Time for Proteas batters to stand up be counted.
The Proteas will need a firing top 7 to win the series down under.
After a heart-breaking defeat to the Netherlands at the T20 world cup almost a month or so ago, a test series win down under could be exactly what the doctor ordered for South Africa and its supporters. Many South Africans were hopeful about the teams’ chances at the world cup until the defeat to Netherlands that saw the Proteas knocked out of the tournament in the group stages for the second time in two years. The focus now shifts to red ball cricket for the Proteas. Their last series was against England and did not go well at all for them but, the team can take pride in the fact that it is still in the running for a world championship final.
The Proteas have travelled to Australia to face the baggy greens in a test series. The two teams are number 1 and 2 in the test championship table so, each side has a lot to play for and not just its pride. South Africa has managed to dominate Australia at home in test cricket for a while now, but a lot of things have changed since the Proteas played a test series in Australia. The Proteas can definitely take a lot of confidence from the fact that they have been able to dominate the baggy greens down under. However, with that being said, The Proteas cannot afford to underestimate the Aussies. Especially after the test series against England.
The Proteas under former coach, Mark Boucher did well in test cricket which is why they are still in the top 2 in the Test Championship. Even with the fact that the test side was able to win test matches and test series to stay at the top in the Championship, I had always been critical about how the team was winning. Throughout Mark Boucher’s time as the Proteas coach, I had always had questions around the sustainability of the kind of cricket the test side was playing. Well, my concerns were not just based on the test side, but I put a lot of emphasis on the test team because I was worried the team would get exposed at a very crucial stage.
Throughout this current Test championship, the Proteas have been winning matches solely because the bowlers had been showing up with the ball and chipping in with the bat. I raised this concern before the series against England. If one takes a look at all the test matches the Proteas managed to win in the Championship, majority of the wins have been because our bowlers did extremely well with the ball and opposition batters failed to show much resistance. India at Supersport Park, Centurion in South Africa managed to show some resistance with the bat in the first test and ended up winning that test match. England made a come back in the test series because they managed to show resistance and our batters were nowhere. There were a lot of talks about Bazzball heading into that test series but England did not even need Bazzball. They only just needed to bat slightly better than the Proteas and that was it.
Heading into Australia against a bowling attack that could possibly be as good as the Proteas’ bowling attack, the Proteas batters will need to all stand up and be counted. The last time these two sides met in a test series Down under, contributions with the bat from Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Dean Elgar and Vernon Philander helped the Proteas win the first 2 tests of the series. Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma are the only contributors with the bat that will still be there from 2016. Philander and Kyle Abbott contributed with the ball and will not be there but, that should not be a worry for the Proteas because the current bowling attack has also been very potent.
With an interim coach taking charge in Malibongwe Maketa, there might not be enough time to make a lot of changes but, one thing that will need to be fixed one way or the other is the batting. The lack of hundreds and consistent runs from the batters is the reason why the Proteas have struggled to score totals over 300 whether batting first or batting second. Until someone or everyone in the top 7 starts making runs consistently, big too, the bowlers’ job will also be less harder, and they will not always be required to chip in with the bat.
The absence of Temba Bavuma in the series against England may have been felt considering the fact that he is the Proteas’ best test batter in the last 18 months or so. One will hope that his return will be a huge boost to the batting line up. He also happens to be one of batters who contributed to the 2016 test series win down under. While Temba’s overall record may not make for nice reading, his record in the last 18 months is completely different and makes him an integral part of the Proteas’ test side. His record against Australia in the 9 innings he has batted against them is also quite decent. An average of just under 43. Temba’s biggest let down overall is his lack of big scores or rather, hundreds and this is something he himself, will be very aware of. One will hope that Temba will be fresh and ready to go. It is no secret that he has had a tough time recently, building up to the T20 world cup, at the world cup and after the world cup.
The Proteas batting unit will somehow need to find ways to score big runs against Australia and support the bowlers, who have carried the team throughout the championship period. With both Heinrich Klaasen and Theunis de Bruyn making their return to the test side, it will be interesting to see how the team lines up in Australia. Keegan Petersen was ruled out after suffering a hamstring injury which means the number 3 position will be vacant for the series. Selectors decided to go back to players who have been tried before and this could be a cause for concern for some as it could mean, the team is regressing somehow.
The Proteas over reliance on bowlers to win matches has shown how unsustainable it is to expect to win matches like that all the time already against India and England. There have been times where bowlers have had nothing to bowl to and that sometimes becomes a big problem when it comes to winning a test match. The Proteas have scored just 10 test hundreds between now and the 1st of January 2019. You compare this to Australia (31) and England (41), one can really see how big an issue the Proteas batting is. Even if you look deeper into those hundreds, 3 were scored by Quinton de Kock and 2 were scored by Faf du Plessis, who both retired while 1 was scored by Aiden Markram, who happens to be dropped for this particular series. In the Period of the Championship, only 3 hundreds have been scored and 1 of those has come from the retired Wicket keeper batter, Quinton de Kock.
It could take some time before the Proteas find batters who can consistently score match winning hundreds like AB, Hashim etc used to. One can only hope that, for now the changes made in the batting department will at least assist the team in scoring match winning totals. It is going to be a tough ask for a new coach but, it is doable.
PS Glenton Stuurman was pulled out of the squad due to injury and replaced by Lizaad Williams for the tour.