Ken Borland

Heino Kuhn’s prospects of becoming the South African national team wicketkeeper hinge on the form and fitness of a couple of other players right now, but the 28-year-old is inching his way closer and closer to the side through sheer weight of runs.

AB de Villiers currently holds the gloves in all three formats, but one of the world’s most talented batsmen has not scored a century at international level in nine months and has recurring back problems.

Thami Tsolekile is his official understudy on tour in Australia but there seems to be a lack of confidence in his batting, with his first-class average being 29.01.

Kuhn, on the other hand, has a first-class batting average of 46.17 but his appearances for South Africa have thus far been limited to five T20 internationals, in which he has batted four times but only once come to the crease with more than four overs left in the innings.

But the Titans batsman believes the time is now for him to step up and claim the mantle as Mark Boucher’s long-term successor.

“I’ve definitely made the wicketkeeping place in the national side my goal for the season, my whole thinking heading into the season was about getting into the Proteas side,” Kuhn admitted to Business Day on Wednesday.

And, right now, Kuhn is in superb form with the bat as well. He has scored 107 and 41 in his two Momentum One-Day Cup innings and averaged 101.50 in the Titans’ two Sunfoil Series four-day matches this season.

Mother Cricket has the tendency, however, to get her own back on players who think too far ahead and Kuhn stressed that, although the national team was a very definite goal, he was focusing on performing for his team first.

“I’m not breaking my head worrying about why I’m not in the national team, I’m just going out there to enjoy every game and help my team win trophies. Personally, I’ve been batting well and I scored a century in my last game, but we weren’t happy with the way we played as a team in the first two four-day matches and we made a bad start to the one-day competition,” Kuhn said.

Whether De Villiers, one of South Africa’s key top-order batsmen, should even be keeping wicket is debatable with many of the owners of the sharpest cricketing brains around saying the workload is too much.

But Kuhn is happy to take on the responsibility of both gloveman and specialist batsman.

“I love to open the batting, especially in four-day cricket, and seeing off the new ball is always a good feeling. There are always a lot of gaps at the start of the innings, so any time you pierce the infield, you get four runs.

“But it is hard work keeping wicket as well and that’s why I float up and down the order with the Titans. If I had to play for South Africa, I’d probably only bat seven or eight, but that’s basically the same as opening the batting because you’ll be up against the second new ball,” Kuhn said.

The Affies product is also the owner of one of the best pair of hands in the country and, as a package, certainly warrants a look from the national selectors.

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Heyneke Meyer has previously said that bowing to public opinion would be akin to having fans voting for the national team, but the Springbok coach has made what will be some popular selections in the squad announced on Sunday to tour Great Britain and Ireland.

While it’s a perfectly logical squad, featuring all the players who appeared for the Springboks this year and are fit, there will be some debate, as ever, round the flyhalf position.

Meyer has predictably named all three contenders – Elton Jantjies, Morne Steyn and Pat Lambie – in the squad and it would perhaps be best for the long-term growth of the Springboks if he spread the flyhalf duties between the trio for the three Tests against Ireland, Scotland and England.

There are five uncapped players in the 31-man squad, with lock Franco van der Merwe and scrumhalf Jano Vermaak having been round the block a few times, while outside backs Lionel Mapoe and 19-year-old Raymond Rhule have the flair and skills to be exciting additions to the Springbok backline in years to come.

Speaking of flair and skills, Meyer has decided to bring hooker cum part-time flank Schalk Brits in from the cold, the 31-year-old Saracens player having not represented the Springboks since 2008. The other overseas-based players in the squad are Ulster scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar, Bath flank Francois Louw and mountainous Toulouse loosehead prop Gurthro Steenkamp.

The other uncapped player in the touring group is loose forward Arno Botha, who has been part of the Springbok squad this year.

Meyer explained his reasoning by saying: “We’ve got a settled core of players that did the job during the England series and the Rugby Championship and we decided to stick with them.

“Gurthrö and Schalk are experienced front-rankers who have played for South Africa before and know the conditions in the Northern Hemisphere. This tour provides a good opportunity to assess them as we plan ahead. Arno, Lionel, Franco and Jano have all been part of our squad earlier in the season.

“Raymond put up his hand for the Junior Boks and the Cheetahs and I’m very excited to see what he can do. It’s also great to have JP Pietersen and Chiliboy Ralepelle back from injury as they bring a lot of experience to the squad.”

Meyer will also name a 32^nd squad member before the team depart for the United Kingdom on Saturday, with loose forward and outside back the two areas where the Springboks probably currently have holes.

Captain Jean de Villiers, who missed Western Province’s run-in to the Currie Cup title with a hamstring strain, will also have to prove his fitness before departure.

