NGIDI UP TO SPEED
IT’S NOT only batsmen like Hashim Amla and JP Duminy who are in need of a hit on Friday and Sunday in South Africa’s two warm-up games ahead of the World Cup – the bowlers will need a run too.
However, the South African team’s management will want to practice due care with the fast bowlers especially, all of whom have at some stage in the last season been crippled with injury. In fact, Dale Steyn is still in the process of rehabilitation for his shoulder and is unlikely to play a role in either of those pre-tournament matches.
Kagiso Rabada, although declared fit after his IPL was ended by a lower back problem, is unlikely to bowl 20 overs in those two games, against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on Friday and the West Indies in Bristol two days later.
It’s just too huge a risk to take, especially in light of the doubt surrounding Steyn.
Coach Ottis Gibson didn’t sound particularly confident about Steyn playing in the first match of the tournament against England next Thursday, and with the Proteas playing their opening three matches of the competition within the first six days, it’s vital that Steyn and all the quicks are properly managed.
Lungi Ngidi is one player who is champing at the bit for those two training matches, which will involve the entire 15-player squads of both teams. Ngidi last played a serious match on March 16, bowling five overs in the ODI against the Sri Lankans at Newlands. He developed a side strain and in recent weeks has been bowling on his own at metal stumps in the Wanderers nets, and then in some of the Proteas’ middle training stints at the High Performance Centre prior to their departure. “I haven’t been on the field for a while but that’s not a problem,” Ngidi boldly remarked.
“The most tiring part is the fielding, but the bowling is fine; I’m looking forward to those warm-up games and to use them as best as I can before the tournament.”
In Steyn’s likely absence, Chris Morris might bowl a few more overs to see if he can possibly challenge for a starting place at The Oval next week. Morris bowls in the region of 140km/h but has been let down by a lack of consistency. It’s a part of his make-up as a cricketer that he doesn’t shy away from.
“I have been inconsistent; there’s no point beating around the bush about it,” he said. “But I think that is something from my past. I’ve learned a hell of a lot in the last year and it’s amazing how that will humble you. You think you are not inconsistent but you actually are... the only way to fix it is to prove people wrong.”
Morris was a late replacement for Anrich Nortje, who fractured his right thumb while training in Port Elizabeth two weeks ago. While Morris’s big hitting is an extra string to his bow, it is not the area Gibson wants him to focus on in England.
“Obviously I back myself with the bat, I do feel I can win a game towards the end, but you’d assume I’d be ‘leading’ more with the ball than with the bat,” Morris said.