for quality writing

Ken Borland



Technique & mental strength meant to be safe ports in the storm, but weaknesses for Proteas 0

Posted on December 29, 2022 by Ken

Technique and mental strength are meant to be two safe ports in the storm for batsmen reaching the end of a testing tour of India, but Proteas coach Mark Boucher admitted on Tuesday that those were two areas of weakness as South Africa were bundled out for a miserable 99 all out and thrashed by seven wickets with 30.5 overs to spare in the decisive third ODI in Delhi.

On the eve of their departure for Australia and the T20 World Cup, it is perhaps not too surprising that the batting line-up was not fully focused on the task at hand on Tuesday, which was unsurprisingly fatal against an Indian team full of second-stringers desperate to get into the first-choice XI.

“Coming off a long tour of England and some guys were at the Caribbean Premier League as well, with that sort of schedule you can’t expect the players to be up for every single game,” Boucher said after the series loss.

“That’s when you rely on your technique and mentality to pull you through, but unfortunately we were a bit weak in both of those today. There were soft dismissals up front and technical faults.

“Keeping the players mentally and physically fresh is crucial, we need to get that mental side up, along with the technical. But tonight we did not rock up and India bowled very well.

“They showed good aggression and intent. We need to make sure the guys are really up for the World Cup games, that will bring the best results. We are really gearing ourselves up for that big competition. It will be okay,” Boucher said.

The coach acknowledged that the team were looking forward to playing in Australian conditions that are much more like their own.

“Conditions will be very different in Australia and I think they will suit our batsmen, but especially our fast bowlers more. You need to keep your aggression up over there, and we have good pace and bounce.

“Although I thought we did not show that enough in these ODIs, India showed far more aggression. But the way Anrich Nortje ran in tonight was a positive sign for me, especially going into conditions where he will be more effective,” Boucher said.

Heinrich Klaasen showed that he is your banker when it comes to playing spin, top-scoring for the Proteas with his 34.

Opener Janneman Malan made 15 off 27 balls, but that included three fours, which means he scored just three runs off his other 24 deliveries. That failure to rotate the strike puts your batting line-up under pressure.

But credit must go to the Indian bowlers, especially Mohammed Siraj, who removed both Malan and Reeza Hendricks (3), and the spinners as South Africa were 26/3 in the powerplay.

Boucher seems to lack gene for fear of failure, frustrated that his Proteas team do not 0

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Ken

As a human being, Mark Boucher seems to lack the gene for a fear of failure which made him one of the most tenacious cricketers around, but now as a coach he has admitted to frustration that that is exactly the weakness his Proteas team showed as they crashed to a series loss to Bangladesh in humiliating fashion in the third and final ODI at Centurion on Wednesday evening.

Choosing to bat first, South Africa’s batsmen folded meekly to 154 all out in 37 overs. Bangladesh them showed them how to bat on the SuperSport Park pitch as they raced to victory in just 26-and-a-half overs with just one wicket down.

“We lacked intent, we went to sleep after a good start to our innings,” Boucher said after the loss. “We wanted to take the game forward, you do need to take some risks, but there was almost a fear of getting out.

“It was as if we were not batting to set a total, which Bangladesh showed should have been more than 300, but batting to not get out, and then we spiralled into a total collapse.

“We need to have belief in how we play, we’ve played spin very well in places like Sri Lanka but then we come back here and go back to old ways. We have to have faith to play the way we want to play.

“We wanted to be proactive, we have worked hard on shot-selection and the guys know they have the armoury. But it’s like a mental block. We need to put the fear of failure out of our minds, the fear of getting out,” Boucher said.

What is baffling, however, is that much the same team beat India 3-0 in January and they should have had the confidence of a billionaire on the front cover of Forbes magazine. Boucher said the vagaries of form had also played a role in the shock series defeat.

“Against India we had guys in great form and there were big partnerships. In this series we lost an aggressive player like Aiden Markram whose form is worrying, so new guys come into the team.

“In the back of their heads they probably want to get runs to prove that they belong here, and that brings in a bit of fear. Maybe they are too scared to play the way they should.

“So it comes down to a lack of form and belief,” Boucher said.

India have rustled up a pace attack to make a mockery of what Russell said in 2013 0

Posted on February 03, 2022 by Ken

It was in December 2013 ahead of a Test against India at the Wanderers that former Proteas coach Russell Domingo spoke about the DNA of South African and Indian teams and how pace bowling was the strength of the home side and the weakness of the subcontinent team.

“They have always had issues playing pace in South Africa and that is what history shows. It is a South African strength. It is the way that we were brought up playing cricket,” Domingo said.

“Subcontinent sides will always turn to spin and South Africans will turn to pace because that is in our DNA. Having a four-pronged pace attack is important for us against a country like India in our conditions.”

An epic Test match followed in which India dominated the South African bowling, Virat Kohli scoring 119 and 96 and Cheteshwar Pujara confirming his pedigree as a special player with 153, his first century overseas. An incredible final innings saw the Proteas flirt with chasing down 458, before settling for a noble draw on 450/7.

Although South Africa then won in Durban to win the two-match series, India had shown they were on the brink of rustling up a pace attack fit to compare with any in the world. When they returned to the Wanderers in 2018, they beat the Proteas by 63 runs with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami both getting five-wicket hauls.

