Ken Borland

Putting together a successful team is not as simple as just buying the biggest names with the greatest strikepower; even The Avengers had one Thor but also important, more down-to-earth members like the Wasp, Hawkeye and Black Widow.

The same will apply to the SA20 franchises when they put together their final 17-man squads at the player auction in Cape Town on Monday, according to the veteran coaches who participated in a round-table discussion on Thursday.

“Planning is key before the auction, you need to have a clear outline and know exactly what you want,” Joburg Super Kings coach Eric Simons said. “It gets pretty hectic when the paddles start going up, so you need to be very clear about where the player you are bidding for fits into the team, rather than just going for someone because they’re a big name.

“You’re after two or three skills in one player and, from a Super Kings perspective, you also want local players who understand the conditions and the fans can get behind them.

“You need to build a common strategy and synergy, it’s 17 individuals but you have to make a team out of them, choose players who will play for that uniform,” Simons said.

“It’s not just 11 players who will win you the competition, probably 15 will have to get you over the line,” Durban Super Giants coach Lance Klusener said.

“The guys who come into the side as back-up towards the end of the competition become really important cogs.”

So one can expect old heads with intimate knowledge of all the domestic venues like Rassie van der Dussen, Dwaine Pretorius, Reeza Hendricks, Dane Vilas, Wayne Parnell and Jon-Jon Smuts to attract plenty of interest.

While it is a pity that the weakness of the rand means prices of overseas players are over-inflated, Simons, who has been coaching at the IPL for a decade, said the focus of these franchise leagues should always be on the local players.

“A lot of people make the mistake in thinking that the IPL is all about the international players. It’s not, it’s about Indian cricketers and it’s a privilege for us from overseas to be involved.

“The SA20 will be no different, it’s the local players who will make up the strength of the team. Building a very solid local component is a vital part of success.

“A lot of those South African players are very good value, but so far we know only their base prices, who knows where the bidding will end?

“There are certainly some guys who missed out on the pre-auction who I have no doubt there will be great interest in,” Simons said.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout was named on Tuesday as the only South African in compatriot Trevor Immelman’s team for the Presidents Cup, and the 28-year-old debutant believes he has a game tailormade for the tough Quail Hollow layout on which they will take on the United States from September 22-25.

Bezuidenhout joins K.H. Lee, Sebastian Munoz, Taylor Pendrith, Si Woo Kim and Cameron Davis as a captain’s pick for the International Team on a dangerous course, especially down the stretch. Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Tom Kim, Corey Connors, Mito Pereira and Adam Scott were automatic qualifiers.

Bezuidenhout has won three times on the European Tour and finished 51^st on his just-completed first full year on the U.S. PGA Tour. That will be crucial experience.

“Most golf courses in the States are a lot longer than what we usually play and it’s a completely different style of golf to what we’re used to in Europe and internationally,” Bezuidenhout said on Tuesday. “They are set up tougher, they are narrower, with higher rough. So you need a good scrambling game and I feel I am a really good putter, one of the best on tour [ranked sixth last season].

“Off the tee I’m pretty straight, I hit a lot of fairways and my scramble around the greens is pretty good.

“We had a two-day training camp in Charlotte and practised a bit on Quail Hollow. It was the first time I’d seen it, but it was a lovely couple of days,” Bezuidenhout said.

While some international golfers may have been torn between playing in the Presidents Cup or defecting to LIV Golf – and Immelman lost the services of ‘rebels’ like Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace and Abraham Ancer – Bezuidenhout has had his sights set on the tournament for a while. He will be one of the golfers Immelman described as being really hungry to beat the Americans.

“It’s a massive honour for me to be selected because the Presidents Cup has been a definite goal for me for quite a few years,” Bezuidenhout said. “The International team was so close to victory in Melbourne in 2019, which was really exciting.

“I played really hard to make the team three years ago, but just missed out. Now I can look back at all the other South Africans who have played in the past, and it’s a big honour for me to make my debut.

“My first memory of the tournament was in 2003 when I was nine years old and I remember Ernie Els and Tiger Woods in the playoff. I always watch it on TV, I’ve followed the event closely.

