SA may not be hosting a Test match for another 18 months but that doesn’t mean their best players will be idle in that time. Over the course of the next year we may see whether it is still possible to be a multiformat cricketer at international level.
There has been a global trend in the past few years for many international teams to move away from “specialists” as an adage proves true, that “the best cricketers are the best cricketers no matter how long or short the game”.
There is a two-week break between the IPL final and the World Test Championship (WTC) final at Lord’s on June 11. Of the 17 South Africans playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), six can be expected to make the starting XI for the showpiece Test match. Aiden Markram will open the batting with, presumably, Ryan Rickelton given that the left-hander’s most recent innings in the format was 259 against Pakistan at Newlands. It would be a big call to drop him even though he was deputising for an injured Tony de Zorzi.
Tristan Stubbs is the incumbent No 3 while Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder and Kagiso Rabada are all likely to be required at a venue rarely welcoming to two spinners. Whereas just two or three years ago the Proteas opted for Test “specialists”, they were often selected on the basis that they were unsuited for T20 cricket rather than the best in Test cricket. Captain Temba Bavuma is the honourable exception.
Shukri Conrad, who is almost certain to be given the white ball coaching position to go with his Test post, is firmly with the new way of thinking, which suggests that if a bowler has the skills to cope with the shortest format and a batter can score quickly, they are good enough to play Test cricket — provided they have the stamina.
Immediately after the WTC final the Proteas will play two more Test matches against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo followed by a Triangular T20I series involving the hosts and New Zealand in July. In August they travel to the Northern Territories of Australia to play three ODIs and another three T20Is in Darwin, Cairns and Mackay. (They will also have the chance to visit the Great Barrier Reef.)
The next month they travel back to England for an identical schedule of white ball matches in September. In October they are scheduled to be in Pakistan for two WTC fixtures as well as three T20Is. Then it gets really busy with two more WTC Tests in India in November followed by three ODIs and a five-match series of T20Is in December.
They will return to SA six days before the start of the SA20 which will be followed immediately by a five-match T20I series against the West Indies whereafter they will be heading to India for (yet another) T20 World Cup. They will stay on the subcontinent for two more Test matches against Sri Lanka at end-February. Then it’s just a few short weeks until the start of IPL 19.
It is a taxing schedule in which no player can take full part. If and when Conrad takes over the limited-overs post he will be in sole charge of selection — albeit with input from the medical team and, presumably, director of cricket Enoch Nkwe. Yet, it is an enormous responsibility and impossible to complete without making mistakes, most of which will only become evident with hindsight. At least with two coaches there was always a conversation and a second perspective. Selection panels can be cumbersome but there are good reasons they exist in every other major cricket-playing nation.
Strategic planning throughout the fixture list will be as important as winning, and more so in certain series. Apart from providing Zimbabwe with high-profile content, what will be the goal for the Tests — which do not count towards the next WTC cycle? It’s all well and good resting Rabada, but he — like all the world’s best male cricketers — know that his legacy lies in Test cricket. He will want to play.
There are more established national players in their mid-30s than is ideal two years before the next 50-over World Cup on home soil. David Miller and Heinrich Klaasen turn 36 and 35 in a few months — Rassie van der Dussen and Keshav Maharaj are already there. Bavuma is 35 in May but should be good for another WTC cycle. If any of the others are to be moved on before the World Cup their replacements (Kwena Maphaka, Dewald Brevis, Nqaba Peter, Lhuan-dre Pretorius?) will need international experience.
Conrad’s conversations with all the national players since his Test appointment have been respectful, honest and appreciated. Expanding from the Test side to all three national squads, officially by himself, will be a colossal task.
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