Ken Borland

South Africa’s women have never won a series in the West Indies, but coach Hilton Moreeng is confident the Proteas can knock their hosts off that perch when they tour the Caribbean for three T20s and five ODIs starting on August 31.
Much of Moreeng’s confidence is based on the return of players such as captain Dane’ van Niekerk and Chloe Tryon, plus the wonderful form shown by South Africa’s representatives in The Hundred competition in England that ended last weekend. All-rounder Van Niekerk was named player of the series as she led the Oval Invincibles to the inaugural title, and pacer Marizanne Kapp was named player of the match in the final, her record figures of four for nine destroying the Southern Brave.
“This is the first time we’ve had the entire squad fully fit and raring to go since the last World Cup. We have not won a series before in the West Indies and our last tour there was not very joyful. But this time we are anticipating a very good tour as we welcome back Dane’ and Chloe. We’re very happy where we are sitting now.
“To see how our players contributed in The Hundred, the way Dane’ and Marizanne dominated in the final, shows the quality we have. We’re very happy with their achievements and it means we have players who are in good nick. And along with someone like Shabnim Ismail, they show the other players how to handle that high-pressure environment and execute your skills on the day,” Moreeng said on the morning of their departure on Monday night.
South Africa’s previous away series against the West Indies was in 2018 when they drew both the ODI and T20 series. In the final wash-up it was the slowness of the pitches that caused the Proteas the most problems.
“We know what to expect, we have players who have played a lot in the West Indies. The hardest thing are the very slow pitches, the West Indies play well on those and use their bowlers very well. We’re used to more pace on the ball, but over there you have to deal with the ball keeping low and facing lots of spinners.
“Our expectation though is to win a series in the West Indies, something we haven’t done before. We arranged slow pitches on this side to prepare better and it’s up to us to adapt. Our last tour to India was a good indicator of how well we can bat in those conditions and we must make sure we continue with that,” Moreeng said.

Proteas coach Mark Boucher has acknowledged that the strains of bubble life and the worries of seeing civil unrest back at home have been consumers of energy for his team, but he implored them to make one last push for the final three days of cricket they have in Ireland, starting with the first T20 in Dublin on Monday.

It has generally been a very successful tour of the West Indies and Ireland, with all the series won except for the ODIs against Ireland, which South Africa were forced to share after the first match was rained out and their shock defeat in the second game.

But that historic 43-run loss came at the height of the riots back in South Africa and Boucher said his team had struggled for focus on that day.

“We just weren’t there the other day, the awareness and intensity were way down. But we can’t afford to make excuses, we need to be up for every game. What’s happening back at home is affecting us, and every South African. A lot of adrenaline and energy has gone into chats about it, and that equated to low energy on the field. Plus we’ve been one-and-a-half months on tour.

“We’ve talked a lot to get the emotions out and some of the players have families that have been personally affected, so they feel quite emotionally drained. But we have three days of cricket left and we showed in the last ODI what we can do when we play with good energy. But Ireland will certainly be no walkovers and we found out in the second ODI what happens if we don’t rock up for the T20s,” Boucher said.

With the IPL carnival set to scupper South Africa’s hopes of playing a T20 series against India, the Proteas have these three T20s in the coming week and three more in Sri Lanka to prepare for when the global T20 pageant is held in the United Arab Emirates from October. Assistant coach Enoch Nkwe stressed on Sunday that they now need stable plans.

“We’re not yet where we are supposed to be at, but we will be making sure we give ourselves the best chance of mastering the processes we have in place. We would like to see different personnel in different roles to see how they respond, so those opportunities will be created. We need to look outside the frontline players to see if they can do the job.

“The players need to trust the formula we are working on, no matter the conditions. We only have six games left before the World Cup but we believe we’re on track. We need confidence in our death bowling, where we have clear plans that the bowlers just need to commit to 100%, and we need to get our top-order as stable as possible as soon as possible,” Nkwe said.

The Springbok team culture is so good at the moment that no-one would ever question the hunger or desire of the team but, as they now head straight into a gruelling Rugby Championship starting with Saturday’s Test against Argentina at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, the management will be asking in private whether certain players will be needing a break over the next couple of matches.

Three ferocious clashes with the British and Irish Lions would have not only taken a massive physical toll on the players, but mentally as well, the players have been through an emotional rollercoaster. The outpouring of emotion after the gripping series-clincher last weekend in Cape Town was a graphic description of how much it meant to the squad to win.

