The Australia
A and India A cricket squads recently graced South African shores to play
against a youthful yet formidable South Africa A side; in unofficial Test and
One Day International matches. The home side began proceedings in a two-match
Test series against Australia A, changed cricket outfits when the three nations
(SA A, Australia A and India A) fought it out in a Triangular One Day series;
then finally with the hosts ending the cricketing festivity in a two-match
series against India A.
These matches
were essential for Proteas coach Russell Domingo in going upon his decision about
possible batting combinations in the middle order for the Test side; as well as
searching for much needed bowling arsenal for a very long 2013/14 cricket schedule
which begins in October.
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| Beuran Hendricks hungry for more five-wicket hauls under his name. Picture: BIG PIC Photography |
Cape Cobras
seamer Beuran Hendricks was undoubtedly the highlight of both Australia A and
India A Test series. The paceman has had a nag for picking up five-wicket hauls
in the domestic front. This time around claiming 5/52 against Australia A in
Rustenburg; then 5/36 and 6/27 (11/63 in the match) against India A in Pretoria
for the SA A outfit; single handily crushing the sub-continental visitors in
the unofficial 2nd Test.
On the
batting side of things, Dean Elgar’s performance with the bat possibly assured
Domingo of his spot in the starting 11 of the Test squad –with JP Duminy
returning from a long injury and Francois du Plessis recently being the anchor
of the Proteas batting order in Test cricket. Elgar scored 446 runs in the four
unofficial Test matches he played representing SA A, averaging 63.71.
Vs. Australia A
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| David Warner had no intentions to stay for long in SA with his 193 off 226. Picture: BIG PIC Photography |
David Warner
began the tour to South Africa with an aggressive 193 runs off 226 in the first
unofficial Test match of two against the host nation. The century for Warner
was a much needed performance as his competition in the Australian national
team, Ed Cowan, had been going through a rough patch; not being able to produce
the goods with the bat for Australia in the historical Ashes Series which were
held in England this year.
Chevrolet
Knights opening batsman Dean Elgar showed selectors why he’s the favourite
option at being Greame Smith successor in Test cricket for the opening batsman
role; with brilliant performances throughout the series. His elegant 268 runs
when the South Africans had to surpass India A’s lead of 474 in the beginning
of their innings signified true test of character.
Vs. India A
We witnessed
the return of JP Duminy in first-class cricket from his Achilles Tendor injury,
which occurred in December in Australia, after the end of the first day of the
1st Test match against the Australians at the Adelaide Cricket Ground during a
warm-down session. Duminy scored a steady 84 runs off 222 balls; 16 runs short
of a much needed century which could’ve taken South Africa A through the
victory line.
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| Dean Elgar had a sterling series against Aus A and India A Picture: BIG PIC Photography |
India A
brought along with them on tour their experienced batsmen; such as Cheteshwar Pujara,
Murali Vijay, Ajinkya Rahane, Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma. This was an
obvious move from the Indian national coach, Duncan Fletcher, for his batsmen
to familiarize themselves with South African conditions prior to their much
important tour to South Africa during the summer.
Fletcher
pulled the rabbit out of the hat in the Triangular One Day series when Suresh
Raina and Shakhar Dhawan joined the other big names in the Indian A squad. Dhawan
continued his onslaught on a South African bowling attack, a feat he last
accomplished in the opening match of the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy against
South Africa. The opening batsman scored a destructive 248 runs off 150 balls in
the 2nd One Day match against SA; which included seven sixes and 30
boundaries. South Africa A ended the Triangular One Day Series in last place
with India A winning the series and Australia A finishing as runners-up.
Black Transformation
issues I spotted during South Africa A’s matches
The
discussions on black cricketers not featuring in the Proteas Test starting
line-up has been hot off people’s tongues since the Thami Tsolekile vs. AB de
Villiers saga in the beginning of the year. But in truth, no black batsman but
Tsolekile deserves to be in the starting 11 at the moment.
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| Thami Tsolekile loving batting conditions at the University of Pretoria. Picture: BIG PIC Photography |
Having
mentioned that, the re-inclusion of Thami Tsolekile in the SA Test squad to
tour UAE to play two Tests against Pakistan is a huge achievement for the
Highveld Lions wicket-keeper batsman. After being ruthlessly criticised by the
press of not fitting the criteria of being in the Proteas Test side; Tsolekile
has gone back into the domestic front and has consistently scored hundreds and
handy half-centuries for the Lions and SA A. If he features in the starting 11,
he shall be very instrumental in building big partnerships along the other
top-order batsmen.
His 267
run-partnership with Dean Elgar (Tsolekile and Elgar scored 268 and 159 runs
respectively in the innings) indicates that his batting abilities might be
useful against a demolishing Pakistan bowling attack on Abu Dhabi and Dubai
wickets. Tsolekile has an outstanding track record of anchoring big
partnerships. He was also instrumental in Lions batsman Stephen Cook’s triple
century against the Chevrolet Warriors in 2009 at the Buffalo Park Stadium.
Although the match ended in a draw, the pair scored a sixth-wicket partnership
of 365 runs with Tsolekile unbeaten on 151 runs.
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| Temba Bavuma muscles the ball off the back foot. Picture: BIG PIC Photography |
Highveld
Lions’ talent Temba Bavuma is certainly a black batsman we could possibly see
wearing the Proteas’ green cap soon. But that won’t become a reality until he
starts converting his excellent starts and half-centuries into match-winning centuries.
With the current Proteas batting line-up, all seven batsmen are capable of
scoring big centuries once they get the type of starts Bavuma consistently
obtains when representing both the Lions and SA A teams.
Black batsmen
who have the opportunity to bat in the top six at their various franchises have
to change their mentality and seek to score match-winning hundreds than
explosive entertaining half-centuries. This does not only apply to Bavuma, but
also to other black batsmen playing franchise cricket such as Unlimited Titans’
wicket-keeper batsman Mangaliso Mosehle and Sunfoil Dolphin’s top-order batsman
Khayelihle Zondo. The two (Mosehle and Zondo) seem to favour limited overs
cricket because of their aggressive abilities with the bat, but just like
Australia’s David Warner and Adam Gilchrist, the pair should be mentally
flexible when building up their innings in all three different formats.
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| Mangaliso Mosehle accepts applause after his maiden century against the Dolphins. Picture: www.thenewage.co.za |
The fact that
Chevrolet Warriors’ Ayabulela Gqamane is an all-rounder is falling onto deaf
ears. The “black cricketers are bowlers” tag has been placed on the young
talent despite relentlessly proving his worth as well with his Gunn & Moore
bat. Judging by his domestic cricket stats, I’m puzzled why Gqamane was picked
for the SA A one day side but not the SA A Test squad. After all, he performed
outstandingly well in the four-day Sunfoil Series last season than in limited
overs cricket. Not only that, but his stats suggest that he’s an expensive
bowler in limited overs cricket –thus quite useful with the bat; averaging
31.88 with a strike rate of 113.
-Mandilulame Manjezi
www.jizzyjakes.blogspot.com
@JizzyjakesTheIn
www.jizzyjakes.blogspot.com
@JizzyjakesTheIn
