Ken Borland

The actual ICC Cricket World Cup is busy touring South Africa at the moment and nobody should need reminding that the number of Proteas’ titles in that prestigious competition stands at zero, least of all Graeme Smith.

But the former captain is confident that South Africa have the players to finally achieve that breakthrough triumph because many of the boxes required for glory have or will be ticked once the World Cup starts in Australia and New Zealand in mid-February.

“I was very blessed to go to three World Cups, but I’m very excited for this World Cup. The team is shaping up nicely and for the first time in a long time we’ll be playing in conditions that we actually like.

“There’s a great balance to the batting unit, the top five is really outstanding and can win games, they’re dynamic and can chase or set big scores.

“The bowling is attacking and can take wickets, which is very important with the current rules. There’s a really good feeling and buzz around the team and the core is there. AB de Villiers has had some great results, he’s pretty relaxed as a captain, I hear he’s doing a super job and the confidence will be good,” Smith said after a photoshoot with the World Cup trophy.

Amongst the issues that do concern Smith are the lengthy interludes between games.

“It’s a long tournament and there’s always a period when you seem to just sit around for two weeks. It helps though that it’ll be in Australia, previously we got caught with two weeks in Bangladesh [2011] and two weeks in Guyana [2007]. It’s important to stay fresh and in it mentally, and momentum is huge, you don’t want anything to stop that. You will also need to overcome the odd tough game, that’s when you need one or two players to pull you through,” Smith said.

There is consensus that South Africa’s death bowling is another issue and Smith said bowlers needed to prepare mentally for that challenge.

“Death bowling is always key and everyone in the seam attack must be able to contribute. Each player needs to grow mentally in that space, so you want them to have been there before, they need to be exposed to powerplays and death overs.

“if there’s reverse-swing, then going into the blockhole makes sense, but at places like the Wanderers, if you miss the yorker by one centimetre, you’re gone, plus guys lap so well now. It’s about how to block the field, give the batsman one and protect your over. Bowlers need to spend as much time as possible practising those thought processes, the tactics of death bowling,” Smith said.

The two-time World Cup captain’s final words for the 15 lucky men going to Australasia is to enjoy themselves.

“They should be excited as players, it’s a great occasion and all teams aspire to play in any World Cup. Only a select few have won it, especially since Australia dominated for a large period,” Smith said.

Former South African captain Graeme Smith said on Wednesday that he believed Jacques Kallis announced his retirement from all international cricket because he could not face the possibility of letting down the Proteas.

Kallis retired from Test cricket in December, but decided to continue playing ODI cricket in a bid to make the World Cup squad early next year. But a poor tour of Sri Lanka this month, in which he scored just five runs in three innings and could not bowl due to niggling injuries, led to him re-evaluating his future.

“I’ve been calling him an ‘old man’ and asking him what he’s doing out there, but I had a hint that he might decide to retire after he came back from Sri Lanka and realised that it would take a lot of hard work for him to get through to the World Cup. When you’re playing full-time it’s easier, but focus is very crucial at international level and I think he was wondering if his mind is really on it.

“He really wanted to win the World Cup, but I’ve always appreciated his honesty and I think he realised that he might let the team down. He was honest enough to realise he might not be strong enough to make it through to next year, especially in terms of bowling and mentally,” Smith said on Wednesday.

Smith said the timing of the decision was perfect because it gave the team enough time to adapt their tactics to his absence ahead of the World Cup.

“He’s given the team enough space tactically to fill his gap with other guys but it’s obviously always sad when players of his calibre move on. But he’s had an incredible career which we can all celebrate and look back fondly on. He brought so much happiness and South African cricket got a lot out of Jacques in so many different eras,” Smith said.

“It’s always difficult to compare players from different eras, but if you consider the amount of cricket Jacques played, the length of consistency at the top of the game and all the different conditions and challenges he performed in, then he’s got to be up there with the best who’ve ever played the game. In time, I’m sure his reputation will only go from strength to strength.”

Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat said the timing of the decision was typical of the 38-year-old’s professionalism.

“He’s been a consummate professional who always knew exactly what his responsibilities were and although he was very keen to get through to the World Cup, and had committed himself to that, it dawned upon him in Sri Lanka that his mind and body were not fit enough to get him there. He said he had some thinking to do when he left Sri Lanka two weeks ago, so he prepared us for his retirement and in the last 12 hours there have been lots of conversations with him,” Lorgat said.

“In my book, he was one of the best cricketers ever. I’ve seen him play great innings and make wonderful contributions with the ball, but above all it was his presence that I will remember. In the last 10 years, the team has drawn an enormous amount of confidence from his sheer presence,” the former Eastern Province and Transvaal all-rounder said.

http://mobi.supersport.com/cricket/sa-team/news/140730/Kallis_didnt_want_to_let_the_team_down

It was a month ago to the day that Russell Domingo, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers set off from O.R. Tambo International Airport on a new era for South African cricket, their first assignment a daunting tour of Sri Lanka, where the Proteas have found it hardest to win.

