Faf puts right spin on tweakers
SPIN, of all things, could be South Africa’s prime weapon in the T20 World Cup next year. Which means that Faf du Plessis will give his burgeoning batch of tweakers as many opportunities as he can over the next few months to get used to their new responsibility.
“It’s going to play a big role for us, especially over there,” Du Plessis said this week.
Over there being that place of little bounce, even less grass and, therefore, precious little encouragement for the fast men. That place where a lot of cricket gets played, and where the next big International Cricket Council tournament will be.
In that place, spin has been known to open the bowling, with immediate purchase. Slowly, but surely, the Proteas are welcoming the idea.
“It will be hard to do that in South Africa because the pitches have more grass, but it is in my plans going forward. Having played in India a lot in the last few years, it makes sense. Spin plays a role in games over there.”
Certainly, the Proteas do not have a lack of options when it comes to slowing the game down. What has previously held them back is a reluctance to give the same amount of faith to slow men as they do the quicks.
“For me, it’s important to have guys who can come on in the middle overs and take wickets. On one day, that may be your faster bowlers, but spin can also do that. Imran Tahir has played a big part in white ball cricket for us, and it is good to see Eddie Leie coming through now.”
Du Plessis is also quick to remind that Aaron Phangiso is a key part of the T20 plans. He and the left-armer go back a long way, as far back as age-group cricket, and Du Plessis is unafraid of throwing Phangiso in at the deep end, with the game on the line.
Du Plessis and Phangiso have their own, long-standing duel at every net session, which is almost as serious as the match situation, with even a make- believe field set. Every ‘halfchance’ or possible boundary is debated heatedly, as their neverending series continues.
“Phangi has done a great job for us over the last few years, and he had a good tour of Bangladesh. He remains a big part of the plans going forward.”
With Leie now in the frame, Du Plessis is intrigued by the idea of a three-pronged spin attack, with JP Duminy’s offspin also in the mix.
“Eddie, as a leg-spinner, is difficult to pick, and harder to hit. So it will be nice to give him some game time, because a lot of teams would not have seen much of him. A leggie always gives you variety, and that is exciting,” Du Plessis enthused.
The one problem Du Plessis will have is that, aside from Duminy, his spin options are specialist bowlers. If at least one of them was a solid option with the bat, capable of a cheeky 30 or 40 in a crisis, they would make themselves that much more indispensable to the side.
Challenge
As it stands, playing two of them – plus Duminy in the middle-order – along with the likes of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, gives the Proteas an extended tail. Therein lies the challenge.
Many of the world’s best sides negate that problem by having top-order batsmen who bowl competent spin. New Zealand, for example, give a few overs to Kane Williamson and Nathan McCullum. India have Suresh Raina and England look to Joe Root. Outside of Duminy, the Proteas are bare in T20 cricket.
In a World Cup, most teams are picked on the premise of making sure there is extra security, just in case there is a crisis. As such, few captains are willing to go into a crunch game with a shallow batting card, especially not in the game’s shortest format.
Part-time bowlers will always be around, but there is not yet a market for part-time batsmen. You either bat, or you don’t at all.
But, despite the challenges, at least Du Plessis is thinking about it…