Ken Borland

Tabraiz Shamsi is the sort of cheerful fellow who is usually lighting up a room and the champion spinner has been a particularly bright ray of sunshine since rejoining the Proteas squad for their flight to Sri Lanka, where they are now preparing for their ODI series that starts on Thursday.

Shamsi was not with the team when they held a training camp in Potchefstroom earlier this week, because he was playing in The Hundred in England. That was an enjoyable experience for him and he has also received the great news that he will be playing in the remainder of this year’s IPL, when it resumes next month in the United Arab Emirates, for the Rajasthan Royals. It is no less than the world’s No.1-ranked T20 bowler deserves and it is inexplicable that his only previous IPL contract was in 2016 with Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Apart from all those happy developments though, Shamsi says he is always just delighted to get back into the Proteas environment, whatever some people have said about its culture at present.

“The Hundred was good, it’s like a much faster version of T20 and I’ve picked up how to save time in T20 just by showing more urgency in the field. And I enjoy bowling a lot, I don’t like long breaks, so it was good to be playing. And now to be signed by the Royals is special, I’m very excited because I’ve never played in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. It will be nice to get some inside info on those pitches before the T20 World Cup.

“But the excitement of playing for South Africa again is something different, just the thought of it made me smile even in between all the turbulence on the flight that had me sweating and holding on to my chair!  These are my people, I have my boys, the guys I grew up playing with and against, and that’s what makes it special playing for the Proteas,” Shamsi said on Friday.

While Shamsi’s outstanding bowling in the West Indies and Ireland has stolen the limelight for himself, the 31-year-old is adamant that he has a very good Proteas attack around him.

“Our confidence levels are obviously high and I honestly believe we have one of the best bowling attacks in the world. The talent is there, we’re just a little inexperienced at international level. But the skill is there, have no doubt. The more we play together the better we will get.

“Personally, with the year I’ve had, it’s like living your dream. But I’m never completely happy with the way I’m bowling, even after the West Indies and Ireland tours. I’m constantly working behind the scenes and I’m also hoping to contribute something with the bat. I spent a month on the sidelines during the Test series in the West Indies and I spent it in the nets … so much so that I got a batting niggle!” Shamsi said.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt had a little dig on Thursday at Argentina lock Marcos Kremer for his role in the injury of scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, that led to the call-up of team-mate Grant Williams to the Springbok squad, but fortunately the franchise do have great depth at halfback as the Currie Cup enters its final stages.

Hendrikse was tackled after he had kicked the ball by the replacement lock in the second Rugby Championship Test last weekend, and landed awkwardly, fracturing his ankle. The incident was referred to the TMO, with referee Karl Dickson and the other officials agreeing that Kremer was committed to the tackle and it was not late.

Everitt was annoyed by the tackle though, but at least could take some solace in still being able to name 2021 Springbok squad member Sanele Nohamba and 2018 Springbok tourist Cameron Wright for their Currie Cup match against Western Province in Durban on Saturday.

“I was really disappointed in the way the injury happened to Jaden. I thought it was a cheap shot,” Everitt said. “But it is pleasing to see Grant get recognition after all his months and years of hard work and resilience. He has worked incredibly hard and came through the club system [College Rovers] in Durban.

“Sanele has been with the Springboks as well and has played really well for us in his last two games, while Cameron was really good against the Cheetahs when he started. We are really blessed with our depth at scrumhalf, they have all bought into rotation and the ranking order sometimes changes, which certainly motivates everyone to work hard,” Everitt said on Thursday.

The Sharks are coming off an impressive 56-14 demolition of the Lions at Ellis Park last weekend. Although it all worked out more than okay in the end, some mediocre set-piece work at the start of the match saw them struggle in the opening quarter. Former Western Province lock Gerbrandt Grobler, who debuted for the Sharks last weekend and looked good to go for the rest of the year, is the only member of the tight five who retains their starting position for Saturday.

“We’ve rotated the front row, we’ve not really had much consistency in that department and we know Western Province have a formidable front row so we will try to negate that strength. Emile van Heerden is still working through the concussion return-to-play protocols and it’s great to have Le Roux Roets back after he had played so well.

“Gerbrandt gets the opportunity for more game-time and we would like him to really hit his straps in the coming weeks. He had not played for quite a long time since returning from France, but that cover-tackle he made on Wandisile Simelane on the Highveld at 2pm will live long in the memory. He’s an experienced campaigner and clearly a competitor. He’s made a great mark with us already,” Everitt said.

