Ken Borland

Proteas fans, your 2021/22 Men’s Player of the Year will be one of five cricketers – Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Temba Bavuma, Rassie van der Dussen or Quinton de Kock.

Cricket South Africa on Tuesday named the nominees for the CSA Awards, which will be a virtual ceremony taking place on August 14.

Performances from May 2021 to April 2022 were taken into account, which is from the tour of the West Indies to the end of the Test series against Bangladesh in April.

Who will be the favourite to claim the overall title will depend on your favourite format.

Rabada, Maharaj and Bavuma were outstanding in Tests, while Van der Dussen and De Kock shone in the white-ball formats.

Rabada took 30 wickets at an average of just 20 in the five Tests he played, while spinner Maharaj also took 30 wickets in the judging period, from eight Tests art an average of only 18.20. He also starred in ODIs with 18 wickets in 14 matches at an economy rate of just 4.61.

Bavuma scored 515 runs in seven Tests at an average of 46.81, while also averaging 38.70 in his 13 ODIs.

An extraordinary average of 73.11 in 14 ODIs for Van der Dussen saw him nominated, his 658 runs being scored at a strike-rate of 97, while he also averaged 39.10 at a strike-rate of 123 in T20s.

De Kock averaged 73 in the three Tests he played before his retirement from the longest format, and his chief successes came in ODIs – 523 runs in eight games at an average of 65.37 and a strike-rate of 108 – and T20s (524 runs in 14 innings at 43.66, SR 131).

Kyle Verreynne, Marco Jansen, Keegan Petersen and Sarel Erwee are the new talents competing for the Proteas Newcomer of the Year award.

The Women’s Proteas team devoted themselves mostly to 50-over cricket last season due to the ODI World Cup, in which they reached the semi-finals.

Prolific run-scorer Laura Wolvaardt and star all-rounder Marizanne Kapp are probably the favourites for the overall SA Women’s Player of the Year award, with bowlers Shabnim Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka and all-rounder Sune Luus also nominated.

2021/22 CSA AWARDS NOMINEES

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS – DOMESTIC

CSA UMPIRES’ UMPIRE OF THE YEAR

Lubabalo Gcuma

Allahudien Paleker

Stephen Harris

CSA UMPIRE OF THE YEAR

Allahudien Paleker

Lubabalo Gcuma

Stephen Harris 

Arno Jacobs

DOMESTIC NEWCOMER OF THE SEASON

Kyle Simmonds (WP)

Tristan Stubbs (EP Warriors)

Mitchell van Buuren (CGL)

Daniel Smith (WP)

DIVISION 1 COACH OF THE SEASON

Wandile Gwavu (CGL)

Mandla Mashimbyi (Titans)

Salieg Nackerdien (WP)

DIVISION 2 COACH OF THE SEASON

Mark Charlton (Northern Cape)

Garry Hampson (SWD)

Michael Smith (KZN Inland)

T20 KNOCK OUT COMPETITION PLAYER OF THE TOURNAMENT

Migael Pretorius (FS Knights)

Ottneil Baartman (KZN Dolphins)

Herschell America (SWD)

Rilee Rossouw (FS Knights)

Daryn Dupavillon (KZN Dolphins))

DIVISION 1 T20 CHALLENGE PLAYER OF THE SEASON

Pieter Malan (Boland Rocks)

Tabraiz Shamsi (Titans)

Tristan Stubbs (EP Warriors)

Ziyaad Abrahams (Boland Rocks)

Shaun von Berg (Boland Rocks)

DIVISION 1 4-DAY DOMESTIC SERIES PLAYER OF THE SEASON

Pieter Malan (Boland Rocks)

Ryan Rickelton (CGL)

Simon Harmer (Titans)

David Bedingham (WP)

Kyle Simmonds (WP)

DIVISION 2 4-DAY DOMESTIC SERIES PLAYER OF THE SEASON

Thomas Kaber (Border)