It would be entirely understandable for that incredible high to be followed by something of a downer, perhaps just a flatter week in terms of intensity. But Argentina are no longer the sort of side one can afford to slacken off against and the Pumas will be fancying their chances of upsetting the world champions on their home turf, just as they did in Durban in 2015.

But Springboks forwards coach Deon Davids said on Monday that dealing with any potential mental or physical fatigue has been part of their plan from the beginning of the season.

“Obviously we celebrated our achievement on Saturday night, but because of the professionalism of the squad and the preparation we have done before, the focus was quickly shifted on to the next task. It was important as coaches that we brought that reality as soon as possible, and we have done that. We had earlier given the players an idea of our planning going into this week.

“So we trained full-out today, it will be a normal Test week. The players understand the importance of the Rugby Championship, we are the defending champions and we obviously want to be successful. We have a bigger squad because we’ve just come from a very tough series and there are a couple of niggles and injuries. We want to assess our depth in the Test matches going forward,” Davids said.

The interesting conundrum is how many of the players who started all three Tests against the Lions will the Springboks dare to rest against an Argentina team that beat the All Blacks once and drew twice with Australia last year, playing all their matches away from home.

There are some players waiting in the wings who can obviously step in and do the job though against the Pumas.

Willie le Roux, as solid as ever at the back, could take a break to give Aphelele Fassi another chance to shine, while Jesse Kriel could get a start and break up the brilliant midfield combination of Lukhanyo Am and Damian de Allende. Elton Jantjies might get a well-deserved run at flyhalf.

It is the forwards, as ever, who have shouldered the greatest burden and players like Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth made immense contributions. No-one could begrudge them a break and it will be exciting to see Duane Vermeulen make his return. Kwagga Smith and Marco van Staden have largely played off the bench and Lood de Jager is probably still building to peak match fitness.

Ox Nche is set to make his return from injury after his impressive first Test against the Lions, and between himself and the superb Trevor Nyakane, who one fancies still has a bit left in his tank, they can cover loosehed prop more than adequately, allowing Steven Kitshoff a break. Frans Malherbe, who battled hard through all three Tests, could perhaps do with a week off as well.

At hooker, Malcolm Marx said on Monday that he is eager to keep going.

“There are a few sore bodies and mentally it has been a bit draining, but we did not play together for over a year and I know I am still hungry to keep going, regardless of the body being sore or how mentally tired I am,” Marx said.

St Lucia, the venue for the Proteas’ first Test against the West Indies starting on Thursday, is a typically beautiful tropical island but it also has very unpredictable weather.

As pace bowler Lungi Ngidi said on Tuesday: “It’s tricky conditions, similar to Durban in terms of humidity and heat, but it’s also very windy and the overhead conditions seem to change every 30 minutes. It goes from scorching heat to pouring rain very quickly and you never know what to expect.”

So what must the Proteas do to ensure the first Test in the two-match series goes well for them?

*Make every moment count: The three previous Tests played at Gros Islet in June have all ended in draws, and they have all been interrupted at crucial times by rain. St Lucia is heading into its wet season now and, as the Proteas have already discovered, the rain can be pretty intense. There will always be high temperatures and humidity though, and, being an island stuck out practically in the Atlantic ocean, the north-easterly trade winds are strong and consistent. So everything the Proteas do, whether with bat or ball, is going to have to be done with some urgency. They cannot allow the West Indians to settle into their groove.

*Slip in the short ball often: Although the pitch at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium is not as quick as the Wanderers or SuperSport Park, it is not nearly as sleepy as so many of the Caribbean tracks. As Ngidi has noted, there is bounce on offer, so the Proteas fast bowlers must definitely slip in the odd bouncer just to keep the batsmen on their toes.

*Consider swing as a weapon: While bowling coach Charl Langeveldt likened the conditions to England and there will certainly be seam movement, the old Beausejour Stadium is famous for being a venue where swing is on offer. While every paceman will probably allege they are a swing bowler as well, Rabada, Nortje and Ngidi are not known for moving the ball sideways through the air much. Left-armer Beuran Hendricks is probably the best swing bowler in the squad, but playing him would mean leaving out a spinner or batting Keshav Maharaj at seven, neither of which is likely. It’s why Wiaan Mulder is tipped to play as an all-rounder.

*The batsmen must use the friendly amenities: For all the talk about what will assist the bowlers, the Gros Islet pitch also offers friendly amenities for batsmen. The Proteas don’t have to worry about there being much turn, even in the closing stages, although inconsistent bounce could become a feature towards the end of the game. It will certainly be desirable for South Africa to put big runs on the scoreboard in the first innings.