- Proteas red-ball coach Shukri Conrad said it shouldn’t come as a surprise if he fields four pacers for next week’s Test against the West Indies.
- Conrad started in his position on 1 February and has made bold player and leadership changes.
- The Proteas face the West Indies in two Tests, with the Sir Vivian Richards Trophy at stake.
Proteas red-ball coach Shukri Conrad said he’s considering fielding four pacers for next week’s Test against the West Indies at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
The wet weather that had bedevilled the Highveld over the past fortnight relented enough for the three-day tour game between the South African Invitation XI and the West Indians in Benoni that ran from Tuesday until Thursday.
Clement weather also allowed for the Four-Day Series game between the Lions and the Warriors to be played to a draw from Sunday to Wednesday, even though half of the second afternoon and the entire second evening fell victim to the weather on Monday.
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From a Tshwane perspective, which is where the Test will be held, the Titans/Paarl Rocks game that was hosted at the University of Pretoria was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
However, SuperSport Park has excellent drainage, so the outfield isn’t an issue, but how the cut 22m strip will play will be the most important part, along with the composition of the bowling attack.
A four-fast bowler attack would mean a Test debut for Knights pacer Gerald Coetzee, who travelled with the Test team to Australia.
Conrad, who didn’t want to reveal what the full makeup of his team will be even though there’s clarity in how his top four will look from a batting perspective, said there was the need to be fluid with team selections for specific conditions.
With Conrad announcing last week that the recalled Aiden Markram will open with Dean Elgar, Keagan Petersen, returning to first drop, and newly appointed Test captain Temba Bavuma look the most likely candidates to fill up the top four batting berths.
“If conditions are such that we’ll be playing on a true SuperSport Park wicket, then I’d like to play all four quicks,” Conrad told News24.
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“We also need to be able to match the team that we pick to the conditions available because we need to have the fluidity to know what works and where.
“We also have to be able to manage the egos in the team so that guys can understand what is best for the team.
“At times, that might mean a big name may be left out because we may feel this is the best team for these conditions and, whoever we put out there, it has to be the best 11 for the game.”
The recently completed round of Four-Day Series games saw varied performances from Test and fringe candidates.
The one that stood out was Gerald Coetzee’s five-wicket haul for the Knights against the Dolphins, while Ryan Rickelton (125), Temba Bavuma (67), and Kagiso Rabada (3/26) were among the runs and wickets for the Lions against the Warriors.
There were also runs for the discarded Sarel Erwee (132) and Kyle Verreynne (64), but Conrad, who was at the South Africa Invitational XI tour game against the West Indians in Benoni, said his mind was long settled on how he wanted his squad to look.
“It was never about answering questions because once I settled on the squad, it was never about whoever was scoring runs this week will play,”
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“It was very good to see guys getting bowling mileage in the legs and the runs, but it was also nice to see someone like Gerald pick up five wickets.
“KG got through overs and he picked up some wickets in the second innings. It brings some confidence, so it was never about the justification of selections.
“The squad was selected before this round of matches.”
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