Depth an issue for Proteas
GIBSON: INDIA’S EXPERIENCE OF THE IPL REALLY HELPED
Coach will not press panic button just yet.
As the shell-shocked Proteas contemplate yet another white-ball series loss to India, the strength of domestic cricket is squarely in the spotlight.
National coach Ottis Gibson also touched on the issue after Saturday’s seven-run loss in the third and final T20 at Newlands, which meant South Africa slumped to a 2-1 series reverse.
This follows the 5-1 ODI series hammering they were handed by India.
Even though unexpected gems like Christiaan Jonker, who smashed 49 off just 24 balls on debut, and quick Junior Dala (3/35) have been unearthed, depth remains wobbly.
“Experience again, experience. India have got Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, two very experienced players with the new ball. We’ve got (Chris) Morris and Junior making his debut. The experience they have of playing not just for India but also playing three or four years of IPL cricket has shown in the end,” said Gibson.
“Losing is not always very easy, but when you are missing so many of your seniors, and then some new people coming and putting their names forward, the results aren’t too hard to take.”
One of the dominant themes to emerge from the Proteas’ two series defeats is that even though they had to blood numerous rookies, the senior men didn’t pull their weight.
And that’s where Gibson believes South African cricket needs to box smart to keep their depth reasonably strong.
“I’m a big fan of a strong domestic league or tournament which will produce better players for international cricket,” he said.
“And if you have international cricketers not performing, then I’d think domestic cricket would be the place to go back and raise the standard of domestic cricket so that it becomes a little bit better.”
The former West Indian fast bowler, however, isn’t too worried (yet) about his experienced players underperforming.
“Those guys who haven’t performed well in this series have done well in the past. They have been big players in the past and people can always be out of form, that is part of the sport,” said Gibson.
“It’s how you bounce back that matters. It’s just about those guys being very clear in their minds of what exactly they want to do and I will help them along the way.”