Ken Borland

Doing well in the Indian Premier League will obviously help, but CSA Director of Cricket Graeme Smith says free agents will need to prove their total commitment to the Proteas if they are to earn a recall to the national side.

Faf du Plessis, Chris Morris, AB de Villiers and Imran Tahir all put in noteworthy performances before the IPL was suspended earlier this week, one match away from the halfway stage, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Many fans would want all four of them to be back in India in October, representing South Africa at the T20 World Cup.

Smith said that while the door was not closed for them to be selected, there were certain conditions that needed to be met first.

Asked specifically about all-rounder Morris, he said “I notice Chris said there have not been discussions with him, but he joined the high performance programme in Lockdown last year. No-one has a definitive right to play for the Proteas, it’s up to the selectors and their performance on the field. Lately Chris’s performances have been really good, both in the IPL and in our T20.

“But we can’t choose someone who is going to go in half-arsed, who is 50/50 about it. We need to know that the player is fully committed and will do everything required and everything for the team. It’s a question that applies to all of the free agents, who are technically still always available for the Proteas. AB de Villiers has officially retired so that’s a different discussion that is ongoing,” Smith said this week.

The West Indies have won two of the last three T20 World Cups despite many of their top players being scattered around the globe, and free agents like Chris Gayle, Samuel Badree and Andre Russell did the business for them in the last tournament, held in 2016 in India.

“The free agents are generally more experienced in the format than most players and we’ve seen the success the West Indies have had using them, so it’s definitely something we would consider. But the selectors also have to consider team dynamics and the type of players we have in our own system.

“Right now the focus is on trying to get the best squad together in the build-up. We have 15-17 T20s lined up, including plenty of sub-continent preparation, so the squad will have plenty of time together. It should be a nice build-up for October,” Smith said.

Bulls coach Jake White on Thursday welcomed Springbok legends Duane Vermeulen and Morne Steyn back into his starting line-up and then couldn’t help but list the terrible loss of players afflicting the Stormers ahead of their Rainbow Cup clash in Cape Town on Saturday.

White said he expects the Stormers to be without Ruhan Nel, Seabelo Senatla, Willie Engelbrecht, Kade Wolhuter, JD Schickerling, Nama Xaba and Salmaan Moeraat on Saturday. That just adds to the unavailability of Siya Kolisi, Juarno Augustus, Tim Swiel, Chris van Zyl, Jaco Coetzee and Angelo Davids from the Western Province team that played in the Currie Cup semi-finals in January.

“It’s a massive boost to have Duane back, he’s an unbelievable leader who will bring calm. Obviously things are going well with his knee and hopefully he can make an impact although I don’t expect him to be at his best physically. He’s trying to make his way back for the Lions tour, but I’m sure he will show leadership and get the team to gel. I know what he means to the team.

“Morne has been brought into the alignment camps with the Springboks, so obviously he’s an important cog too. If it had been a one-off game we could probably have pushed Trevor Nyakane to play as well, but the bigger picture of the Springboks comes to the fore there, he’s helluva important for them. Plus Mornay Smith was really good at tighthead last weekend.

“But the Stormers will have a completely different pack of forwards to what we’re used to and a very different backline. We don’t know their players as well as we used to. But we saw against the Lions, who did not have a lot of their big names, that we will still be up against a real challenge and we’re mindful of that. It is a North/South derby after all,” White said.

The Bulls were also able to advise their supporters of the signing of former Lions centre Harold Vorster on Thursday.

“At the age of 27 he has been around the block a bit. We have some real young talent here, but we probably have too many youngsters. We need that age-group that’s the middle tier, guys like Harold, Jacques du Plessis, Johan Goosen and Marcell Coetzee. Harold comes from Panasonic Wild Knights, who are an incredible club, always in the playoffs in Japan.

“So he’ll have experience of knockout rugby and having been coached by Robbie Deans, I’m full of confidence that he would have developed as a player. I know how good he was at the Lions and I’m sure he would have added more strings to his bow since then,” White said.

Bulls team: David Kriel, Madosh Tambwe, Marco Jansen van Vuren, Cornal Hendricks, Stravino Jacobs, Morné Steyn, Embrose Papier, Duane Vermeulen (Captain), Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Walt Steenkamp, Mornay Smith, Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench – Schalk Erasmus, Lizo Gqoboka, Jacques van Rooyen, Janko Swanepoel, Nizaam Carr, Zak Burger, Chris Smith, James Verity-Amm.

