Ken Borland

Proteas batsman Ryan Rickelton expects Bangladesh to use the local knowledge of their coach Russell Domingo to bounce back in the second Test against South Africa starting on Friday at St George’s Park, after the touring team’s questionable tactical approach in the first Test in Durban.

Domingo was born and raised in Port Elizabeth and first made his name in cricket coaching with the local Eastern Cape Warriors franchise. By making one of the less-resourced teams in the country a trophy-winning force, Domingo quickly rose in the coaching ranks and become Proteas assistant coach and then head coach between 2013 and 2017.

“I think Russell and Allan Donald [Bangladesh bowling coach] will have a massive say in this Test,” Rickelton said. “I was very surprised that Bangladesh bowled first at Kingsmead, where you generally bat first.

“Russell will have valuable insight which Bangladesh need to exploit, they need to invest in what he says, especially in regards to Port Elizabeth.

“Bangladesh came into the Tests with lots of momentum after their one-day series win. They do have some really good players and seamers, but unfortunately a couple of them are injured and going home,” Rickelton said.

The 25-year-old left-hander, who is also an accomplished wicketkeeper, made his debut in the first Test and hit a bright 21 in the first innings, boldly getting off the mark with a reverse-sweep for four, before he mistimed a pull shot off fast bowler Ebadot Hossain and looped a catch to mid-on.

In the second innings he showed more composure under pressure, as he batted through a collapse to finish with 39 not out.

Rickelton said it was an extremely exciting prospect to make his debut.

“It was an awesome experience, I was honoured to represent my country and to step into the Test arena is something I dreamt about since I started playing.

“My Dad came down the night before the game once I was told I was playing. We’ve been through thick and thin together since I was a little boy. He was over the moon and probably even more excited than me.

“And I was probably a bit too excited and played a few too many shots! I was a bit too expansive and gave my wicket away. In the second innings, I was a lot more composed and controlled, back to my normal self.

“I’m not sure if it was brave or stupid the way I got off the mark, but when you’re that excited it’s tough to fight it and you just have to let it happen and try and make the best decisions,” Rickelton said.

The Johannesburg-born, St Stithians product has been one of the most successful batsmen in domestic cricket this season and he has a first-class average of 51.21, having hit 10 centuries in 37 matches.

The good people of Gqeberha will no doubt be basing, in part, their decision to buy tickets for the second Test between South Africa and Bangladesh starting at St George’s Park on Friday on whether local hero Simon Harmer will be playing, but veteran groundsman Adrian Carter told The Citizen on Tuesday that he can’t guarantee the pitch will support the use of two spinners.

Harmer, who began his professional career playing for Eastern Province in 2009, dovetailed superbly with Keshav Maharaj in the first Test, taking seven wickets in the match, as well as scoring a vital 38 not out in the first innings as South Africa won by 220 runs at Kingsmead.

“St George’s Park has had the reputation for being low and slow, but this pitch is looking very sporty, although we are still a few days out from the Test,” Carter said.

“We’re aware of what South Africa want, so there won’t be too many surprises, but there is a lot of grass still on the pitch. Local opinion amongst the players is that if it seams it will also spin.

“It turns off the grass though, so it’s not sharp fizz like off the clay in India, but the ends are fairly worn because we’ve had a lot of cricket on the field and there should be some purchase.

“There is rain expected on the weekend though and there’s more assistance for the seamers if the Easterly blows, it lifts the grass up a bit. But it needs to be a gentle wind and it needs to be overcast,” Carter said.

If South Africa do bolster their seam attack then Glenton Stuurman, who has taken 29 wickets in nine matches at his new home ground in Gqeberha, could come in for his second Test. He could replace either Duanne Olivier, whose performance was inadequate at Kingsmead, or Wiaan Mulder, who played only a bit part in the first Test and looked extremely uncertain with the bat.

Long-term, Mulder’s place has to be in serious doubt due to his lack of runs – averaging just 14.40 in 15 innings – and there have also been mutterings that CSA could go back to enforcing a quota of six players of colour, including three Black Africans, in every Proteas starting XI and not just as an average over the season.

Mulder would be the most likely player to make way for a player of colour, but the balance of the Proteas side would also be severely affected if that move comes to fruition.

Even if does not, if Harmer wants to have a long-term playing future in the XI, then he is probably going to have to ensure his batting is good enough to fill the No.7 position. It makes perfect sense, however, for the Proteas management to really want him for the England tour, where some of the venues could have turning pitches and he has enjoyed immense success in county cricket.

Proteas captain Dean Elgar is not the type to get too carried away but South Africa’s remarkable victory over New Zealand in the second Test in Christchurch, following his stupendous decision to bat first, did draw a “brilliant” from the nuggety opening batsman.

Having been thrashed in humiliating fashion by an innings and 276 runs in the first Test, the Proteas bounced back in the second with an amazing all-round display that saw them win by 198 runs, keeping their unbeaten series record against New Zealand intact.

“To get a 1-1 result coming to New Zealand, at the start of the tour I would have taken it,” Elgar said. “We certainly didn’t start well, we didn’t really pitch up, but we took so many learnings from that.

“To see us really rock up in the second Test, to bounce back and show a lot of character and maturity was brilliant. Because of the first Test, it would have been easy to take the soft option and bowl first.

“But visually the pitch looked a little different, there was a lot less green grass and it looked a bit like a bat-first wicket. Taking the easy way out does not sit well with me, that’s not my character.

“Credit to the team for responding so well because the bowlers still posed quite a challenge on that pitch up front. It’s about playing a positive brand of cricket, playing from the front foot,” Elgar said.

Deprived of two key bowlers in Anrich Nortje and Lungi Ngidi, it was pleasing to see two young bowlers from the Vaal, Wiaan Mulder and Lutho Sipamla, step up and admirably fill their places in the attack.

Other ‘foals’ to find their feet in the Test were Kyle Verreynne and Sarel Erwee, 32 years old but playing in just his second Test. Both of them scored superb centuries, Erwee on the first day and Verreynne under huge pressure in the second innings.

“It was good to see the young guys step up,” Elgar said. “Losing Lungi with a back issue was a big loss for the bowling unit, but it was a good squad effort with some older guys putting their hands up too.

“There were a lot of different influences on this game. Sarel really showed his character, his story goes a lot deeper than just playing cricket. He understands working hard for what you believe in.

“Kyle has not played a lot of Tests, he had to fill big shoes and he’s been under a lot of scrutiny, but the way he came out and played his natural style in the second innings was brilliant.

South Africa cricket tour of New Zealand“Keshav Maharaj is always a banker of mine and I know what I will get from him in terms of playing and competitiveness. And KG Rabada has been phenomenal,” Elgar said.

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.”