It’s 1,800km from Faisalabad to Kolkata as the crow flies, about two and a half hours in a standard commercial airliner. Unfortunately for the Proteas Test players who were on duty in the ODI series against Pakistan, it is only crows that fly that route.
Instead, the remaining players, which conceded the ODI series 2-1 in Faisalabad on Saturday — and the considerable coaching and management contingent — had to kick their heels in the team hotel for most of Sunday before leaving in two groups, on two flights, late in the evening.
A quick turnaround in Karachi and then off to Dubai for a slightly longer turnaround before the last of them arrived in Kolkata just after 8am on Monday, leaving just three full days of practice before the first Test against India at Eden Gardens starting on Friday.
Not so long ago it was unthinkable to play a Test series without at least one warm-up fixture. There was a time when no SA player returning from injury would be considered for Test selection without playing two first-class matches. Reputation, no matter how impressive, came a distant second to fitness.
It was thought necessary to “cleanse” batsmen of the ills and habits of one-day cricket before the T20 game was even a thing. These days a series of 50-over matches is thought to be excellent preparation for Test cricket. Most of the top order usually get a bat, and the best bowlers will have two or three spells in their 10 overs, a good workout — but not too much.
Australia and England have opted for diametrically opposed preparation plans before the first Ashes Test beginning in Perth in nine days. Whereas the hosts still strongly believe in the merits of “real” cricket that means something (a lot, actually) to everyone playing and have insisted that each member of the squad play Sheffield Shield matches for their state teams, England have opted for the relaxed, knockabout approach.
Their three-match ODI series against New Zealand was a disaster with 50/5 top-order scenarios in all three losses, and they now have just one practice match before the first Test — against their reserves. Having selected 16 players in the Ashes squad, England named no fewer than 18 in a Lions (A team) squad that will tour concurrently, starting with a four-day match against Ben Stokes’ full team.
It hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, but the players already know the match will not have first-class status and will involve much more than XI per side. Apart from a few Lions bowlers wanting to prove a point, it’s hard to imagine the fixture containing any intensity. Two very different approaches.
Which brings us back to Temba Bavuma’s team. The captain, ironically, is the only member of the squad with any recent first-class cricket, having scored a fine 50 in the SA A team’s magnificent victory over India at the weekend in which they chased a fourth-innings target of no less than 417. It’s one thing choosing a low-key build-up plan in which grooving prevails over grunt, but quite another when there is no choice.
In the most recent World Test Championship cycle the Proteas proved themselves masters at maximising what little time they had before the series, somehow creating intensity in training sessions where traditionally little exists. They were helped by the lack of choice — and they will have to do the same again in Kolkata before two of the biggest Tests of their careers.
But actually … shouldn’t all professional cricketers be able to change formats and adapt to different requirements? Did we have it wrong for so many years? Cricket coaches are fond of telling us that the game is played 10% on grass and 90% between the ears, so … getting into “Test mode” should be far more of a mental exercise than a physical one.
The Proteas will almost certainly have to win one of the two Test matches to have a reasonable chance of becoming the first team to retain the WTC title. They can be expected to beat Bangladesh in two Tests next summer but then face three Tests each against England and Australia before finishing the cycle with two more in Sri Lanka. They’ll probably need nine wins out of 14. They have one out of two so far. You do the maths.
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