On Tuesday they returned triumphant, full of smiles, after beating the in-form Sri Lankans on their home turf in both the ODI and Test series; the Proteas are as much champions as the Springbok Sevens team who were on the same flight from Dubai with Commonwealth Games gold medals.

“We knew going to Sri Lanka would be a very tough tour, but the ODI series win gave us lots of confidence. We weren’t favourites for the Tests, though, but winning the first Test gave us that tag. Everyone just clicked at the same time,” Test captain Amla said on Tuesday.

“Last year we came back from a tough tour of Sri Lanka and we were much more glum. Now we are very excited and proud, beating Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in both formats. Our record there over the last 20 years shows how tough it is to do that,” coach Domingo said.

Six-and-a-half months out from the World Cup, ODI captain De Villiers was also understandably buoyant as the 2-1 series victory takes their record to 10 wins in their last 14 matches.

“You can never be perfectly ready for a World Cup, but I’m very comfortable with where we are at the moment. The players have a greater understanding of their roles and I know my players better, who I can rely on in pressure situations, who I can strike with and who I maybe need to rally around at times,” De Villiers said.

Despite the positive mood, however, the Proteas know that there are areas that they need to address if they are to hang on to the number one Test ranking and be challengers at the World Cup.

The Test side can obviously do with a more solid opening partnership and a more consistent frontline spinner and, although Domingo backed the incumbents in these positions, his eye is surely on them.

“We know we’re not the finished article, there’s still a lot of tinkering to be done. This is very much a new start, with new faces. I’m not saying we’re going to experiment, but there is space for one or two guys to get an opportunity. Sri Lanka is not the right place to blood new players and it was our most experienced players who really fired over there,” Domingo said.

Imran Tahir, despite his heroics with the bat at the end of the second Test, tended to provide a four-ball an over with his leg-spin and an average of 47.17 after 15 Tests as a strike bowler suggests that the selectors’ patience may be wearing thin when it comes to five-day cricket.

“It’s tough for a spinner in the sub-continent because there’s a lot of pressure on you, people always look to the spinner to do well. But Sri Lanka have some of the best players of spin in the world and I honestly felt Imran bowled better than his figures suggest. His performances weren’t as good as he knows he can be, but he can still offer a helluva lot in all formats,” Domingo said in defence of the leggie, who took four wickets at an average of 84 in the Tests.

“There are not many opening batsmen with the pedigree of Alviro Petersen in domestic cricket and, with Graeme Smith retiring, it’s very difficult to replace two opening batsmen. Alviro has played 32 Tests and scored five centuries, including knocks of 182 and 156, so he has the potential to play match-winning innings, he has the experience and a calm head,” Domingo said of the 33-year-old, who has scored just 133 runs in eight innings this year.

For De Villiers, the biggest improvement needed in the ODI side is in the fielding.

“There are lots of areas to improve, but especially in the field. We’re not the strongest in the world there, but we should be in the top two or three by the time we get to the World Cup,” De Villiers said.

The tour to Zimbabwe – the one-off Test in Harare starts on August 9 and is followed by three ODIs and then a triangular series of four more matches with Australia – provides the opportunity for some fringe players to get game time.

Whether the management feel comfortable moving Stiaan van Zyl, a number three batsman, up to open instead of Petersen, or giving Quinton de Kock the job, and causing more questions over who takes the gloves, remains to be seen. And off-spinner Dane Piedt could be worth a run in relatively stress-free conditions in Zimbabwe.

Domingo did suggest, however, that the three ODIs before the triangular series could see some senior players being rested, particularly the pace bowlers.

“Nobody wants to be rested for Test matches and it’s not easy to chop and change the Test side, but in the ODIs we’ll probably rest Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander for the first three games. We played those three frontline seamers consistently in an ODI series for the first time in Sri Lanka and it paid off in a big way, but the Zimbabwe games are an ideal opportunity to look at younger fast bowlers like Kyle Abbott and Wayne Parnell, who haven’t had much game time,” the coach said.

While De Villiers said he felt much more confident in the ODI captaincy, the promotion of Amla to Test skipper was another major feature of the Sri Lankan tour. And, as expected, it was an obvious success.

“The Tests were a testament to Hashim’s ability to lead, he got the best out of his players and, in a very tense situation on the last day, they pulled through. That’s partly because the captain had such a cool head himself,” Domingo said.

The determination of this Proteas side can perhaps be summed up in Amla’s tenacious first-innings century in the second Test and the new captain admitted that he felt some relief after his 139 not out followed innings of 11 and 22 in Galle.

