Much will have changed when series resumes
THAT short first burst of the Cricket South Africa 4-Day Series is over – three matches for most teams and now the premier first-class competition will not to be seen again until February, by which time the landscape of SA cricket would have irrevocably changed.
The first part of the already brief four-day competition saw four teams play three matches, while the Lions and Dolphins played two. The Warriors, oft-forgotten but laden with young talent, top the standings with three wins.
They are followed by Western Province, who appear to be in the midst of a revival thanks to an experienced top order and fourpronged pace attack, led by veterans and also charged with the left-arm pace of Nandre Burger.
Not far behind are the grizzled Titans, the defending champions for whom Dean Elgar, Theunis de Bruyn and Heinrich Klaasen have starred with the bat, while Simon Harmer continues to deliver ridiculous returns with his off-spin.
By the time the tournament resumes on February 12, a whole lot would have happened in SA cricket and the three-match Test series in Australia would not have been the most noteworthy bit.
Instead, the SA20 will hoover up attention – and players – with what is likely to be a loud and colourful start. In fact, that has already been the case, what with David Miller dancing along with Sho Madjozi to Pharrel Williams’ Happy in one promo ad, while former Springbok captain Jean de Villiers features in another, skipping down the stairs of the Unity Stand at the Wanderers in a yellow party hat and poncho.
Tony de Zorzi’s triple century would have been long forgotten at the resumption, as would Harmer’s 14-wicket haul for the Titans in their win against the Lions at the Wanderers over the weekend.
The first few rounds of the series would have eased some of Proteas interim coach Malibongwe Maketa’s concerns about the team’s batting ahead of the series against Australia.
As Elgar mentioned on Sunday, the gap between domestic and Test cricket means comparing the two is impossible, but what he, Kyle Verreynne, Klaasen, De Bruyn, Sarel Erwee and Rassie van der Dussen needed was time at the crease to build confidence.
Although Van der Dussen didn’t make big runs in his two outings, the opportunity to bat after fracturing his finger in England was invaluable.
Little was seen of the seam bowlers.
Lungi Ngidi struggled at The Bullring, but Marco Jansen picked up six wickets for the Warriors in their win against the North West Dragons. Kagiso Rabada was given time off to manage his workload, while Anrich Nortje has been playing in the T10 League in Abu Dhabi.
Aside from the Proteas, the opening rounds of matches shone a spotlight on a couple of young batters – Josh Richards, who scored an excellent century for the Lions against the Titans; and even more impressively, Jordan Hermann of the Warriors, who has the second highest aggregate of 432 runs behind De Zorzi’s 467.
Of course, the big problem for younger batters – in fact, all of SA’s professional players – is the limited number of opportunities to play firstclass cricket.
Neither Richards nor Hermann were picked in the auction for the SA20, although the latter may feature as one of the wild-card picks given his good performances in the recent CSA T20 Challenge in Potchefstroom.