Ken Borland

Pressure at the highest level of sport often equates to a lack of time and space and Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt is hopeful that his charges will be able to execute their skills better as they move from T20s to ODIs against England.

The first ODI in the three-match series is at Newlands on Friday afternoon and South Africa will be desperate to put their 3-0 hammering in the T20s behind them. Time is on their side, as their 50-over form has generally been better than their T20 efforts in recent times.

“Most of the guys have been playing four-day cricket and got some bowling in there, but we haven’t had a lot of T20 cricket recently and we missed out on two of our warm-up games because of Covid. It’s about match-fitness and T20 is very difficult because it comes down to execution under pressure. You can train as much as you want in the nets, but it’s not the same intensity.

“We’ve got work to do to be able to execute under pressure, but the first two T20s came down to two big moments, just two overs, and we have learnt from it to identify the big moment and embrace it. Fifty-over cricket is still high intensity but it’s longer time. The batsmen take more time to settle in so that means more time for the bowlers to settle into a rhythm and get used to the pitch,” Langeveldt said on Thursday.

There will be at least two changes in South Africa’s batting line-up with the in-form Faf du Plessis being rested for the ODIs and Reeza Hendricks released from the squad. The Proteas will be eager to get the experienced duo of David Miller and Andile Phehlukwayo back into action after they were in Covid quarantine.

The absence of the injured Kagiso Rabada means the Proteas could well bring Junior Dala in, with Langeveldt saying a big part of their ODI strategy is to be in the opposing batsmen’s faces and try to strike in the early overs.

“KG is a massive loss for us because he always strikes with the new ball and we speak a lot about taking wickets in the first 10 overs so we can shift pressure on to the opposition. We see Junior as purely a 50-over bowler because he hits hard lengths and is aggressive, he can use the two bouncers and two new balls you get in ODIs. We’ve worked on upskilling him with slower balls and yorkers.

“Junior gives us that extra pace and aggression and to have Andile back would give us six bowlers which is great for us in 50-over cricket. He has a special one-day record and is also an option bowling at the back end. We need to be clever and be able to have that next level of intensity. We must be aggressive in both our batting and our bowling, you can’t sit back against England,” Langeveldt said.

In-form spin-bowling all-rounder George Linde could be welcomed into the Proteas T20 starting XI for the first time on Friday night as South Africa look to play a sixth bowler against a typically high-scoring England team in the first match of the series at Newlands.

South Africa’s last T20 outing was also in Cape Town back in February when they were thumped by 97 runs by Australia to lose the series 2-1. Australia managed to rack up a sizeable 193 for five batting first, and then skittled the Proteas for just 96, with spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa sharing five of the wickets.

One of South Africa’s chief problems that day was that they only had five bowlers – spinner Tabraiz Shamsi was the pick of the attack, but three of the four seamers went for more than 10-runs-per-over. Linde, whose left-arm orthodox complements Shamsi’s wrist-spin, has been in great form this season with the bat, so he could comfortably slot in at number six in the order. On what is expected to be another slow Newlands pitch, a second spinner is probably going to be more useful than another paceman.

With Dwaine Pretorius ruled out of the matches against England due to a hamstring strain, Andile Phehlukwayo is likely to return to the side as the lead all-rounder.

Given the importance of making a good start to the season against the powerful English side and the eight months of inactivity for the Proteas team, coach Mark Boucher is likely to defy those calling for a new-look team and IPL stars like Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock, Anrich Nortje and Faf du Plessis will surely feature because they have form and match-fitness on their side.

Lungi Ngidi was outstanding in the T20s South Africa played at the end of last summer and should play on that basis, while Temba Bavuma was also excellent as De Kock’s opening partner and should get the nod, having missed the previous Newlands game because of injury. He would replace Pite van Biljon, while David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen are probably fighting it out for one place in the middle-order.

Probable Proteas XI – Quinton de Kock, Temba Bavuma, Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller/Heinrich Klaasen, George Linde, Andile Phehlukwayo, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi.

New national convenor of selectors Victor Mpitsang said on Wednesday that it was important domestic cricket and the SA A side are not seen as an inconvenience but as crucial parts of the selection system leading up to players being chosen for the Proteas.

