The event has ended. South African cricket now has to get on with the serious business of a Test series, which will be difficult after two months of high-octane cricket courtesy of the SA20 and the Women’s T20 World Cup.
Although the series is watched by auctioned audiences across the nation, the Test matches begin on Tuesday this week and wednesday the following week, leaving little room for large weekend crowds and little real energy.
That makes sense given that the setting of the match was completely altered when South Africa was officially ruled out of the World Test Championship final and that they were playing against a team that hadn’t properly played here since their victory in the St. George’s Park Test in 2007.
Since then, West Indies has only made one trip to South Africa in 2014 and has failed to claim a Test victory.
Temba Bavuma made his debut in that series, and although it wasn’t especially remarkable, it was a turning point for someone who looked up to Caribbean cricketers as role models.
“Growing up, West Indies was the team that I supported,”
Bavuma said ahead of the first Test.
“They were always on the TV at home and my uncles supported them. I guess there’s always been that special sentiment when it comes to the West Indies. When I made my debut, I got 10 runs, so that wasn’t a thing to make a big noise about. Hopefully this can go better.”
Bavuma probably couldn’t have asked for a lower-profile job as far as debuts in leadership go. England are in New Zealand, Australia is playing India, and the Women’s Premier League is starting up at the same time as his time as Test captain.
Given that the result of this series has little impact on the current WTC cycle, it is safe to presume that most cricket fans’ eyes will be busy.
The opportunity to start over is all that it is for South Africa, even though their next test isn’t until December. Dean Elgar, a former captain, will probably be retired by then.
As he had no choice but to serve as captain for this series, he would want to ensure that he has control over both his playing and captaincy careers.
Elgar’s stay, which was less than two years, started a brief comeback for the Test team, but he was replaced alongside Bavuma by new coach Shukri Conrad, who is entrusted with turning around a squad that has been totally outplayed in their last five Tests.
South Africa lost series in both England and Australia and had seven out of eleven Test innings knocked out for less than 200 runs. Sarel Erwee, Rassie van der Dussen, Khaya Zondo, and Kyle Verreynne were all removed from the top six as a result, and Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton were returned.
Keegan Petersen, who has recovered from a broken hamstring, and Heinrich Klaasen, who has been chosen as the first-choice wicketkeeper-batter, are also included.
Overall, the lineup hints that South Africa is seeking a more aggressive, Baseball-style strategy while still exercising their customary level of care. Baseball, perhaps?
“In my experience, the last two series, we know, are always tough tours,” Bavuma said. “They separate the good guys from the really good guys and it comes with challenges. We didn’t meet up to those challenges. We know we need to score runs to give the bowlers to do what they need to do.”
“We shouldn’t forget the fact we have guys here who played against India last summer when people didn’t back us to do it and we won. And there was no guy who scored 150 or something like that. Hopefully the series against the West Indies will be another showing of guys going out and doing what they need to do from a team point of view.”
Although the entire series will be played on the Highveld and there has been substantial rain in that region for some weeks, South Africa is also expecting slightly less adverse surfaces than usual.
Although Bavuma and Conrad haven’t expressly asked for a certain style of surface, the local four-day circuit has featured more batter-friendly pitches nationwide, and that trend is expected to carry over into the internationals.
It remains to be seen if that will result in more interesting cricket, but Bavuma undoubtedly wasn’t pitching it that way.
When asked his opinion of the West Indies, he replied,
“They play old-fashioned cricket. Batters grind it out. Bowlers are looking to hit their areas outside off stump.”
And he is not mistaken. West Indies has the lowest run rate (2.71) among all teams in Test matches during the past year. With 2.95, South Africa has the second-lowest score.
The format leaders, England, who score at 4.36 per over and have the best win-loss record in Tests over the past 12 months, are far ahead of both of them.
England’s high-risk, high-reward approach may be an inspiration for sides like South Africa and the West Indies who are playing catch-up, but it appears Bavuma and company are finding their energy elsewhere.
“All the guys were watching the T20 World Cup final and supporting the ladies. We always look for areas everywhere to draw inspiration and energy from and we will be using that in our game,” Bavuma made the statement in reference to the South African Women’s team, which created history by becoming the first senior team in the nation to reach a World Cup final.
It’s appropriate that the men were taking notes on how their counterparts had surpassed expectations and even repeated the call for more money to be spent on the women’s game given that they were eliminated from the last two T20 World Cups in the group stage and have yet to qualify for this year’s 50-over World Cup.
Bavuma said.
“It’s been big – what the women’s team has been able to achieve over the last while, with the limited resources they have,”
“With performances like this, I hope there will be a lot more support, a lot more care and a lot more invested into the women’s team.”