Sharks team: Curwin Bosch, Yaw Penxe, Werner Kok, Murray Koster, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Sanele Nohamba, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Henco Venter, James Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, Le Roux Roets, Khutha Mchunu, Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench – Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona, Lourens Adriaanse, Reniel Hugo, Thembelani Bholi, Cameron Wright, Marius Louw, Anthony Volmink.

Depending on who you believe, Proteas assistant coach Enoch Nkwe’s disillusionment and desire to resign from his post were products of being sidelined from important management decisions and ill-discipline within the squad, or his reluctance to keep travelling with the team and instead become more involved in the strategic side of the national team.
Cricket South Africa confirmed on Monday aternoon that Nkwe had “signalled an intention to resign” and the Board is currently consulting with the assistant coach on his future.
A journalist known for his campaign against current head coach Mark Boucher broke the news of Nkwe’s resignation and quoted “insiders” and “sources” as saying the reasons were that his work environment had become a “contaminated space”, with him feeling sidelined and not involved in the decision-making of the team. The report also said Nkwe is not happy with the discipline of certain senior players and some members of management.
But other sources have said Nkwe is hesitant to travel and wants to become more involved in the long-term strategic and technical future of the national team.
Whether it is due to divisions within Proteas management or Nkwe wanting a different role, it is a major blow to CSA’s hopes of grooming Nkwe to take over as head coach after Boucher.
Which is why the Board did not initially accept his resignation and have instead initiated emergency talks with the 38-year-old in order to keep him in the CSA cricket structures.
With the Proteas due to leave on Wednesday for a tour of Sri Lanka, their final dress rehearsal before the T20 World Cup, it is not the sort of disruption or potentially divisive situation that the team needs.
The Proteas will already be taking on Sri Lanka without their regular bowling coach in Charl Langeveldt, who is still quarantining after testing positive for Covid. Titans head coach Mandla Mashimbyi replaces him, and it is his second tour with the national team, having stood in for Nkwe on the West Indies trip in June/July.
Nkwe missed that tour for “family reasons”. Or were there other forces at play?

Phepsi Buthelezi will return as captain for the Sharks in their Currie Cup rugby match against the Lions at Ellis Park on Saturday and he said a meeting with one of the leading referees had clarified for the squad that they have to improve their discipline and be better advertisers for a freeflowing game.

The Sharks will be looking to maintain their grip on second place against the last-placed Lions, following their victory over the Free State Cheetahs in Durban last weekend. But although the Cheetahs played with 14 men for most of the second half due to a red card, the Sharks kept them in the game with their own rampant ill-discipline, conceding far too many penalties and two yellow cards of their own in the tense closing stages.

That has to change, according to Buthelezi.

“We had Stuart Berry, who refereed our match against the Cheetahs, come chat to us and give us feedback. He told us that the way they are refereeing is to promote running rugby, which will be good for the product when people come back to stadiums. So that puts the defending team under the pump, but the biggest thing is our discipline, we can’t get sucked into silly errors.

“That just gave the Cheetahs life last weekend. So our main focus this week has been on keeping the number of penalties lower, that’s been a huge problem for us. It’s definitely a massive issue, something we’re constantly working on. We can’t afford to give away so many penalties, that made it hard for ourselves. The discipline issue is massive,” Buthelezi stressed.

Along with the in-form eighthman, halfbacks Grant Williams and Lionel Cronje, who played so well in the win over the Bulls two weeks ago, return to the starting line-up. Workhorse lock Le Roux Roets is going to take a break, allowing Gerbrandt Grobler to come in for his debut and Sharks coach Sean Everitt has rotated his hookers, with Dan Jooste starting and Kerron van Vuuren on the bench.

Although the Lions are out of contention for the semifinals, Buthelezi knows his team are going to have to put in a big effort to maintain their challenge for home-ground advantage in the playoffs.

“The Lions are obviously going to be desperate, they are a quality team who have just been unfortunate in terms of results, things just haven’t gone their way. We’re expecting them to have some main players back and they’ve been kicking a lot less lately, so that means lots of running and tackles. We are going to need to execute our game-plan, especially on attack, to put them under pressure,” Buthelezi said.

Sharks team – Anthony Volmink, Yaw Penxe, Jeremy Ward, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Lionel Cronje, Grant Williams, Phepsi Buthelezi (c), Henco Venter, Dylan Richardson, Emile van Heerden, Gerbrandt Grobler, Lourens Adriaanse, Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona. Bench: Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Wiehahn Herbst, Thembelani Bholi, Jeandre Labuschagne, Sanele Nohamba, Boeta Chamberlain, Murray Koster.