Ken Borland

“We’ll only be 100% ready as a team in 2022/23 but we will go into the T20 World Cup with quiet confidence,” CSA director of cricket Graeme Smith said on Monday.

The Proteas left at the weekend for the United Arab Emirates and yet another tilt at elusive World Cup success. As has so often been the case, form is on their side as South Africa have won their last three T20 series, including wins in the West Indies and Sri Lanka, in similar conditions to what they are expecting in the UAE.

But given the torrid years they have come through, the Proteas are not really being mentioned as contenders for the title. Smith is comfortable with that position.

“Last season there were so many challenges in terms of logistics, Covid, injuries and being in bubbles for the first time, and we kitted out 43 players with 33 of them getting on the field.

“But from the tour to the West Indies in June we’ve seen the performance curve go up and that has been a big confidence booster. As a team, we’ll probably only be 100% ready in 2022/23.

“So we’ll be going into the World Cup as underdogs, but we have enough quality in the team to be quietly confident, it’s about combinations and reading the conditions well.

“We’ve especially seen a big upward curve in terms of playing spin and it’s been great experience for someone like Aiden Markram to play in the IPL – I especially like that he’s batting in the middle-order – while we know Quinton de Kock will be integral and Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje have developed into a great fast-bowling pair,” Smith said.

The former Proteas captain, speaking at the KFC Mini-Cricket National Seminar at Zebula outside BelaBela, said the coming summer will be one not to miss for South African cricket fans.

“India coming here is a huge tour. They have won away from home now around the world but they have never won a Test series here, so that’s going to provide some real added flavour to the series.

“There have been a number of meetings about getting crowds back, we are pushing hard, we are positive and hopeful. We need that investment coming into the game otherwise we can’t run grassroots programs like KFC Mini-Cricket.

“Domestically, we’ll have the Mzansi Super League in February and we’re very happy with how the new structure has gone so far. There was a bit of apprehension at first, but it’s been great to see the Division II teams compete well.

“Players are sticking their hands up and it’s lovely to see the provincial colours back and see that provincialism again. There’ll be kids watching the Limpopo Impalas play today and see that there is a pathway for them to play first-class cricket,” Smith said.

The Proteas left for the United Arab Emirates on Sunday and the T20 World Cup, with captain Temba Bavuma saying it will be all hands on deck as they are relying on a team effort and not individual success to do well.

With the likes of Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir and Chris Morris not being selected, never mind AB de Villiers, the Proteas are lacking some of the global superstars of other teams, apart from Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and Tabraiz Shamsi.

But their form in recent times has been impressive, especially their series wins in the West Indies and Sri Lanka, in conditions that are expected to be similar to what they will find in the UAE. And they have prepared well with a camp in Durban, former Proteas star JP Duminy, seconded to the team as a strategic consultant, saying he was very impressed by the attention to detail the squad showed in terms of their skills.

“We pride ourselves on how well prepared we are,” Bavuma said on Sunday. “And we are not relying on individuals to get us over the line, we will be relying on a team effort. If we all take care of our basics and the small things, if we do the right things day-by-day, then we trust the results will look after themselves.

“The team is in a good space and if you saw our performances in the Sri Lanka T20s, then you will know there was nothing inhibiting us.

“We will be trying to do more of the same, our approach will be no different to what has brought us some good success lately and we will take from those experiences.

“It’s all about how we execute our game-plan and do it in pressurised moments. We back ourselves and our chances, we do although a lot of other people don’t,” Bavuma said with his trademark determination.

In terms of the surfaces they will play on, South Africa are expecting run-scoring to be even more difficult than it has been in the IPL on the same pitches.

“It’s hard to see the wickets getting any better because they will have so much traffic on them. As batsmen, we are expecting tough times on those decks,” Bavuma said.

While the top-order batsman said the thumb he fractured in the ODI series in Sri Lanka is still “not 100%”, he has been given the all-clear by the medical staff.

“I started batting a bit this weekend, just to feel it out. Everything is still on schedule and the medical staff are all quite happy with my progress,” the skipper said.

South Africa will quarantine for six days and their first match is on October 23 against Australia in Abu Dhabi.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt had much to consider when it came to selecting his team for their United Rugby Championship clash against the Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun on Saturday; he needed to look at his side through the lenses of the fast-paced artificial pitch they are playing on, the opposition’s strong lineout, maul and breakdown work, and their powerful presence in the collisions.

In the end Everitt decided to bolster his lineout resources and give his pack more beef for those gainline collisions, moving a lock, Gerbrandt Grobler, to flank and recalling Ruben van Heerden to the starting line-up. Hyron Andrews remains as the lock reserve.

“When we recruited Gerbrandt it was with the dual positions of lock and flank in mind and, from a lineout point of view, he will bring a different dynamic at No.7, and we know Glasgow contest the lineouts very well with Richie Gray there,” Everitt said.

“Hyron and Ruben were our first-choice locks last year in Super Rugby and in the early stages of the Currie Cup, but unfortunately they both got injured. But they were both really good off the bench last week.

“The thing with the artificial pitch is that it makes the people quicker but it does not necessarily mean the game will be quicker. There will be more high-speed running than on grass, but we have trained and adapted well and I don’t see the pace of the game as a threat at all.

“Glasgow were originally coached by Dave Rennie so they play like a Super Rugby side, they bring a high tempo and a high-line defence, and they like to carry a lot. It’s a different threat and we just have to keep them out,” Everitt said.

While Munster were content to “suffocate and strangle” the Sharks last weekend, the Warriors are going to look to quickly counter-attack off every error and the Sharks are going to have to, as ever, improve their discipline and ball-retention.

“Conceding 17 penalties is not acceptable, although we were on the wrong side of a few 50/50s. But we need to adapt in the mauls and breakdowns and it’s a big learning curve.

“The European teams are really disciplined in how they execute their plans. I thought we played really well at times against Munster, but we paid for our errors.

“We are up against international players and if we don’t look after the ball then we will be punished dearly. The penalty count is also important, but that’s not hard to fix.

“We don’t want to be playing between the 10-metre lines, we need to manage the game better and limit our turnovers,” Everitt said.

Sharks coach Sean Everitt said his team needs to learn quickly how to avoid giving away a raft of penalties following their chastening 42-17 defeat at the hands of Munster in their opening United Rugby Championship match at Thomond Park at the weekend.

Not for the first time this year, the Sharks’ ill-discipline prevented them from getting any sort of foothold in the match as they conceded a whopping 17 penalties. Munster were thereby gifted territory and, with their dominance in the set-pieces, they were able to merely grind the visitors out of the match.

“I was disappointed with the discipline, we gave away 17 penalties and almost all of them had massive consequences. So the guys have to learn quickly, although I felt we were a bit unlucky at the breakdown and could have been rewarded more there.

“The first 20 minutes was how we want to play, the territory and possession stats were both with us. But in the second quarter we gave away too many penalties and that’s all Munster needed to get control of the game. But I was very proud of the fight and energy the team showed for the full 80 minutes. There are three games left on this tour though, and the players have got to learn quickly,” Everitt said.

The Sharks were dogged in the Currie Cup by poor discipline at the defensive breakdown, making the same silly errors that were evident on Saturday night in Limerick. It is clear that this is going to be a massive issue for the Currie Cup runners-up going forward because their lack of focus is giving their opposition a grip on the game.

It is individual errors that are putting the whole team under pressure, forcing them to defend for long periods, which inevitably leads to more penalties. Everitt might need to now show more bite because his bark clearly is not working.