Michael Erlank (KZN Inland)

Tshepang Dithole (KZN Inland)

Evan Jones (Northern Cape)

Sean Whitehead (SWD)

DIVISION 1 ONE-DAY CUP PLAYER OF THE SEASON

Heinrich Klaasen (Titans)

Sisanda Magala (CGL)

Wihaan Lubbe (EP Warriors)

Sibonelo Makhanya (Titans)

Stiaan van Zyl (Boland Rocks)

DIVISION 2 ONE-DAY CUP PLAYER OF THE SEASON

Benjamin van Niekerk (Mpumalanga)

Keith Dudgeon (KZN Inland)

Michael Erlank (KZN Inland)

Ludwig Kaestner (Limpopo)

Beyers Swanepoel (Northern Cape)

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS – INTERNATIONAL

MOMENTUM WOMEN’S T20 INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Laura Wolvaardt

Lizelle Lee

Ayabonga Khaka

Marizanne Kapp

MOMENTUM WOMEN’S ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Laura Wolvaardt

Shabnim Ismail

Ayabonga Khaka

Marizanne Kapp

Sune Luus

SA WOMEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Laura Wolvaardt

Shabnim Ismail

Ayabonga Khaka

Marizanne Kapp

Sune Luus

THE BEST DELIVERY FUELLED BY KFC

Ismail to Matthews

Klaas to Beamount

Ismail to Martin

Klaas to Brunt

Harmer to Shanto

Olivier to Latham

Rabada to Blundell

Maharaj to Mitchell

INTERNATIONAL MEN’S NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Kyle Verreynne

Marco Jansen

Keegan Petersen

Sarel Erwee

T20 INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Quinton de Kock

Aiden Markram

Tabraiz Shamsi

Anrich Nortje

Kagiso Rabada

ONE-DAY INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Janneman Malan

Rassie van der Dussen

Quinton de Kock

Tabraiz Shamsi

Keshav Maharaj

TEST PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Dean Elgar

Temba Bavuma

Keshav Maharaj

Kagiso Rabada

Marco Jansen

Keegan Petersen

SA MEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Kagiso Rabada

Keshav Maharaj

Temba Bavuma

Rassie van der Dussen

Quinton de Kock

Bangladesh’s batsmen discovered at the Wanderers that there are no vaccinations against the pace and bounce of Kagiso Rabada when he is at his fiery best, and South Africa’s ace fast bowler is hopeful that they won’t have time to figure out how to handle him and his fellow quicks before the ODI series decider at Centurion on Wednesday.

With Rabada leading the way with an outstanding 5/39, Bangladesh were restricted to just 194/9 in the second ODI, South Africa levelling the series when they chased down that target with seven wickets and 76 deliveries to spare. After a slightly flat performance in the first match at SuperSport Park, this time the Proteas pacemen came out firing.

While Rabada said he was still not sure why they struggled for wickets in the first ODI, he did say the extra pace and bounce of the Wanderers pitch made them more lethal.

“It’s a question I’m still asking myself,” Rabada said at the Wanderers after his man-of-the-match display. “I guess this pitch did a bit more with the new ball.

“I thought we bowled very well in the first 10 overs of the previous game too, but were just unfortunate not to get the breakthrough. And on the Highveld, you’re guaranteed to score quicker once you’re in, as the ball gets older it’s better to bat.

“But there was more bounce at the Wanderers, we got the ball in the right areas and it was good to us. You generally want to use the extra bounce and pace at the Wanderers.

“The talk is that the subcontinent teams are not able to deal with the bounce as well as we do because we’ve grown up here. You can’t just rock up and expect to bounce them out, but you try use the conditions to the best of your ability,” Rabada said.

While the Proteas were delighted with their all-round performance at the Wanderers, they are dismayed by their continued tendency to start series poorly, a destructive habit when it comes to a growing side developing consistency.

