Miller: Proteas must adapt fast
THE INEXPERIENCED T20 PLAYERS WILL GET A CHANCE TO STEP UP
Playing in a bubble is ‘restricting’ but the visitors are ready to give it their best shot in Lahore.
David Miller is an outdoor kind of guy so being confined to his Lahore hotel room is taking a bit of getting used to.
On the field of play though, the 31-year-old says the lack of bounce on the Gaddafi Stadium pitch is going to be the main thing the Proteas have to adapt to in their T20 series against Pakistan, which starts this afternoon (3pm SA time).
South Africa take on Pakistan with only three members of the Test squad involved, so there has needed to be a period of acclimatisation, which Miller said has gone very well.
“I’ve only been to Pakistan before for a very brief time, only three games for a World XI in 2017, but we’ve all quickly realised how the conditions are here – the bounce is a lot lower than what we’re used to.
“But there are some venues in South Africa where the bounce is pretty low too and we have all travelled enough to adapt. It will be important to assess and adapt very quickly as we go along,” Miller said yesterday.
“I’m still getting used to playing in bubbles though, and I think the longer you play in a pandemic situation, the harder it gets. It’s quite restricting and you don’t have that free movement we’re used to, so it is quite challenging. Fortunately this tour is pretty short. We just need to sort ourselves out mentally and find a place we can come together as a team and address whatever issues there are as quickly as possible,” added the Proteas batsman.
As a team, with just 218 T20 International caps between them and Miller having 78 of those, with another 77 being shared between Andile Phehlukwayo, Tabraiz Shamsi and Reeza Hendricks, the Proteas acknowledge they are the underdogs but the nature of the format and the eagerness of the players being given the opportunity to stake World Cup claims, naturally levels the playing field.
“There’s been a lot of chat about this being a young side with new, inexperienced players, but they are being given a lot of opportunity to step up in a World Cup year, especially the guys who haven’t played before. We’ve prepared extremely well and as a senior player, I would like to step up both on and off the field. It’s a really refreshing group and we are here to win and shine as much as we can,” he added.
“We respect the Pakistan side, but in T20 if you prepare well and mentally you’re up for the game, if you’re really switched on and stick to your processes, then I don’t see why the underdogs can’t win.
“We will come under pressure, but that’s a great opportunity to step up, we know we’re representing our country.”
Businesses stand to gain from opportunities created during the pandemic, if they adopt important learnings from 2020. The high levels of stress and pressures on a small team to maintain a competitive advantage could, however, threaten to derail success for small-, medium- and micro-sized enterprises (SMME).
“There is no doubt there is more opportunity for small business now than there was 10 years ago,” says Mike Anderson, founder and chief executive officer of the National Small Business Chamber (NSBC).
“There is a global shift towards supporting SMMEs that has been enthusiastically embraced in South Africa with prospective customers increasingly ordering online since the start of the lockdown. Consumers are now more than ever attracted to supporting local small businesses.
“The digital world has changed how we do business, and SMMEs can now compete with big business. Also, big companies across the board are now obliged to build their SMME supplier base.
“The future of job creation is coming from the SMME sector. In 2021 and beyond, SMMEs will, more than ever, be the mainstay of our economy,” he says.
The NSBC offers the following survival and growth tips for SMMEs:
Prioritise building up liquid cash savings, reducing debt and trim non-essential spending. Remain agile and adaptable to weather storms in the future. Out-of-the-box thinking to prepare for a worst-case scenario. Look after the staff you rely on to keep your business at the top of its game.
“Having a ‘plan B’ can help improve every business’ odds of surviving and eventually thriving again during tough financial times,” Anderson advises.
“The team within an SMME is generally quite small and these businesses have invested an enormous amount of time and money into these employees.
“Unlike the corporate world, for many small businesses it only takes a few key employees to survive and prosper. This means that there is much more at stake for the overall productivity of a small business if an employee is unable to perform at their best.
“Small businesses experienced many challenges last year, and few were able to get any relief funding.
“The enormous stress of these factors unfortunately contributed towards poor performance at the most crucial time for many, which only compounded their difficulties.”
Dr Jacques Snyman, clinical development expert for Agility Corporate, says that an integrated approach is needed to best manage human capital risks.
“Key members of an SMME team often have specialised skills and understanding of the business, and small businesses can ill afford for such individuals to be incapacitated due to preventable causes.
“In a small team, this can be devastating for all and may be catastrophic for business survival,” he says. –