South Africa team selection

[Rasimione]

Things that have kept SA competitive during this tough time... 1) Rabada, 2) Faf as captain, 3) Elgar stepping up and 4) Maharaj....

I am not a fan of keeping Parnell around, he is going to become the Duminy of the team all over again. Morris will also hopefully be fit. But I think that Philanders batting recently is good enough to bat 7. I would like us to get youngsters in on the bowling i.e. Du Pavillon and Ngidi. I am happy that Olivier performed much better, but watching him at test level makes me think he is an excellent FC bowler...

I am not sure what is going to happen with our allrounder positions, Mulder is an obvious answer but i (sadly) worry abut the balance of the team with quotas involved in the futrue.. I think Ngidi stepping up is going to be very important.

I really think Ngidi will be all right. Every time he's been asked to step up he's done it and really impressed with his ability to take big wickets. If I was a selector I'd back him at test level instead of Phehlukwayo.

 

[Stefan9]

I really think Ngidi will be all right. Every time he's been asked to step up he's done it and really impressed with his ability to take big wickets. If I was a selector I'd back him at test level instead of Phehlukwayo.

Andile is being as a number 7 batsmen who fills in with some overs. Ngidi can't bat 7. He will get his chances once steyn and morkel retire.

 

[Bahseph]

Is anyone starting a T20 tournament thread btw? Watched the opening game and de Bruyn played an excellent knock. Fifty for Jonker and Miller as well.

 

[StephenZA]

Is anyone starting a T20 tournament thread btw? Watched the opening game and de Bruyn played an excellent knock. Fifty for Jonker and Miller as well.

Was at the game..... excellent knock by Miller and de Bruyn. Disappointing from my warriors team.

 

[Dendarii]

Andile is being as a number 7 batsmen who fills in with some overs. Ngidi can't bat 7. He will get his chances once steyn and morkel retire.

Yeah, if Steyn, Morkel and Philander can remain fit (which could be a big if) then Ngidi's not going to get too many chances at test level, which isn't necessarily a bad thing as he's only 21 with just 9 first class matches under his belt. But he'll definitely feature in the shorter formats.

 

[Stefan9]

I don't think its a bad thing not rushing ngidi considering the back fracture he had recently.

 

[Dendarii]

Agreed. We've been very fortunate with Rabada staying fit, especially given the workload he's had, but players like him and Ngidi do need to be managed carefully as they're obviously very important players for South Africa for reasons other than just their cricketing ability.

 

[SeamUp]

Very exciting to see Wiaan Mulder hitting 140 with his secondry skill. He has run in with serious purpose.

Lucky take note ! You can do it too !

 

[SeamUp]

Looks like back room staff decided

 

[StephenZA]

Looks like back room staff decided

View attachment 23756

Maketa the political appointment, Benkenstein and Gibson obviously know each other well, Ontong fielding? Disappointed they did not keep Mckenzie.

 

[StephenZA]

Continuing on from previous article....
Maketa, Benkenstein, Ontong in SA's new coaching team - ESPNcricinfo

As regards Maketa as assistant coach, Harris made a good comment on SS that being assistant coach is not actually a great role, as most don't move into head coaching roles. He thought that Toyana would prefer to stay head coach at Lions and continue to do good work to achieve the SA role later down the line...

I wonder if McKenzie will go to high performance centre or possibly head back to the Lions as a coach?

 

[SeamUp]

Felt McKenzie deserved to stay but also understand Gibson wanting his own team. Quinny's words I thought would have kept him in the job.

Benkenstein was a damn good fielder himself. So does this mean Ontong has retired ?

Also CSA must leave the Warriors alone now. Arthur, Domingo, Maketa....

 

[StephenZA]

Also CSA must leave the Warriors alone now. Arthur, Domingo, Maketa....

We got some new lights for St Georges...

 

[GRAB]

Might be good for Warriors though... I don't know how much say he has in our selection, but it's been kind of frustrating how bad the balance of the side has been... And maybe Birrell comes back?

