BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE
THE NATIONAL cricket selectors are engaging in some careful experimentation/rotation as they measure the country’s talent ahead of some important tours and limited overs tournaments in the coming years.
Don’t talk to anyone about the 2015 World Cup yet (it’s simply too far into the future for that) but the moves being made with the squad in this five-match series against the Sri Lankans are in keeping with a long-term view Andrew Hudson and his panel have to take with the South African side.
This year sees the team go on three tours. Before they host New Zealand and Pakistan next summer, they would have travelled to the Antipodes twice and taken in what’s already being billed as a block-buster tour to England. And then of course there is the small matter of the ICC World T20 championship in Sri Lanka in September. Monitoring workloads is thus important – hence the decision to send Jacques Kallis – who carries a heavier workload than most back to Cape Town for a break.
AB de Villiers didn’t say that Kallis and Hashim Amla’s – whose wife is expecting the couple’s first child – absence weakened the side, but without them South Africa certainly isn’t as strong. “It’s very important that we win, it’s my first series as captain and just to build that self-belief again. We are not taking it lightly even though there are some new guys in the side. The foundation of the side is still there,” said the South African limited-overs captain.
Pressure
“It’s also one of those series where we wanted to try a few combinations. Jacques has gone home to have a bit of a rest, it’s a very long year ahead, there’s a massive tour of New Zealand coming up. It’s always nice to rest the old man.”
With the series still on the line the trio who have come into the squad; Colin Ingram, Alviro Petersen and Vernon Philander, also have some pressure to deal with – no cushy welcome back with the series all wrapped up – and the selectors will pay careful attention to how they and others in the squad deal with that responsibility, especially with two of their most influential players out.
The recalled players are not new to the international one-day scene either – Ingram has 12 ODI caps to his name, Petersen 14 and Philander seven – while the latter two have been involved in the Test side recently. The selectors can’t be accused of taking massive risks in picking them and for all three it’s a grand opportunity to stake a claim for a longer run in the one-day side.
Petersen is likely to slot into Amla’s spot alongside Graeme Smith at the top of the order, while Ingram will probably fill in for Kallis at No 3 in today’s third one-day international. Look for South Africa to continue to shift around the players in the middle order too. De Villiers and JP Duminy have taken turns at No 4 in the first two matches of the series, Faf du Plessis may get his turn here, though that will be dependent on a good start.
Whether Philander breaks into the starting XI remains to be seen. The bowling unit have certainly operated efficiently thus far and while they didn’t bowl out the Sri Lankans in East London, the accuracy and control in the first half of the Sri Lankan innings meant the tourists never looked like posting a massive total either.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s vice-captain Angelo Mathews said he and his teammates remain confident they can turn the series around. He admitted it was a tall order, but in order to get some sort of foothold before everybody moves to Kimberley on Friday, they need to build on some of the good work they performed in East London.
“After 43 (all out in the first match), it was a good fightback by the batsmen (in East London),” said Mathews. yesterday. “After the setback in the first one-dayer we were trying to build partnerships in the second game, but we were a bit slow at the start and though we did catch up we were still 20-30 runs short.”
Mathews is still short of full fitness, having battled with a quad strain and then a knee ailment, but he is building up slowly. “It’s going to take a while for me to bowl 10 overs. I’m bowling in short spells, because there’s not a lot of time in between matches for me to prepare myself to bowl more overs.”
“I’m bowling in short spells to allow my body to cope with the pressure and workload.”
That last remark will probably have Hudson and Co nodding sagely, for it is exactly what they’re trying to do with this country’s best cricketer.