Riding waves helps Faf stay fresh
South African skipper Faf du Plessis is off to the Indian Premier League early next month, along with a handful of team-mates and New Zealand players.
After that, it’s the Champions League in England at the start of June — preceded by three ODI warm-ups against England — then a test series in England to follow the tournament.
South Africa started this summer last August against New Zealand. The Hamilton test is their 11th since then, and throw in 16 ODIs and four T20s. Call it 75 days of international cricket, with travel time added in.
If you’re a three-form player, it’s a virtual non-stop grind, leavened, it should be said, by delights such as squashing the Aussies in their test series across the Tasman. There’s no light yet at the end of this tunnel.
Downtime? There’s precious little of it. Players including JP Duminy have pulled out of the IPL. Morne Morkel didn’t put up his hand, just back from a lengthy back injury, admitting “it would be frowned upon”. Plus there’s a hefty load of international cricket coming up.
So how do players keep themselves fresh? Du Plessis has taken up surfing. “Some guys play golf. When you are playing cricket, you can’t get away from the game completely,” he said.
“Maybe it’s something worth looking into, especially if there are one or two tired faces before the Champions Trophy.
“Mental freshness is really important. You have to find something in a cricket tour to get you away from the game.
“Being in your room doesn’t really get you away. You are playing shots in there and worrying about technique.”
Unlike some of his team-mates, du Plessis, signed to the Pune Supergiants, coached by former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, is looking forward to the IPL but knows it won’t be an easy few months.
Dragging tired bodies and minds around the globe can’t be fun all the time. It’s not so much the playing but the in-between time, finding ways for the body to unwind.
“It’s very daunting and it’s going to be a big challenge to make sure — even after the IPL — I am as fresh as I can be and as driven and as motivated to be at my best for South Africa because it’s going to be an important Champions Trophy.
‘‘It’s important for all of us to make sure we get there. How we get there is going to be different for every guy.”
Where a quirk of the calender means New Zealand have the next six months off, apart from the Champions Trophy, there’s no respite just yet for South Africa.
Du Plessis is looking to the furthest point as his area of particular concern.
“The biggest challenge will be the test series. It will be right at the end of a lot of pressured cricket.
“To be mentally fresh at the start of a test series at the end of a summer in England is going to be challenging for us. That’s something that I will drive every day with the team.”