Ken Borland

Simon Harmer returned to South African cricket last year with not much more than hope that he would be able to make an international comeback too and be reunited with the precious green cap that was packed away in his debut Proteas kitbag in the Eastern Cape.

And now he is sitting in Christchurch, New Zealand, back in the Proteas camp for the first time since 2015. The prolific off-spinner had to go to some lengths to make sure the same cap he was given on his debut against the West Indies in Cape Town in January 2015 made the trip too.

“I’ve still got all my caps because my brother and I have a pact that we’ll have a beach-house together one day and all my memorabilia will be for the bar,” Harmer explained on Monday.

“My Test cap was in the bag I was given on my Proteas debut, but I was not sure it would ever see the light of day again. I had to get my mother-in-law to post it to Pretoria from Kenton-on-Sea.

“It was very nostalgic to see it again and it’s always something special when you get your new kit, all with the South African badge on it. I was like a kid on Christmas opening all the bags.

“I always aspired to play for South Africa, but being allowed to play cricket at home again, I was trying to keep my head down and focused on the Titans environment, while trying to get back into international cricket,” Harmer said.

The 32-year-old will probably still have to show the sort of patience that he is famous for with ball-in-hand because that long-awaited return to Test cricket is probably not going to happen on a Hagley Oval pitch that is seamer-friendly unless frontline spinner Keshav Maharaj is ruled out for some reason.

“The Hagley Oval is probably the greenest, quickest, best-bouncing pitch in New Zealand, so the chances of us playing two spinners are low,” Harmer admitted. “But I will just make sure that I am ready.

“I see myself as a supporting act to Kesh, who has done extremely well. So I will keep working hard, supporting the team and just trying to contribute however I can, whether that’s by playing good music in the changeroom, throwing balls or giving encouragement.

“I’m under no illusions, Victor Mpitsang [selection convenor] was transparent about how I fit into the whole structure, but I am here now and I will try and show what I’m about.

“I think I’ve matured a lot and I understand now what I need to do and how to go about things. When I first played for the Proteas I put so much pressure on myself, worrying what people thought and whether I was good enough. I’m a lot more comfortable in my skin now,” Harmer said.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar did not throw his toys out of the pram but he left no doubt as to his displeasure at continually being asked questions about head coach Mark Boucher’s disciplinary hearing during his press conference on Wednesday a few hours before the team’s departure to New Zealand to take on the world Test champions.

Cricket South Africa confirmed on Tuesday night that Boucher’s disciplinary hearing to answer charges of racism has been postponed to May 16-20. This is because the national coach wants players to testify on his behalf and he does not want this to be a disruption between the New Zealand tour, the hosting of Bangladesh in March and the IPL beginning on March 27.

Elgar said on Wednesday that he did not know anything more than what was stated in CSA’s media release.

“I know this is all extremely relevant, but we’ve achieved so much as a team that just gets squashed by the headlines in the media,” Elgar complained. “I don’t mind speak about these external things, but 60% of the questions today have not been about New Zealand.

“It takes away from everything we have achieved as a group. I don’t think we have much control over the process as players, and obviously you have to undertake whatever you need to do to clear your name.

“I always thought that it might come to players testifying, so be it, it’s a natural process. I’m sure our players’ representative body [SACA] will come into play and will guide us.

“We still support our head coach, we know how much value he adds to us and he is a massive part of the group,” Elgar said.

But the left-handed opener was more concerned with how little leeway the Proteas have when they arrive in New Zealand for what is a two-Test shootout.

“It will all be extremely unfamiliar in Christchurch, it’s pretty new for me,” Elgar, who has toured New Zealand just once, said. “We’ve had great wins over the West Indies and India, but we know this series will be tough.

“It’s just a two-Test series so we have got to start well, which is what we’ve struggled with in the past. And their record is pretty good in Christchurch, their seamers have really cashed in.

“We know we’re going to have to be at our best when we get there. We have to start with a clean slate. The series wins over India were brilliant, but we need to press the reset button.

“We need to hit the ground running against a seriously good, proper side. They’re up there with the best, which is why they won the World Test Championship. And it’s in their backyard, where they are extremely street-smart,” Elgar added.

The captain expressed his disappointment that Keegan Petersen, the man of the series in the remarkable win over India, will not be able to build on those performances because he has tested positive for Covid.

“It’s another curve ball for us to deal with, which we’ve become pretty good at as a team,” Elgar said. “He’s very unfortunate to miss out and I would have loved to have seen him build on the India series.”

If the main thing is winning then Proteas fans should be delighted to see Simon Harmer back in the Test squad for the tour to New Zealand. Paul Harris, South Africa’s leading spinner when they were last ranked No.1 in the longest format, is certainly very happy to see the Essex off-spinner back in the national team’s ranks.

