WHO PASSED THE TEST IN SRI LANKA?
With preparations for the World Cup now in full swing the recent One-Day International series victory against the island nation might have sealed the fate of these six players, writes STUART HESS
PRIOR TO the One-Day International series in Sri Lanka, we previewed six players who would be under the microscope over the five matches. With five-match ODI series now done, we assess how those players fared.
HEINRICHKLAASEN
It’s impossible to judge Klaasen on just two matches in which he faced 21 balls. He deserved more of an opportunity, and will hope that arrives against Zimbabwe next month with Faf du Plessis likely to sit out due to injury. That middle order does still look thin and it remains worth the selectors while to provide Klaasen with more chances – his performances against India last summer making him a deserving candidate. They would not have learned much more about him in this series.
WIAANMULDER
An unpolished diamond, the 20-year-old looks like being a fixture in Proteas teams in the future. But does that future include the 2019 World Cup? On the basis of this series, that tournament maybe too soon for Mulder. His bowling is too inconsistent, and so he neither contains nor attacks and in the latter category he is let down by not being quick enough. Pace will come. His batting looks solid, but he needs to do a better job of finding the boundary – again, that will come with experience. There are more seasoned options in the position he’s pushing for and they probably merit consideration at this stage.
AIDENMARKRAM
South Africa seemed to have settled on Faf du Plessis playing in the No 4 spot; which meant Markram batted at No 3 on the three occasions he played. He was horribly hampered by his shortcomings on spinning tracks which then developed into a larger problem against spin bowling. ‘The book’ is out on Markram now and opposition sides will have taken notice. He is a hardworking player, however, and will pore through the analysis of what went wrong in the coming weeks. Will the selectors practice patience with him or do they throw their lot in with Reeza Hendricks, who had instant success in Sri Lanka? Or indeed look eleswhere and try an entice one of the ‘Kolpak players’ back?
KESHAVMAHARAJ// TABRAISHAMSI
Who would have thought that South Africa would go into a World Cup with so many good options in the spin department? Linda Zondi, the chairman of selectors is going to disappoint someone and no doubt start a big debate when he has to choose – most likely two out of Maharah, Shamsi and Imran Tahir for the World Cup, for its highly unlikely South Africa will take all three in a 15-man squad. Maharaj was outstanding in the last match, but Shamsi was excellent in the three games he played, while Tahir has been brilliant in the English T20 tournament. It could well come down to who is better in the other departments; fielding and batting, as to who goes to England next year. It’s a nice problem for Zondi to have
JPDUMINY
There’ve been a couple of ‘Duminy 2.0’ tales in recent years, but those proved to be false arrivals. It may even be too soon to suggest that what we saw of him in Sri Lanka should be hailed because as he has stated, consistency has been his biggest hang-up. But there’s no denying that adopting a more positive outlook and more aggressive attitude has paid dividends. Duminy is one of the most experienced One-Day players in the country and for the foreseeable future he appears to have ensured there’ll be no debate about his position. A fine series, long may his form continue – the Proteas need it to.