Proteas rookies face stern test to maintain fine away run in Bangladesh
BANGLADESHI cricket journalists are knowledgeable on the game they cover. They know their stuff. However, one bemused reporter came across yesterday on the eve of today’s first Test here to ask: “Who is that guy with the beard?”
He was referring to Temba Bavuma, hiding behind a healthy growth of facial hair that would most likely have earned the approval of Fidel Castro. But it is not only Bavuma, the diminutive batsman from the Lions that would have had the locals wondering.
One by one they emerged from the tunnel and out on to the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium. Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks, Kagiso Rabada, Dane Vilas, Stiaan van Zyl, Simon Harmer and Aaron Phangiso. The latter, and of course Rabada, are more familiar due to their limited-overs prowess, but the others are literally newborns in the world of international cricket.
They represent the changing face of the Proteas Test team. It is on their shoulders, along with other Test “infants” Dean Elgar and Quinton de Kock that the responsibility of maintaining South Africa’s status as the World’s No 1 Test unit lies, starting with today’s clash against hosts Bangladesh.
The Smiths, Kallises, Bouchers and Petersens are no longer in the dressingroom. Collectively they had 466 Test caps worth of experience. Not even with the winnings of the largest lottery pay-cheque can that be bought.
They occupied vital roles within the team too. Smith and Petersen were the opening pair, while Kallis was the game’s premier allrounder who allowed South Africato squeeze the proverbial “12 into 11”, and Boucher was the record-breaking wicketkeeper.
Lesser teams would have folded – like Australia did for a while after their chain of high-profile retirements – but South Africa have managed to soldier on, and even gone on to achieve greater heights, such as attaining an elusive Test series victory in Sri Lanka last year. And even though captain Smith left an indelible mark on the Proteas, the team has actually flourished under the refreshing and ambitious leadership style of Hashim Amla.
Amla has managed to merge the old with the new successfully, blending the skills of stalwarts AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis with the incoming young talent.
De Villiers, though, is not on Test duty here as he awaits the birth of his first child back home, and although Amla does not believe the team’s fortunes rest with one man – regardless of how gifted he might be – the skipper does have the wisdom and foresight to know that it is the men who have the battle scars of previous campaigns who will need to show the way on this tour to maintain South Africa’s proud travelling record of not having lost an away series since 2006.
“I think in some ways, we have been playing really good Test cricket over the last couple of years. We have a lot of new faces in our team, guys who haven’t played a lot of Test cricket,” Amla explained.
“I am really hoping those guys get to understand what Test cricket is about in Bangladesh and hopefully some of us can put in big performances to allow them to grow into Test cricket. We are a team in transition, and I think you will see that now more than ever.”
One veteran Amla can expect a “big performance” from is his talisman Steyn. There will be no need to provide any extra motivation as the 32-year-old hunts down the four wickets he requires to join the exclusive “400 club”. Amla believes that when the World’s No 1 Test bowler does indeed reach the milestone, the entire Proteas team will rejoice with their spearhead.
“I think to take 400 Test wickets is extremely special, he has been a special bowler for us, especially in crucial times. I think possibly in every match he has played he must have made a contribution wherever it has been. Hopefully if he gets there in this series, everyone else in the squad will really enjoy the success that he gets because we know the amount of work he puts in and the impact he has had on this team,” Amla explained.