Proteas face a huge test of character at Trent Bridge, says Faf
NOTTINGHAM: Nottingham’s most famous son led a band known as the “Merry Men” charging around the local forests taking from the wealthy and giving to those who weren’t so well off.
If legend is to be believed, Robin Hood was a flamboyant sort, beloved by the ordinary citizens and his own men. Faf du Plessis certainly is held in similar high esteem by his players, but whether Robin ever faced as big a test of his leadership as Du Plessis has faced this week is doubtful.
As a Test captain he already carries his fair share of responsibility, and yesterday he admitted he felt the need to take on even more in the absence of coach Russell Domingo, who had to return to South Africa following his mother’s death.
“That stuff that’s been going wrong off the field, is not stuff you can plan for – they’re unforeseen circumstances. I didn’t expect (my) baby to come a little earlier, Russell’s not planned for the tragedy with his family, and then KG (Rabada’s suspension) ... this is a huge character test for us,” Du Plessis said.
Comparisons were drawn with the build up to the third Test against Australia in Adelaide last year, when there were also a lot of distractions for the players. On that occasion, the team had already won the series – here they are 1-0 down, they’re without a key member of their bowling attack and there are concerns over their batting.
That’s plenty for any captain to take on board and there are a lot of expectations about how Du Plessis will engineer a turnaround in SA’s fortunes.
“It feels like a normal game for me. I just feel there was more required from me this week to step up and make sure I lead the team the way I’ve been doing. The stuff I’ve been saying, the stuff we’ve been doing has not been different than before. It’s about making the players understand they can trust our processes that we’ve been doing the last while,” Du Plessis said.
“We’ve been really successful at Test cricket, we understand where we made mistakes in the first game, it’s about how well we respond to that. There are a lot of references we can take ... that Australian series, there was a lot of tests for us as a team, it’s about knowing we can do it, and going into the next game and doing it.”
Du Plessis acknowledged it will be tougher for the Proteas in the second Test starting today (12pm start), because England now also have confidence on their side after winning at Lord’s.
“There were a lot of times England found themselves under pressure, the disappointing thing was how easily they got out of it,” said Du Plessis
“We didn’t take our chances. Catches will be dropped, that’s not the issue, it’s how you respond to them and we didn’t do that well. After lunch on the first day, watching from the side, I could see it was a little too easy for England. When they threw a punch back at us we just sat back and let it happen and expecting something to change and it never did. That’s where we let the game slip.”
JP Duminy was dropped from the starting XI for the second Test for the first time in a year, following a string of inconsistent performances which have seen him average just 34 in his last 12 Tests.
Duanne Olivier will play his second Test as Rabada’s replacement, while SA will give some more thought as to who to select between Theunis de Bruyn and Chris Morris. That decision would be based on conditions. The pitch at Trent Bridge appeared to have a lush grass covering and this venue does have a reputation of giving seamers assistance.
England captain Joe Root, confirmed the home team will play the same 11 as the one that won by 211 runs at Lord’s.