjoy ourselves. The coach can be super-proud of all the performances. We stood up in all areas of the game.

“There were very good contributions all round. We spoke about the fielding after the first game and all the dropped catches. Our standards are very high and we took some seriously good catches after that.

“To show the bouncebackability we did makes us extremely proud, it showed the character of the team. We’ll take a lot of confidence from this and it’s a great space to be in,” Miller said.

The consistent finisher had special praise for his bowlers, especially wrist-spinner Tabraiz Shamsi, who took eight wickets in the last two games to prove he remains one of the top bowlers in the format.

“Shamo showed he is not ranked as one of the best bowlers in the world for nothing. He knows what he has to do, I might just mention one or two pointers to him about what he can do, just to build his confidence up a bit.

“But the first T20 in Bristol had a very small boundary, we had a game the next day and that’s not something I wanted to harp on too much.

“Given the batting England have, lots of credit should go to our bowlers, they did extremely well. The margin for error is so small in T20 and it’s a funny game.

“But we played a lot of good cricket at the big stages, you have to make sure you’re up for the battle whatever match you’re going into,” Miller said.