Vernon Philander has never been one to pass the buck, as his tireless work uplifting his community has shown, which is why he has decided to make a comeback to help not just Western Province but South African cricket as a whole.

The great seam bowler’s decision to come out of retirement is great news for Western Province, who will be built around a core of the struggling Cape Cobras side, minus key figures who will be playing for Boland like the Malan brothers, Janneman and Pieter.

But the presence of Philander, who took 224 Test wickets at just 22.32 before retiring in January last year, will also help raise the standard of the new-look domestic game and the 35-year-old said he is wanting to help players from all the teams and not just his own.

“Western Province will have a young squad and there is a big need for me to play a part there, considering I still probably have two or three years left in me and I still have the firepower to perform and do well. But there is also not much experience around the country and I’m looking at the greater picture. We were fortunate to learn from older guys when we started out whether they were in our squad or not.

“So there’s a massive role to play in helping the future generations with those extra learnings, they can tap into our knowledge and hopefully stay calmer for longer. Hopefully I can help make sure they mature in the proper manner. Obviously I am still playing for trophies, but I want to encourage bowlers from other teams to speak to me so I can help South African cricket grow,” Philander told Saturday Citizen on Friday.

While the jury is still out on whether the new domestic system will actually improve South African cricket, Philander said the quality of play locally definitely needed some attention.

“I’ve been having honest chats with a few people and it boils down to standards and whether we are okay with mediocre. I personally don’t think there’s any place for that, so my goal is ultimately to help the standard of cricket in this country by setting a good example and standards. You want an atmosphere of enjoying what you do, but you also have a responsibility to perform,” Philander said.

The new-look team based at Newlands is also likely to feature the returns of batting maestro Hashim Amla and Wayne Parnell, who at 31 years old is still very capable of bringing some all-round magic.

Anrich Nortje has marked himself out as being a cricketer of tremendous heart ever since he made his Test debut in India last year, but the 27-year-old knows a lot of his success in the Test series against Sri Lanka will depend on him getting a little help from his friends.

Nortje has played just six Tests and taken 19 wickets at an average of 35, but those figures are skewed by his analysis of one for 179 in the two Tests on flat pitches in India. In South Africa, he has taken 18 scalps in four matches at 27.11.

Lungi Ngidi, although he made his Test debut 18 months earlier, has only played five Tests, with 15 wickets at 25.06, and with the third paceman almost certainly a debutant (Glenton Stuurman most likely), it is anyone’s guess who is going to be the so-called ‘leader of the attack’, but Nortje and Ngidi are favourites to share the new ball against Sri Lanka in the first Test at Centurion from Boxing Day.

“We actually had a meeting on Wednesday about bowling in partnerships, we have a very inexperienced attack and it’s important for us to stick together. Against England I felt like I was quite good at that, especially when Dwaine Pretorius was bowling at the other end. One of us would control things and the other would focus on taking wickets. It’s about understanding what you have to do in that moment and not thinking ahead too much.

“Generally you’re trying to bring the run-rate down so you frustrate the batsmen and force them to play a shot they should not have played. Conditions also play a role but it’s mostly about the run-rate. I’ll be trying to keep to the basics and keep things as simple as possible. There’s definitely going to be a bit more bounce and pace at SuperSport Park, but we must not get carried away,” Nortje said on Thursday.

Nortje said he has been impressed by the uncapped Stuurman and would enjoy bowling in partnership with his fellow Warriors star.

“Glenton is a very good bowler with lots of control and skill. We actually haven’t played a lot together but having seen him in the nets, it’s clear he has a lot of talent and he can really trouble guys, especially at Centurion. He asks lots of questions and, without labelling the guy, he can sort of fulfil the Vernon Philander role.”

Having taken the Sri Lankans away from the lower and slower coastal pitches on which they won 2-0 in 2019, the use of the short ball is obviously going to be a key weapon of the Proteas. But Nortje said it is important that they do not overdo the delivery.

“We try and see from every angle what we can do against certain batsmen and conditions are going to be different for them this time around. If someone is uncomfortable against the short ball then he will definitely get it  a lot, but if they are comfortable then we won’t bowl it as much,  although they will still get some. So much depends on the conditions and where the batsman is scoring well.

“We definitely want to use the extra bounce and pace to our advantage, but we mustn’t get carried away and go into the Test thinking we are just going to bomb them out. At SuperSport Park there’s obviously that extra bounce, but you also get cracks later on and that’s obviously exciting from a bowling perspective. We have had a good couple of days of training and we have tuned our game,” Nortje sad.