“We are definite underdogs, but there is a great vibe in the team, it’s a great bunch of guys and everyone is so supportive. The team spirit is high and everyone’s excited,” Bezuidenhout said.

Fast bowler Anrich Nortje says his role is to provide energy for the team and his high-octane burst of three wickets in two overs certainly vitalised the Proteas on their way to their fabulous innings win over England at Lord’s, completed in just three days.

Given that Nortje was consistently around the 150km/h mark, and according to some analysts produced the fastest bowling seen in England for a decade, there must have been a temptation for him to launch a fearsome bouncer barrage on the batsmen. But where the home side erred in bowling too short to the lower-order, Nortje can credit a much fuller length for his success.

“I’m very happy with the way things happened, I didn’t come here expecting that,” Nortje said. “I was just really happy to be bowling with the red ball again, it was so nice, having seen a lot of the Test team on TV.

“We have an unbelievable attack, we all cover different aspects. So well done to all the bowlers, especially KG Rabada, who bowled unbelievably well and got himself on the honours board, so that must be a great feeling.

“My job is to just try and get some energy and momentum on our side when things are tough. It’s about the conditions on the day and what they allow. If things are more spicy, then I just try to hit a length.

“But generally I just try and bring some energy, generally later on in the innings. You need to get yourself up at the right stages and I just try to execute as much as possible,” Nortje said.

While Nortje said he would spend his two days off “doing a bit of exploring London”, he was also not worried about travelling a bit on the field either, given his role as a strike bowler. The 28-year-old’s three wickets on the final day came at a cost of 47 runs in just seven overs, and his 3/63 in the first innings came in 13 overs. So overall he conceded 110 runs in 20 overs, a rate of 5.5 runs-per-over, but the six wickets are what is important.

“I wasn’t happy at the start, so I tried to rev myself up, which took two or three overs. Fortunately I got a nick and then you just try and run with it,” Nortje said.

“Stuart Broad smashed a few around and sometimes the right ball still goes to the boundary, and then the captain is in your ear saying ‘it was a good ball, don’t worry, keep going.’

“You have to just think on the spot, read the situation. But Dean Elgar is quite straightforward, if you’re not bringing your A-game then he will tell you. We need that, he doesn’t beat around the bush.

“At stages he tells us it’s not good enough, but he obviously encourages us as well. He allows me to be myself and express myself, and I really enjoy having him as captain and his honesty,” Nortje said.

England have already named their starting XI for the first Test against South Africa at Lord’s on Wednesday, with Ben Foakes taking the wicketkeeper’s gloves from Sam Billings in the only change to the team that beat India last month.

Here are four potential key areas of weakness that the Proteas will be looking to exploit.

Making early inroads

South Africa will want their fearsome pace attack to make early inroads and therefore expose England’s powerful middle-order of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Stokes when the ball is still new.

Opener Zak Crawley is famous for the 267 he scored against Pakistan in Southampton two years ago, but in his other 45 Test innings he has made only 962 runs at an average of just 21.37. This year he has made just 142 runs in eight innings and, although he is a dashing strokeplayer, his place in the team is precarious. For all his considerable talent, he has a first-class average of just 29.62.

Shopping for top-order stability

England have been shopping for a settled opening combination and even a consistent No.3 for the last decade. Alex Lees is currently Crawley’s partner but he averages just 25.50 in his seven Tests, while Ollie Pope also averages less than 30 in Test cricket, although he has played a couple of brilliant innings this summer.

But England’s batting is on shaky foundations and the Proteas will want to get stuck in with the new ball.

Soft centre?

Apart from the problems at the top of the order, there are question marks lower down too. Wicketkeeper/batsman Ben Foakes is in the centre of the discussion because he comes in at No.7, with a longish tail after him. Foakes has scored just one century and two fifties in his 27 Test innings, averaging 29.19. His ability to marshall Broad, Leach, Potts and Anderson could be central to England’s hopes if things go awry with the batting up top.

An innocuous spinner

There’s no doubt left-arm spinner Jack Leach has tremendous character and he offers great control to the attack, as well as bounce being his greatest weapon due to his six-foot frame. But he is not a big turner of the ball and there is not much mystery to what he does. In comparison to Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, the Proteas would seem to have a clear edge in the spin-bowling department.