“It is a concern because we always want to throw the first punch but we keep finding ourselves in this position.

“We don’t do it on purpose and we don’t want to make our job even harder. So we still hve a bit of work to do before we go back to Centurion,” Rabada said.

The Proteas dare not reproduce their performance of the first ODI.

South Africa’s pace trio of Kagiso Rabada, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi have the reputation of being ruthless sharks in their own waters but they were rather toothless in the first ODI against Bangladesh at SuperSport Park on Friday night, leading captain Temba Bavuma to admit that “conversations will have to be had”.

Having won the toss and elected to bowl first, Bavuma had to wait until the 22^nd over until the first wicket came, and even then it was delivered by medium-pacer Andile Phehlukwayo.

Given an opening-stand platform of 95, Shakib Al-Hasan and Yasir Ali were able to make merry and take Bangladesh to 314/7, their highest ever score in South Africa.

In stark contrast to the Proteas attack, Bangladesh pacemen Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam were able to take early wickets and South Africa fell 38 runs short despite the heroics of David Miller (79) and Rassie van der Dussen (86).

“In the first 10-15 overs in the field I felt we were in control, but in the middle overs we were not on-point in terms of our plans or adjusting to conditions,” Bavuma said after the first ever home loss to Bangladesh.

“The wickets were what was lacking and that was always going to make it tough. It meant Bangladesh always had an in-batter who was able to take risks. We conceded nearly 180 runs in the last 20 overs.

“That meant Bangladesh then had momentum going into our innings. Conversations will have to be had because the seamers we had can all take wickets, that’s generally our game-plan,” Bavuma said.

Given how comprehensively his team beat the Proteas in the opening game of the three-match series, Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal was hardly being boastful when he said “We can win the series. We have to give ourselves every chance.”

Bavuma knows the Proteas have to show their pride in a do-or-die Pink Day encounter at the Wanderers on Sunday if they are to avoid an embarrassing series loss coming off their 3-0 win over India.

“Sunday is now simply a must-win match and we have to up our game in all departments. If we do that then things like Super League points will look after themselves.

“Just because we are playing against Bangladesh, it is no guarantee that the points will just come to us,” Bavuma said.

No-one should be left in any doubt about that after the goings-on in Centurion on Friday night.

From dealing with a 10-day quarantine that almost turned their hotel rooms into prison cells, to getting over a humiliating defeat in the first Test, the Proteas showed immense resilience in bouncing back to beat New Zealand by 198 runs in the second Test in Christchurch on Tuesday, allowing them to level the series and ensure the Black Caps have still never won a rubber against South Africa.

Man of the Match Kagiso Rabada, who led the way with the ball with 8/106 in the match and played a vital innings with the bat, said after the impressive triumph that resilience seems to come naturally to the Proteas team.

“It just seems to be our natural character, resilience has always been the word that just seems to fit us best,” Rabada said. “It’s never easy to beat us and we proved it again in this series.

“And to see young guys stepping up like Lutho Sipamla and Kyle Verreynne, and Sarel Erwee in his first series, there are lots of good signs for the future.

“It was no use harping on about how badly we played in the first Test, we recognised that we totally did not rock up and New Zealand were too good for us, but we had to put game-plans in place and react under pressure.

“Mentally we had to come back. We had to wake up, rock up and execute. We were under pressure, so it means a lot not to lose the Test series. We would have liked to have won, but credit to us for bouncing back,” Rabada said.

Although the 26-year-old still occasionally has moments of breast-beating emotion that pour out on the field, he is now a much more calculating, composed bowler. While there can be no doubting his passion, Rabada has developed a cool, ruthless streak.

“As a fast bowler you very seldom feel at your very best, so I just go out and try and implement the basics as well as possible and try to adapt to the conditions as best you can,” Rabada said.

“You’re always overcoming challenges and you just try and create your own luck through hard work, sticking to your process and refining it where necessary. And then you just have to allow it to happen.”