Whatever improvements the Proteas will attempt to make with their batting are going to involve very limited first-class opportunities, unless Cricket South Africa (CSA) can somehow insert more matches onto the calendar.
It’s a strange conundrum for CSA because, internationally, there is much concern about schedules being too busy. However, it is not the case for the Proteas — certainly not from a Test match perspective.
After the current tour of Australia, the Proteas have two more Tests this season against the West Indies. If they don’t qualify for the World Test Championship in June, their next two Tests are against India in December.
That provides little time to apply the lessons learnt from a chastening tour to Australia where the batting — the team’s weakest area — has been awful.
Before the Sydney Test match, the Proteas had registered just one total above 200 in their last eight Test innings and the pressure created by that has seen the bowling suffer, with Australia posting totals of 575/8 declared in Melbourne and 475/4 declared at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Khaya Zondo, who has played just five Tests, said yesterday it would be difficult to build on his experiences from facing England and Australia because of the limited match time available.
“It’s about playing as much cricket as you can get, I suppose. If you’ve got some first-class stuff you nail that; if you’ve got some SA A stuff, you nail that as well. I’m sure CSA will try to get some more Tests in between, so hopefully we do get more cricket and we can grow as a team.”
The problem is made worse by the fact that so little first-class cricket has been played this season.
Only seven matches are scheduled in the domestic four-day series and players and coaches have complained there is too little to prepare players for the rigours of Test cricket.
The players, through their union, the SA Cricketers Association — of which Zondo is president — are conducting a review, citing their concerns and possible solutions which they want to share with CSA.
The problem for the organisation is that it remains cash-strapped, as illustrated by the loss of R197m it announced at its AGM last year. None of the domestic competitions have a sponsor, nor does the Proteas men’s team, which is the face of the sport in SA.
All hope lies with the SA20 League, which kicks off on Tuesday, that it will provide the necessary boost to help finance the sport.
However, that may take years to filter through, leaving the likes of Zondo having to take advantage of scraps which may come their way from a playing perspective.
“I have to make sure I perform to get myself to play every game and take all those experiences,” Zondo said.
“This year’s (2022/23) Test cycle has been challenging. We have played against some solid teams. This is one of those things where you go: ‘OK cool, if you can get through this year as a Test player, then you can play at this level, you should have that confidence.’ Moving forward is about you taking every opportunity that’s afforded you.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.