Running rule over SA’s World Cup hopefuls
The Proteas’ tour of Sri Lanka was a mixed bag of results, ranging from the downright awful to the superb three-match winning streak that won them the ODI series.
In evaluating the tour, though, it is vital to consider the bigger picture and the South African cricket fraternity should need no reminding that the World Cup, less than nine months away, is the main focus.
The problem with many South African sports fans is that they want the best of both worlds from their teams – they want them to be winning every match and giving the young, up-and-coming generation games at the same time. I fear Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus could face the same backlash from the public in the Rugby Championship as he prepares the recipe for their own World Cup next year.
Proteas coach Ottis Gibson said after the tour that in the vicinity of 10 players had pretty much booked their places in the 15man World Cup squad. So most of the starting XI that won the first three games to clinch the ODI series will be in England next year.
Although he ended his tour with two ducks, Hashim Amla scored 142 runs in his previous three innings and he and Quinton de Kock are South Africa’s most prolific ODI opening pair, averaging 48.38 together and 79.87 in the last year.
The middle-order of Faf du Plessis, the resurgent JP Duminy and David Miller looks pretty settled, while Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir and Tabraiz Shamsi are probably the country’s four best white-ball strike bowlers.
The skills and temperament of Andile Phehlukwayo make him an obvious choice for me, but given the relative lack of batting ability among the rest of the bowlers, the selection of another all-rounder in the starting XI seems inevitable.
The merits of Wiaan Mulder were tested in Sri Lanka and, although he is undoubtedly a fine talent, next year’s World Cup might be a little early for the young man who will only turn 21 next February.
The fitness of Chris Morris, the most explosive of our all-rounders, will be the determining factor in his selection, while the skills of Vernon Philander in the seam-friendly conditions that the English summer usually produces must also come into the discussion.
The elephant in the room is probably Dale Steyn, the veteran of two World Cup tournaments. The great fast bowler, who will turn 36 during the 2019 tournament, looked a pale shadow of himself in the last ODI series he played, the 5-0 whitewash of Australia in 2016. Steyn could only take five wickets in the four matches he played and he conceded 6.99 runs per over.
The 96 runs he conceded in his 10 overs in the third ODI at Kingsmead were the most ever by a South African bowler in an ODI.
But in his last full year of ODI cricket – 2015 – Steyn took 30 wickets in 19 matches with an economy rate of 4.98. The early summer series against Zimbabwe and then in Australia will probably be the deciding factors when it comes to his selection.
The other fast bowlers in contention are Junior Dala, Dane Paterson and Beuran Hendricks, while Dwaine Pretorius, Sisanda Magala and Robbie Frylinck are the pace-bowling all-rounders currently with the SA A side.
The extra batting spots should go to two of Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen or even Farhaan Behardien, depending on whether the Proteas want back-up for the top-order or a middle-order hitter.