Puttick wants Proteas women batters to be more aggressive

Andrew Puttick said he is aware the ongoing concerns about the Proteas women’s bowling will put more demands on the side’s batting, and believes liberating the players may be the route to take if SA are going to be successful at the T20 World Cup.

Puttick was among a raft of changes made to the Proteas’ backroom staff for the series with India that starts in Durban on Friday and the World Cup in England in June.

“I’ve heard the whispers [about the bowling concerns],” said Puttick.

His role is as batting consultant and will run to the end of the World Cup, after which talks about becoming the team’s long-term batting coach will occur.

There is a lot on Puttick’s plate as the Proteas try to mask their bowling weaknesses. The tour to New Zealand highlighted various issues that had cropped up over the course of the season against Ireland and Pakistan, and made matches tighter or even led to losses.

From an inability to pick up wickets in the power play, to struggling to restrict scoring in the middle period and general inconsistency throughout, the Proteas head into the World Cup needing to make adjustments to offset the poor bowling.

One important area is to improve their fielding, and the other is to get the batters to deliver more runs, placing Puttick in the spotlight.

“As a batting unit that can be a positive, it can help free us up, to push us even further and reach heights we didn’t know we could,” said Puttick.

In T20 cricket you want to get into a mental space where the player is not worried about failure or selection for the next game, but for the player to be free, ready from ball one and have the intent to score

—  Andrew Puttick

Under previous batting coach Baakier Abrahams, the Proteas became a more dynamic unit, albeit still one that relied heavily on the contributions of skipper Laura Wolvaardt.

“She’s obviously a world-class player, someone [as a coach] you would leave alone. But she’s also smart and inquisitive, so she will ask questions and then you have to have that feel to try something new.”

The modern women’s game is far removed from what it was when Puttick worked, also as consultant, with some of the current players at the CSA Centre of Excellence in Tshwane.

“Back then the team was talented, they were making great strides. They’ve kept on that trajectory and a lot of those young players are now seasoned internationals.

“The level of professionalism has gone through the roof. These girls are operating at a high level. You can see that on the pitch.”

In addressing the need to find an extra 20 runs to offset the weaknesses with the ball, Puttick explained the players would need to follow the trend of being even more aggressive.

“The power game is catching up very fast; we need to get to a point where all the batters can clear the boundary when they need to and be able to open up new areas of the ground in which to score.

“In T20 cricket you want to get into a mental space where the player is not worried about failure or selection for the next game, but for the player to be free, ready from ball one and have the intent to score.”

Puttick ended a 17-year playing career, mostly for Western Province, where he shared the change-room with the likes of Herschelle Gibbs, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten and Ashwell Prince, in 2018. He earned just one international cap in an ODI in 2005.

His coaching career has taken him to Pakistan and most recently Afghanistan, who he worked with at the men’s T20 World Cup in February.

“The two years with Afghanistan were incredible from a coaching point of view. It’s a unique cricket culture, working with really talented guys, really hungry, hard-working and fearless.”