“You want to contribute as captain and, although it is still a bit too early to tell whether the captaincy affects by batting, I was really glad to get a century under the belt, it settled me into the captaincy.

“The final day in Colombo showed the extreme hunger and passion in this side to represent our country as best we can. The guys put averages aside, put the ego that makes you want to score runs to one side. The best example of that was JP Duminy, who scored six runs off 123 balls, which is never easy to do. But that’s what you need to be successful,” Amla said.

This Proteas side certainly seem to know the magic formula of success and the new era under Amla has enjoyed the smoothest of introductions.

While the Proteas are in Sri Lanka, South Africa’s next tier of internationals – the SA A side – will be heading off to Australia soon and coach Vincent Barnes says one of his most important tasks will be to mentally prepare the up-and-coming players for a country in which character assassination seems as much of a goal as taking wickets or scoring runs.

The SA A squad play their first match in a triangular series with the Australian and Indian A sides on July 20 and are busy preparing for a tough tour at the CSA Centre of Excellence in Pretoria. Barnes will be able to take fully-fledged internationals such as captain Justin Ontong, Marchant de Lange, Beuran Hendricks, Rory Kleinveldt, Heino Kuhn, Farhaan Behardien, Aaron Phangiso and Vaughn van Jaarsveld in his party, but there are numerous younger players, several of whom have never been to Australia before.

“The tour is designed to give our fringe players top-quality opposition and it’s a fantastic opportunity to play in Australia even though it’s winter. There are four recent Proteas [Hendricks, Phangiso, Kleinveldt & Behardien], but it’s a nice blend with a lot of senior players and quite a few young debutants.

“I’m doing a lot of mental work with them because I want us to go across there with presence, our body language is important. The biggest challenge in Australia is mentally and quite a few of the guys are on their first tour there. They’re going to have to deal with those mental pressures and learn how to overcome them,” Barnes told The Pretoria News on Wednesday.

Warriors opening batsman David White and Highveld Lions pace bowler Kagiso Rabada are two of the rookies in the squad, but they are both excited by the learning opportunities they will have in Australia.

“It’s a great honour to be chosen for the A side, I feel very privileged and I’m very excited. I want to learn as much as I can so I can build on my game for the Warriors, after I put in some nice performances for them in four-day cricket last season. Obviously the goal is to play Test cricket for the Proteas, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself.

“I have huge respect for the guys I’m playing with, there are some great cricketers and I’m going to learn as much as possible from them. Especially Justin Ontong, because he’s been around the block and has a lot of information to share,” White said.

Rabada was shining for the SA U19 Junior World Cup-winning side at the start of the year and his selection in both the four-day and limited-overs squads completes a whirlwind six months for the St Stithians product.

“Everything has happened so quickly, I went straight into the franchise team from the U19s and now I’m playing for SA A. I hope to learn from it and become a better cricketer. If I just play my best then the other things will take care of themselves, but my main goal is to play for the Proteas and long-term to be one of the best fast bowlers in the world,” Rabada said.

Five members of last season’s SA A squad – Kyle Abbott, Stiaan van Zyl, Dean Elgar, Hendricks and Phangiso will be involved in the Proteas’ tour of Sri Lanka and Barnes is excited by the possibilities that lie ahead for this year’s intake.

“Having so many young players has been refreshing and they’ve brought a lot of freshness and energy to the squad,” Barnes said.

And let’s not forget that next year’s World Cup will be held in Australia and history suggests a player or two from this A squad could well be involved with the full national team by then. While the wintry conditions in the sub-tropical far north will be different to those experienced at the height of the 2014/15 summer, it will do them the world of good to acclimatise to the abrasive Australian way of playing the game and all the other off-field quirks over there.

SA A squads

Four-day squad: Justin Ontong, Temba Bavuma, Marchant de Lange, Simon Harmer, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Rory Kleinveldt, Heino Kuhn, Eddie Leie, Mangaliso Mosehle, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Hardus Viljoen, David White, Khaya Zondo.

Limited-overs squad: Justin Ontong, Farhaan Behardien, Cody Chetty, Marchant de Lange, Simon Harmer, Beuran Hendricks, Reeza Hendricks, Rory Kleinveldt, Heino Kuhn, Mangaliso Mosehle, Aaron Phangiso, Kagiso Rabada, Rilee Rossouw, Mthokozisi Shezi, Vaughn van Jaarsveld.

Itinerary: July 20 v Australia National Performance Squad (Northline); July 22 v India A (Gardens Oval); July 24 v Australia A (Northline); July 26 v India A (Gardens Oval); July 29 v Australia A (Marrara); July 31 v Australia National Performance Squad (Gardens Oval); August 2 1v2, 3v4 (Northern Territory); August 7-10 v Australia A (Tony Ireland Stadium); August 14-17 v Australia A (Tony Ireland Stadium).