The former ODI international’s appointment was announced by Cricket South Africa on Wednesday and the 40-year-old from Kimberley has been involved as a scout, a bowling consultant, selector and assistant coach through various levels of the pipeline, as well as being a television commentator.

Mpitsang acknowledged that his focus as convenor of selectors for the national side will have to shift somewhat from being a spotter and developer of talent into a sifter of talent to choose finished products ready to shine in international cricket. Which is where he sees the franchise game and the SA A team playing a crucial role.

“In terms of the Proteas, when guys come into the side, the reference point is how well they have done in domestic cricket; we want them to transfer that into international cricket and we want to make sure they can dominate at that level too. Some players flourish immediately with the Proteas, while others take a bit of time, but it’s all about playing cricket at the right intensity.

“That’s where the importance of the domestic system comes in; that plays a vital role in providing the cricketers. Our high performance programme is also critical. Franchise cricket and the SA A team might not totally bridge the gap to the Proteas, but it’s important that we give prospects some sort of international standard exposure, which is where the A side comes in with their tours to Australia and India, playing in those conditions,” Mpitsang told The Citizen on Wednesday.

The former pace bowler who took 245 first-class wicket at an average of 29.80 admitted that the health – or lack thereof – of the Proteas Test team was his greatest challenge going into the job.

“In terms of challenges, how the national team performs is obviously the focus. Results don’t always give a true reflection, but as a starting point, the Test team hasn’t really been great recently. We pride ourselves on being a strong Test nation and we need to turn those results around, we need to find a successful formula.

“Obviously there’s the issue of the new Test captain and for that a real leader is needed. I have some ideas, but we need to discuss that as a team and then I can see who the leaders are. I also need to understand where the Proteas system is at; I’ve been involved at all levels of our game, but I need to understand from the inside, see what the Proteas’ true culture is and then I can sit down and decide on the way to go,” Mpitsang said.

Cricket South Africa is in good health and the Board is staying put because of the great job they have been doing; that was the message the organisation conveyed to members of the national squad in a virtual meeting late last week, according to a Protea who spoke to The Citizen on Monday on condition of anonymity.

According to acting CEO Kugandrie Govender, the portrayal of CSA as a sickly, embattled federation is disinformation and she blamed the media for their woes, which include financial worries, a governance crisis that has forced the Minister of Sport to step in, no fixtures confirmed yet for the Proteas this summer and a Board and executive that has been wracked by resignations and dismissals.

Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa has been adamant that the Board should step aside and allow Sascoc to set up an interim board, with particular focus on the Fundudzi Forensic Report and implementing the recommendations of the Nicholson Commission from 2012. He has given CSA until October 27 to offer reasons in writing as to why he should not intervene.

CSA have given no response to Mthethwa’s damning statement from last week, but did try to reassure the players in a virtual meeting to which the players’ union were not invited.

“The Board were in on the call to us, and they said they are going nowhere. We were shocked,” the Protea said. “They were quite adamant about it. People like Temba Bavuma asked probing questions but Kugandrie just talked around it and didn’t answer our questions.”

CSA may have made a R50 million profit before taxation for the financial year ended April 30, according to their 2019/20 Annual Integrated Report, but their message to the players that they are in a stable financial position is based on several assumptions.

England may still arrive in South Africa in mid-November for six limited-overs matches which would bring in around R70 million for CSA, but there is no indication yet that government has approved that tour or that the scheduled tours by Sri Lanka and to Pakistan over December/January will happen. Australia are also meant to tour for a Test series at the end of the summer.

But the longer the current Board hangs on to power, and the governance scandals rumble on and on, the more damage is done to CSA’s credibilty and that has already had an effect on the bottom line with broadcasters, sponsors and supporters jumping ship.

It would seem CSA have relied on terrible legal advice from Bowmans – whose ties with CSA company secretary Welsh Gwaza, a former employee, are a concern – to bunker down and try and keep the forensic report they themselves commissioned as secret as possible.

While CSA’s directors may see themselves as corporate bigwigs not compelled to operate transparently, Mthethwa’s intervention is based strongly on CSA being a public entity, custodians of a sport that belongs to the public, and he can rely on broad support for his strong stance.