Skipper calls for big focus

South Africa A captain Aiden Markram (above) is expecting a much more energetic performance from his side when they play the England Lions in the final match of their tour starting in Canterbury today.

The four-day encounter at The Spitfire Ground is meant to be the highlight of what has been a difficult tour and the visitors will be desperate to end the month-long trip on a high.

They won one of their two firstclass, warm-up matches against Hampshire last week, but that has been their only success on the tour.

The South Africans lost the one-day leg 2-0 against the Lions after the third match was washed out, along with their two pre-series, warm-up games, while they fell to an innings and 50-run loss to Sussex in their last outing.

The England Lions will be led by Keaton Jennings, the son of former South African wicketkeeper Ray Jennings. The batsman is one of two fully-capped England Test players in their squad, with the other being young opener Haseeb Hameed.

The tourists boast a host of Proteas Test players – namely Theunis de Bruyn, Temba Bavuma, Dane Piedt and Duanne Olivier.

Markram has predicted a tough outing.

“The Lions are a good side and there’s a few guys from them who have played at the highest level,” he said.

But the SA A captain wants his players to focus fully on their own strengths.

“We haven’t looked too much into their side,” he added. – Own Correspondent