Proteas to lean heavily on fast bowlers for T20 World Cup
● The most difficult part of Rob Walter’s job happens in the next few days as he informs those who thought they were on the brink of selection why they won’t be travelling to the US for the T20 World Cup.
Such are the options at Walter’s disposal that there will be a number of bitterly disappointed South African cricketers booking time off or targeting a franchise gig later this year. “They’re all good humans and good cricketers who all want to live a dream, and I have to tell them that they’re not going [to the World Cup],” he said.
The squad largely picks itself, something Walter acknowledged earlier this year when saying 90% of the group was clear in his mind. “Looking across the board, if you leave aside wrist spin, we are pretty well covered in all areas,” said Walter.
In the other area where there are fewer choices — seam bowling all-rounders — Walter felt it was not essential to provide cover for Marco Jansen. “It all depends on the balance of the squad but it may be that you can carry the extra batter or a bowler for a game,” he said.
“But in terms of depth, you’d rather want the extra fast bowler, because if an injury happens to a fast bowler and keeps him out for a few games, you’d rather want the replacement to be another fast bowler.”
South Africa certainly has sufficient depth in that area, even if you exclude Anrich Nortjé, who is struggling in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after returning from a back injury.
Gerald Coetzee, Nandre Burger and Ottniel Baartman all provide options that will supplement Jansen, Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi.
In contrast, there are only three viable candidates in the all-rounder category — Andile Phehlukwayo, Wiaan Mulder and Beyers Swanepoel. From a bowling perspective, Swanepoel has had the better T20 Challenge, taking 21 wickets.
The quality of his batting doesn’t match that of Mulder but his com-posure in high pressure situations at the end of an innings — whether setting a target or chasing — has been a feature of his play.
Phehlukwayo, having emerged with so much credit after the ODI World Cup — which he carried over into the opening weeks of the SA20, leading to a national contract — has in the last few weeks cloaked himself in mediocrity once more in the CSA T20 Challenge.
Mulder’s batting in the SA20 reflected a player revelling in his versatility, and while he hasn’t had the same level of success in the T20 Challenge, at least with the ball he’s made an impression for his provincial team, the Lions.
Walter has been following the T20 Challenge via YouTube from New Zealand, where Phehlukwayo’s inability to dominate has stood in contrast to other nationally contracted players like Reeza Hendricks, Ryan Rickelton and Bjorn Fortuin.
“It would have been nicer to have more guys playing in the IPL, but that is something we can’t control. For those guys in the T20 Challenge, it’s been good to see them apply some of the thinking and strategies we’ve been working on,” said Walter.
Aiden Markram will captain the Proteas, who start their campaign on June 3 at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in Long Island, New York. They play Sri Lanka, an already tricky tie on paper, which has been made harder owing to the absence of any data about the venue — a temporary facility situated in a public park.
The pitches for the ground were prepared in Adelaide, then shipped to New York and will be installed this week.
Those players not involved in the IPL will participate in a training camp in Pretoria from May 13. South Africa will also face the West Indies in three T20s but the squad for those matches will differ from the World Cup group because of the IPL.