Injuries have ravaged the Proteas, and that can partly be said to be the reason that they lost so far to India on pitches that was called “diabolical”, so it perhaps did not play as much of a part as what it would have if they all had been injured in the upcoming English series. While you never want any injuries the old saying ‘behind every cloud is a silver lining’ has proven yet once again true, and in this case, it gave some of the fringe players, most notably the reliable duo of Kyle Abbott and Dane Piedt, a chance to show that they will pounce on every chance, even if it is as small as it was.
But now it looks like they both will be left out, looking like Dale Steyn, being Abbott’s successor, will return, but only once he has shown he has what it takes still, and only once he has proven his fitness, he can be considered. The break would have done him good, but there are doubts about him, some saying that he must get back into form by firstly return to the domestic scene, and get some overs under his belt, as there is feared that he will go into the series as ‘undercooked’.
The selectors are unlikely to spring any surprises, but there will be seen how they can leave Abbott out, a man who showed that he certainly won’t let down any team, especially for his country. Plus, if he took 5-40 in India, something that any bowler can be proud of, why can’t he do better on tracks that suit him more, his swing making him a treacherous and reliable bowler, all in one, and perhaps replace an aging Steyn?.
But such things seem far away, and although Abbott has shown that, when he is needed, he’s there to do it, on the basis of how much trust there has been in Steyn, even through his rare lapses of form. And on that, you can’t expect Steyn to be left out so suddenly, although Abbott deserves to be given a place ahead of him, because of what he has done with every chance he has got, but Steyn has built enough of a reputation to be retained above Abbott.
That is, of course, if he recovers in time, and everyone who knows cricket, should have known by now that he takes a long time to get back to his best, given that his quickly-aging body doesn’t break down again. He probably will still be the man who is given the go-to to open the bowling, followed by Morné Morkel, who has found some gusto at just the right time, but rumours are abound that the unfortunate timing of Vernon Philander’s injury might have cost him his career, at least in the way that Abbott is bowling at the moment.
Despite that South-Africa’s strong-point over the years has been quite obvious-pace-it probably won’t be so that all of their quicks may play alongside each other, but rather than either one will have to miss out; the way that our pitches play indicates that, although spin will still play a role in the latter stages of the tests, when the ball has got older and offers some resistance to them on pitches that mostly suit batting, pace will most likely dominate the majority of it.
One wouldn’t bet that they will go for more than one spinner; a battle between Dane Piedt, who came in only for the last match in India, yet he played a huge role, carrying on from his brief previous stint in international cricket, namely his debut some time back, before he picked up a long-term injury, and the more aggressive Simon Harmer. Either way, any one of them won’t do any less badly than the other one, if one looks at the way they bowl, but one thing that looks certain is that Imran Tahir has to go.
Already at 36, he has not got a lot of cricket left in him, and he has not got the consistency that he would have liked, a trait that every quality spinner must have, otherwise he can forget about it, something that has happened to Tahir.
But whoever gets the nod will have to play quite a contrasting role than in India, where they could have looked to take wickets right from the start, and they must only try not to conceded any runs at first, looking to finish off the match by hitting the areas that were made coarse by the pace-men earlier on, in South-Africa. They aren’t going to take so many wickets, but patience is one of the traits that has been lost by the majority of the current era, but in between that, there is a few that still have it, and you can count Piedt and Harmer in, two who have become really good at it.
India probably was not the best chance for their batsman to get some runs, and even some who was in form before it, like Faf du Plessis, a batsman who showed he is at home on India’s quite tame One-Day tracks, at least if you compare it to the tests afterwards, but of course some like him did not have to face Ravichandran Ashwin, who made amends in the latter stages of the tour after he had returned from injury.
The Ashwin-factor played a huge role, and all their batsman, maybe with the exception of the seemingly always in-form AB de Villiers, struggled against him later on. Even de Villiers, the only one of the Proteas’ batsman who got any runs, or at least be able to withstand him for long enough, would be surely thinking now that he could have done better, perhaps having a lean run towards the end.
The best way for them to get back into form is to come back to South-Africa and get some game-time under their belt for their franchises, so that they are ready to go by the time the English arrive. Of course, some who have not got some runs in quite some time, the now-increasingly struggling JP Duminy and likewise, or who had no answer to the masterly Ashwin, will have to get back into form domestically, otherwise one can expect a few to be left out, the most likely of those being the under-fire Dane Vilas, and some be called up to cement a place in the side by being rewarded for their franchise-runs.
If the miserly pair of Stephan Cook and Andrew Puttick’s age doesn’t count against them-at roughly 33 they have not got a lot of cricket left in them-you can expect either one of them to be called up to replace the dropped Stiaan van Zyl, a man who will probably won’t be given a second chance, unless he gets some much-needed runs, before he can even be considered.
And while the pair deserves a chance, thinking of how they have done well to their reputation of batsman who gets themselves in more often than not, but does not give away their wicket, like most of their likewise does, they won’t be able to accommodate the likes of De Villiers, if you want them to play the same. But, they are what the Proteas probably need at the moment; to give you the sort of feeling of ‘I know they won’t give away their wicket easily’ and that is what they need now, everyone in the team not knowing what to do.
They can be the rock that everyone can build around, and because the likewise of Amla and Du Plessis are not getting any runs at the moment, maybe Cook can be a welcoming inclusion.
Of course, the young wunderkind Quinton de Kock will likely take over the duties from Vilas, at least from the look of outside the sanctums of the team, and how much time will be given to him to rediscover his form, but it will be seen if De Kock can, and that means Cook won’t ever be chosen, if he is not now, slot in at the opening spot, also taking over duties behind the stumps from Vilas.
It may be too much on his still-growing body-few have ever done that-if I think about it, no one springs into my mind who has done it recently, so the most obvious thought would be to drop him down to number six, which allows the ever-improving Cook, or maybe Puttick to be able to slot in, and gives you an extra pace-option, while it also strengthens their batting; De Kock has many a times opened the batting so he knows how it’s done.
And Amla said that we may expect a “new” team; whether he means that they will have to work on their mind-set, how they think, or if a few players may be missing out, we won’t know, but what we know is that almost the whole team-exceptions are few and far in between-will have to perform, otherwise we may yet see a “new” team, with a few of the domestic stand-outs being rewarded with their form.