The Springboks have already been hard-hit by injuries with prop Coenie Oosthuizen, hookers Bismarck du Plessis and Tiaan Liebenberg, lock Andries Bekker, loose forwards Siya Kolisi, Jacques Potgieter and Pierre Spies, flyhalf Johan Goosen, centre Frans Steyn and wing Bryan Habana all being wounded in action this year.

Flanks Schalk Burger, Juan Smith and Heinrich Brussow were all ruled out before the Springboks even stepped on to a field this year.

The injury curse got her dirty little hands into Habana over the weekend, the in-form winger leaving the field with a knee injury in the 14^th minute of the Currie Cup final after Beast Mtawarira hurled him to the ground at a ruck.

On the plus side though, Pietersen is back in the Springbok squad and will be hoping Lady Luck only has her best in store for him after he missed the entire Rugby Championship with a hand injury.

While Springbok fans have had to endure a diet of uninspired rugby and mostly defeats this year, the team began to show real promise in the second half of the Rugby Championship before the brilliant All Blacks gave them a lesson in Soweto.

Weather conditions overseas may favour Meyer’s preferred conservative game plan, but there are enough exciting youngsters in the squad for more glimmers of hope to be seen.

Springbok squad – Zane Kirchner (Bulls), Pat Lambie (Sharks), JP Pietersen (Sharks), Juan de Jongh (WP), Jaco Taute (Lions), Jean de Villiers (WP), Lionel Mapoe (Lions), Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks), Raymond Rhule (FS), Elton Jantjies (Lions), Morne Steyn (Bulls), Ruan Pienaar (Ulster), Francois Hougaard (Bulls), Jano Vermaak (Bulls), Duane Vermeulen (WP), Willem Alberts (Sharks), Arno Botha (Bulls), Francois Louw (Bath), Marcell Coetzee (Sharks), Juandre Kruger (Bulls), Franco van der Merwe (Lions), Eben Etzebeth (WP), Flip van der Merwe (Bulls), Jannie du Plessis (Sharks), Pat Cilliers (Lions), CJ van der Linde (Lions), Adriaan Strauss (FS), Chiliboy Ralepelle (Bulls), Schalk Brits (Saracens), Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks), Gurthro Steenkamp (Toulouse).

Chevrolet Knights batsman Dean Elgar is hoping to transfer how good he feels in practice out into the middle as the left-hander eyes another summer and another push to make the national team.

This search for runs will begin on Saturday when Elgar heads out to the crease for South Africa A against Sri Lanka A in a four-day game at Kingsmead in Durban.

“I had two good knocks in warm-up matches here and even when I’ve been practising in Bloemfontein I’ve just felt really good, in fact this is the best I’ve ever felt,” Elgar said on Tuesday at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria where the SA A squad are training ahead of the series against the Sri Lankans.

“So the confidence and the technique are there, I just have to apply and execute,” Elgar added.

This could well be the year that Elgar finally makes his international debut as he has been a prolific scorer at domestic level for several years now and he was chosen in South Africa’s squad for the one-day international series against Sri Lanka but had to withdraw without playing a match due to a knee injury.

“I had a bite of the cherry but then my knee had other plans. It’s one of those things, that’s cricket, but when you’ve got a personal goal like playing for the national side, you don’t get disheartened by things like that,” the 25-year-old said philosophically.

Elgar believes he could fit into either the test or ODI team, but admits “there are awesome players currently in the national side”. He would like to open the batting in the longer form of the game, but would be happy to slot in anywhere in the limited-overs line-up.

“I think I’m firmly positioned as an opener in four-day cricket, but in the one-dayers I can bat anywhere between one and five. I had a lot of success for the Knights batting in the middle-order, but the national team chooses you where to bat, you don’t choose where you want to bat!” Elgar said.

The Welkom-born former SA U19 captain is also a fine fielder and can also bowl accurate left-arm spin, which can only help his chances of making the ODI squad.

His temperament is proven by the number of times he has saved the Knights from precarious positions, his grittiness and sheer survival instinct at the crease drawing comparisons to former Australian opener Justin Langer.

“The important thing is to be patient and just keep doing what makes you successful, what I’m comfortable with in my game. You don’t want to tinker too much because that can be the recipe for disaster,” Elgar said.

The summer may well start with Elgar once again with the SA A team – when they head to Zimbabwe for the triangular series there with Sri Lanka A it will be his seventh tour with them – but it could well end with him having finally made the step up to full international colours.

http://www.supersport.com/cricket/sa-a-team/news/120626/Elgar_full_of_confidence_for_summer_ahead