Now the tourists are back at a venue where South Africa have not been able to beat them in five attempts, India actually winning at the Bullring in 2006 and 2018. And India showed in the first Test at Centurion just how wonderful their current pace attack is, and it is the Proteas batsmen who have the issues trying to handle the heat.

Out-bowled as well as out-batted at SuperSport Park, South Africa may well consider playing an all-pace attack at the Wanderers; with Quinton de Kock already having to be replaced, Duanne Olivier coming in for spinner Keshav Maharaj as the only change would be the least disruptive selection.

But Maharaj, even though he is not a broad-chested alpha-male in the mould of a Graeme Smith or Jacques Kallis, is an important leader in the team and captain Dean Elgar has spoken of his reluctance not to have him in his XI.

As much as Marco Jansen has shown he can deliver useful runs as a batsman, No.7 is surely too high for him at this fledgling stage of his career. So South Africa will have to choose between having four frontline seamers and an all-rounder (Wiaan Mulder) at 7, three specialist pacemen, a spinner and an all-rounder, or just four bowlers, including Maharaj, and an extra specialist batsman.

Needing to deliver a win at the Wanderers to maintain their hopes of winning the series, the Proteas should perhaps put the responsibility of bowling much better than they did on the first day of the first Test, and getting 20 wickets, on four bowlers and thereby strengthening the fragile batting with someone like Ryan Rickelton coming in at No.7.

Kyle Verreynne is likely to replace De Kock at No.6 and the uncapped Rickelton, who is a top-order batsman for the Central Gauteng Lions, has scored centuries in his previous two innings at the Wanderers.

New skipper Amla commands global respect – Klusener 0

Posted on June 08, 2014 by Ken

Hashim Amla is a captain who commands huge respect around the globe and South Africa’s leadership will not be perceived as a weakness, according to Dolphins coach Lance Klusener.

Amla, despite being a reluctant captain in the past, will lead South Africa’s Test team on a daunting tour of Sri Lanka next month and Klusener, who knows the new skipper well from his time with the Dolphins, is optimistic that Graeme Smith’s successor will prosper in his new post.

“Hashim will bring a lot of calmness, he has a smart head on his shoulders and he’s fairly innovative, he’s not scared to try things.

“But most importantly, Hashim has a lot of respect internationally, which is important as a captain. It means the opposition don’t see the captain as a point of weakness,” Klusener said.

Hashim Amla - globally respected

While Amla’s previous captaincy experience – a season in charge of the Dolphins in 2004/5 in which he averaged 54.38 in the four-day competition, scoring three centuries, including a superb 249 in the final against the Central Eagles – provides a clue as to whether the extra responsibility will affect his batting, Klusener said this was the only remaining question to be answered.

“The biggest question is how it will affect his game because he’s been reluctant to lead in the past. It’s a small question but it’s the most important one because he needs to prove he can do both jobs together. Someone like Morne van Wyk [current Dolphins captain] lives for that and that’s what I’d like to see with Hashim, that he can handle both being a key batsman and the captain on the highest stage.”

One of Amla’s imminent tasks will be getting the right team balance for the first Test starting in Galle on July 16 and Klusener said there were warning bells in this regard.

“We’ve been caught out in the past playing two frontline spinners. I know it’s tough for quick bowlers over there, but that is our strength. Is playing two spinners our best attack? Sometimes even when the pitches are dusty, you should play four pacemen and rely on them to get swing.

“We must play our best attack – do you field two average spinners or two good seamers, remembering too that Sri Lankan batsmen play spin very well,” Klusener warned.

“If the pitches are turning then inconsistent bounce can also be a massive factor. I would like the other spot to go to someone who can bowl 140-145km/h and will get reverse swing and inconsistent bounce,” Klusener said.

Former SA allrounder Lance Klusener

It seems the national selectors are leaning towards JP Duminy being the second spinner, leaving South Africa with the option of playing a specialist batsman at number seven or four pacemen and leggie Imran Tahir.

Klusener, who played 49 Tests and 171 ODIs in a stellar career, added he was also concerned that South Africa now had several captains – Amla in Tests, AB de Villiers in ODIs and Faf du Plessis in T20s.

“We have three captains and I would prefer just one but there are obviously demands on the body and that person’s time. But it must be easier to keep a handle on things if there is just one or maybe two captains.

“The other players are left wondering ‘does this other captain back me, where do I fit in under him?’ It does create some instability.

“I only had one captain at a time and I think it worked great,” Klusener added.

Whatever question marks still remain about South Africa’s new era, one thing that is certain is that Amla will bring tremendous conviction to his new role as captain.

 

  • Recent Posts

  • Archives

  • Thought of the Day

    John 13:35 – “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

    “The Christian’s standards are the standards of Christ and, in his entire conduct and disposition, he strives to reflect the image of Christ.

    “Christ fills us with the love that we lack so that we can achieve his purpose with our lives. If we find it difficult to love, … open our lives to his Spirit and allow him to love others through us.” – Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm

    His loveliness must be reflected in our lives. Our good deeds must reflect his love.

     



↑ Top