ABBOTT OR VILJOEN POSER FOR PROTEAS
Selectors must decide whether to opt for sheer pace or cunning and accuracy
KYLE ABBOTT or Hardus Viljoen? That’s the choice South Africa’s selectors will make for third Sunfoil Test against England starting tomorrow with cunning and consistency being weighed up against brute force.
The second attribute sits with Viljoen, a massive and muscular man capable of propelling the ball at speeds of over 150km/h. That brute force has been allied to some much needed consistency this season, which has seen Viljoen claim back-to-back ’10-fers’ for the Highveld Lions in the Sunfoil Series, on both occasions at the Wanderers. He is undoubtedly the ‘hot hand’ as far as South African bowlers are concerned.
Abbott is less forceful, but what he lacks in raw pace he more than makes up for with nagging accuracy and he arguably has a better skill set than Viljoen, as he’s able to swing the ball, or if there is little in the surface, bowl cutters. If there is something in the surface, he’ll certainly exploit it, and most players, coaches and the local ground-staff anticipate a lively Wanderers pitch.
So, with South Africa very strongly leaning towards playing four fast bowlers for the crucial third Test, who is the better option? Viljoen has had some of his teammates hopping about in the nets this week, while Abbott has been accurate and swung the ball too, an important element especially if the cloudy conditions that have been forecast for most of the match prevail.
The big KwaZulu-Natalian is the ‘safer’ option and has been very good when called upon, claiming 21 wickets in six Tests at an average of 23.38. How those pace bowlers fit together is another consideration for the selectors. Chris Morris, Morné Morkel and Kagiso Rabada all propel the ball at over 140km/h and per- haps having Abbott’s greater cunning will help balance the attack better.
South Africa’s Test record at the Wanderers since 1992 is somewhat disappointing given all the talk about how much the venue suits their strengths. In 24 matches there, South Africa have won 10 times, lost eight and drawn six. South Africa’s bowlers may enjoy playing at the ground, but so do the opposition’s and Alastair Cook’s team have sufficient weapons in their arsenal to make the conditions work in their favour.
In addition to the skill set, there is the experience in England’s attack – between them Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steven Finn and Ben Stokes have played 249 Tests, three times as many as South Africa’s likely four seamers, for whom Morkel is the most capped with 69 matches.
That experience counts for a lot at a venue like the Wanderers where it is easy for fast bowlers to get carried away with all the pace and bounce that’s on offer.
“The important thing for us when thinking about the swing is the lengths we are going to bowl; we know we might get more carry and bounce so we must make sure we bowl that fuller length even though we get that extra bounce,” said Anderson.
Morris, who played a lot of cricket at the Wanderers as part of the Lions side before moving to the Titans in the off-season, emphasised patience. “This is a result wicket, as a bowler there is always something in it for you. It’s exciting for a bowler to play here, but it can also be daunting if you’re not as patient as you should be,” said Morris who made his debut in Cape Town last week.
His responsibilities with the bat have become as important as those with the ball, and as South Africa seek a lower order allrounder in the mould of a Shaun Pollock or Lance Klusener, Mor- ris’ performance in Cape Town was encouraging.
“I’ve focused better on what I need to do with my batting. It’s one thing to go and hit 300 balls, but it’s the level of intensity you have when doing so that counts.
“It’s quite a big responsibility (being an all-rounder) and if I can be half as good as (Pollock and Klusener) I’ll be quite a good cricketer. The workload is big, but I enjoy it and if you can make the role your own, that will be quite special.”
Morris was unsure if South Africa’s fight back in Cape Town represented them “turning the corner” after they’d suffered four defeats in their previous five matches, but the players were taking the positives out of their comeback. “AB (de Villiers) told us this is a must-win situation if we want to win this series. It’s exciting around the camp at the moment, and hopefully we can take that confidence from Cape Town into this Test.”