The returns of Harmer and paceman Lutho Sipamla are the two changes to the squad that did such fine duty against India, with George Linde unavailable due to his wedding and Sisanda Magala giving way to his Central Gauteng Lions team-mate.

The 32-year-old Harmer has played five Tests, the last of which was against India in Nagpur in November 2015. The following year he signed a Kolpak deal with Essex and in the last five years has been the most prolific wicket-taker in first-class cricket anywhere in the world – with 443 wickets at an average of just 22.77. Playing for Northerns, he is the second-highest wicket-taker in the four-day competition behind Duanne Olivier (28), with 27 at 21.40.

“It’s amazing what Harmer has achieved and he deserves his recall,” Harris told The Citizen on Wednesday. “He’ll obviously be coming in with huge confidence because he has taken so many wickets.

“England would have selected him ages ago if they could have. But we might play two spinners and Simon balances it nicely – an offie joining a left-armer.

“He’ll be a great back-up. Keshav Maharaj is our main spinner, but to have Harmer pushing him, putting pressure on him, will be good.

“It’s a great selection and, as much as we enjoy criticising the selectors, we have to give them credit here. It’s a really good squad,” Harris said.

The Proteas leave for New Zealand next week and, due to Covid fears, the second Test has been moved from Wellington to Christchurch, where the first Test from February 17 will be played.

Hagley Oval was the venue where earlier this month the Black Caps snuffed out, via an innings victory, Bangladesh’s hopes of an historic series win in New Zealand following their shock victory at Mount Maunganui.

“We’ve seen lately that there have generally been good pitches there,” Harris said. “There will be a bit in it for the seamers, so it would have been nice to have Anrich Nortje fit.

“But sometimes they can be a bit slow and then the spinners come into it. So you just need to hang in there, hit the deck hard and there may be a bit of turn later. It should be a cracking series!” Harris added.

Proteas Test squad vs New Zealand – Dean Elgar (captain), Sarel Erwee, Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma (vice-captain), Kyle Verreynne, Ryan Rickelton, Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder, Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier, Glenton Stuurman, Lutho Sipamla.

Duanne Olivier, Ryan Rickelton and Wiaan Mulder were all left out of the Proteas white-ball squad for the Indian whitewash and they will be key players as the Central Gauteng Lions now travel to Cape Town to take on Western Province from Thursday in an attempt to hang on to top spot after the penultimate round of the CSA 4-Day Domestic Series.

The Lions suffered their first defeat of their campaign in their last match, going down by eight wickets as the KZN Dolphins chased down 260 at Kingsmead. But there is no reason to fear that the Lions have lost their mojo: They were in control of the match from the start, declaring in both innings and gambled in the final innings, knowing that a win would have almost assured them of the title. But the Kingsmead pitch can get pretty flat when the north-easterly blows.

Instead, the Eastern Province Warriors, who beat Boland by 168 runs, have closed to within 1.80 points on the log and they now travel to Durban to take on the Dolphins.

But the return of Olivier, still the leading wicket-taker in the competition, means the Lions have a fearsome attack that also includes the fire of Lutho Sipamla, the cunning of Malusi Siboto, the swing bowling of Mulder and the spin of Bjorn Fortuin.

If Newlands is flat, one can also expect the powerful Lions top-order, Rickelton joining Dominic Hendricks, Josh Richards and Reeza Hendricks, to cash in. Richards is the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 413 at an average of 82, while the other three are all averaging over 40.

Western Province are expected to field potential match-winners in Zubayr Hamza and Wayne Parnell, and they will be hoping they can score big alongside David Bedingham and Tony de Zorzi.

The Northerns Titans travel to Bloemfontein to take on the Free State Knights full of confidence and hope after their eight-wicket win over North-West in Potchefstroom lifted them back into contention, just less than 20 points behind the Lions.

Northerns will need a full house of points from the last two rounds to snatch the title from the pace-setting Lions and the charging Eastern Province team, but they will bring an attack full of threats to Bloemfontein.

Lizaad Williams, having just returned to full fitness and picking up six wickets against North-West, unfortunately has a side-strain, but talented fast bowler Okuhle Cele returns to action. There is pace backing from Corbin Bosch and Junior Dala, and swing from Aya Gqamane. One can expect off-spinner Simon Harmer, backed by slow left-armer Neil Brand, to play a key role, especially since his recall to the Proteas squad.

The Titans batting, led by Heinrich Klaasen and Grant Mokoena, has also been full of runs this season.

The other Division One game sees Boland hosting North-West.