De Kock thinking about bigger picture
Proteas seek greater accuracy at end of opposition innings
RIGHT now, captaincy doesn’t allow Quinton de Kock to take a break.
These past few weeks have seen De Kock carry a very heavy load. Besides his wicket-keeping role in the Test team – which in itself exerts a heavy mental and physical toll – by the final match of the series against England he was batting at No 5. Then he was made captain of the T20 and ODI teams for the series against England, jobs that are now permanently his.
This week he has been preparing for the T20 series against Australia that starts today at the Wanderers while welcoming back into the squad the man he has replaced as captain, Faf du Plessis. The latter along with Kagiso Rabada were given time off after the Test series against England to refresh their minds and bodies, which everyone hopes will prove beneficial for them and the Proteas over the next few weeks and months.
But what of De Kock? It’s not as if his workload is not heavy, isn’t he tired and in need of a break? “This captaincy thing has kept my energies up,” De Kock said yesterday. “In time I will get a chance to sit down. For now there’s a big picture to think about.”
That big picture is the T20 World Cup. South Africa appear content about preparations for that event, especially in light of a reasonably good showing against England recently. What will be needed against Australia is improvement, especially with the ball. Hopefully Rabada’s return will help in that aspect, particularly as SA seek greater accuracy at the end of the opposition innings. The bowling lacked quality in the last two matches against England in particular and the Australian team SA will face in three T20 internationals over the next few days has just as much batting depth and dynamism as England.
From a powerful top three of Aaron Finch, David Warner and Steve Smith, to a middle order of Alex Carey, Mitchell Marsh and Matthew Wade this is an Australian batting unit with savage hitting ability. Even Mitchell Starc was swatting balls into the nearby block of flats this week at training, indicating that SA won’t be able to switch off at any stage with the ball.
As with the England series, SA will get a very good indication about the progress of their preparation for the T20 World Cup that will be played Down Under in October.
“We pretty much have our eleven that we’d like to play,” De Kock said about that tournament. “It’s about giving guys opportunities. Injuries happen and so we know which guys to bring in. Most of the guys are here who will form part of the starting XI. Just one or two guys are still missing.”
SA have two of their most experienced players back for this series with Australia, and should have heeded the lessons learned from the losses against the English. Defeat again in this series may not be as readily tolerated as it was last week.
SOUTH AFRICA (FROM):
Quinton de Kock (capt), Faf du Plessis, Rassie van der Dussen , David Miller Pite van Biljon, Dwaine Pretorius, Andile Phehlukwayo, Jon-Jon Smuts, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi, Bjorn Fortuin, Anrich Nortje, Dale Steyn, Heinrich Klaasen.
*Temba Bavuma won’t play the first match due to a hamstring injury.
AUSTRALIA (FROM):
Aaron Finch (capt), David Warner, Steve Smith, Alex Carey, Matthew Wade, D’Arcy Short, Mitchell Marsh, Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Jhye Richardson, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa, Sean Abbott.