Shukri Conrad doesn’t mind Dewald Brevis trying to hit two sixes in a row to start his innings or getting out third ball trying to pull with three fielders on the boundary.
He doesn’t want Brevis or Matthew Breetzke, who was also dismissed attempting the pull on Friday, to rein in their natural instincts — but he does want them to be smarter.
“You want to encourage them to double down on what they do particularly well,” the Proteas coach said.
So rather than try to hit into the wind with three fielders back against a bowler varying his pace, Conrad would have been fine had the pair attempted the shot to the opposite end of the ground, with the wind in their favour, towards a shorter boundary. “We’re constantly talking through that, what it looks like to them, what they’ve learnt from every innings but, at every turn, to encourage them to take the game on,” he said.
The next 18 months are critical for the development of Brevis, Breetzke, Tristan Stubbs, Kwena Maphaka — and even Ryan Rickelton. All are candidates for the 2027 Cricket World Cup, but lack experience. Stubbs and Rickelton have only played 11 ODIs each, the other three have less than 10 between them. “I don’t want to get to a situation where late in 2026 or early 2027, you find some of the older guys are not going to make it, either because of form or fitness, and then I’ve lost the opportunity to play quite a few youngsters,” said Conrad.
“Then you sit with a very inexperienced bunch (at the World Cup). I’m certainly not discarding any of those older guys, but I see this as a great opportunity — while we’ve got time on our hands — to afford our younger bucks playing time and for them to gain the necessary experience.”
We have enough batters that cover all the positions; there may be tweaking, depending on the balance you want to go with in a particular match.
— Shukri Conrad, Proteas coach
South Africa’s series win in the ODIs over the current world champions provides further room for mistakes to be made as Conrad tries to build the IQ of his players ahead of a tournament in which the spotlight on them will be glaring.
Meanwhile, for the elder statesmen like David Miller, who was recalled to the T20 squad for the England tour yesterday, and Rassie van der Dussen, who led the team in Zimbabwe, remain part of Conrad’s planning, with next year’s T20 World Cup the crossroads for them.
Conrad expects the bulk of the T20 squad named for a three match series against the English to be on the plane to India next February. “We have enough batters that cover all the positions; there may be tweaking, depending on the balance you want to go with in a particular match.”
The Proteas deliberately played six frontline batters in the T20 series against Australia, with Conrad demanding those batters deliver a more balanced, aggressive approach. Miller’s experience will add weight for the latter stages of the innings, something that was missing in Australia, while a recall for Donovan Ferreira adds another big hitter.
“He’s probably the most natural six hitter there is, and if we can find the right ‘entry point’ for him he can be really destructive for us,” said Conrad.
Ferreira has played only six T20 Internationals and, despite several destructive displays at domestic level, has had his path into the Proteas blocked by the presence of Miller and — until his international retirement in May — Heinrich Klaasen.
“It puts pressure on the rest of the line-up, because I reckon one other spot at No 4 [Brevis] has been booked. [Ferreira] looks like a jet in the field, he might bowl some filthy but handy spin in T20 cricket and, if he smacks the ball the way he does, he might have a gig for a while.”
The T20 series in India will be preceded by three ODIs, the first at Headingley on September 2.
Maphaka, who was due to return home to play for South Africa A against New Zealand A, will instead travel to England as cover for Kagiso Rabada, who is still recovering from an inflamed right ankle.
The only other change from the squad that beat Australia was the axing of Prenelan Subrayen, who will remain in Brisbane to complete testing of his bowling action after being reported by the match officials during the first ODI.
Proteas ODI squad against England
Temba Bavuma (capt), Corbin Bosch, Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Tony de Zorzi, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Lhuan-dré Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, and Tristan Stubbs.
Proteas T20I squad against England
Aiden Markram (capt), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Donovan Ferreira, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kwena Maphaka, David Miller, Senuran Muthusamy, Lungi Ngidi, Lhuan-dré Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, and Lizaad Williams.
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