 

[SeamUp]

We got some new lights for St Georges...

Nice trade.

 

[StephenZA]

I thought Ngidi bowls express pace by the way he has been described recently but after seeing him I think he barley touches 140km,but hovers around that 137,138 mark.There is a big difference between facing 137km and 147km...he still a young lad so I hope I gets that pace up.

He is just coming back from injury.... before he was between 140-145 consistently. Not as fast as Rabada, Steyn Morkel, but up there. I commented early his action seems to have changed a bit, we will have to see.

 

[SeamUp]

Yeah Ngidi was bowling in the 140-145 range for SA last season but we got to be patient with him. Hope he and Dupavillon really rip up the 2nd part of the Sunfoil Series after all the injury issues they've had. Grant Morgan is at pains to keep mentioning their lack of Dupavillon as a strike bowler at the moment.

Dale Steyn is looking sharp. Very noticeable difference from first game to 3rd game today.

Philander is looking up for it as ever. Even getting the white ball to wobble in a 2nd spell. But he crucially needs to be keeping his pace to at least 130. (he looks trimmer though)

Morris is back fit and will probably come in for A.Morkel in the next Titans game. Morris is already claiming Gibson has helped him with his action after Gibson wanted him in Potch when they played the Bangers.

Anyone read when Morne Morkel is back ?

 

[SeamUp]

‘Benky’ pads up as Proteas batting coach

Cricketers, especially batsmen, are creatures of habit. They thrive on the familiar of routine as it puts them at ease for the bigger battles that lie in wait out in the middle.

So, in keeping with that fashion, it isn’t completely out of place that newly appointed South Africa batting coach Dale Benkenstein had just settled into a rhythm on his return to the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, after a stellar second career in the UK, when he got the call from head coach Ottis Gibson.

“Just to get that call from Ottis was an honour. Considering the players he has played with and against over the course of his career, it was a huge honour to know that he really wanted me on board,” Benkenstein smiled.

The relationship between the pair stretches back over two decades, three countries, and countless cricketing treasures in between. They started off playing against each other in South African cricket, crossed paths through league action in the UK, then eventually won trophies together at Durham, in the glorious Indian summer of their careers.

Cricket SA will be hoping that they reproduce that winning formula over the next two years.

“We go back a long way,” Benkenstein understatedly said of his fellow Malcolm Marshall school of cricket graduate.

The island of Barbados has had a massive influence on Benkenstein’s cricket odyssey. He toured there with the SA Under-19 side, then again with the SA ‘A’ side on a more extensive tour. In between those national assignments, he also took the late Marshall’s advice and went to play a season on the island.

That he and Gibson have got along as famously as they have all these years is no coincidence. They were essentially gleaned off the same production line. They both got the seal of approval from the highly skilled and principled Marshall, and it is a badge of distinction that they have both worn with pride and honour.

“My heroes were the great West Indians, and the Barbados influence on my career has been huge,” Benkenstein acknowledged.

“I went on those trips as a young player then, of course, Malcolm Marshall had an incredible impact on my career. Even later on, when I was coaching at Hampshire, our sponsor was the Barbados Tourism Board, so I have been on many, memorable trips over there.”

The need to move back home had been eating away at Benkenstein. His children were growing up and he wanted them to be raised under the African sun. For the last few years, his family has been back in KZN, while he slogged on in the UK season. The pang for home and family became too much, and he left Hampshire before the season was over.

Benkenstein, a former Michaelhouse head boy and their most famous cricketing alumni, tried to make his return at his alma mater, but their policy is not to employ professional coaches.

“It was disappointing, because I am a proud Michaelhouse old boy, and the school was wonderful to me. At the end of the day, though, Hilton College offered me a wonderful opportunity to be first-team coach in an excellent sporting programme,” he explained of the potentially awkward situation between the long-standing rival institutions.

“They have been wonderful to me and my family. I am even getting used to wearing the black and white,” he quipped.

Family is understandably Benkenstein’s priority, especially after a lengthy career which leant heavily on his wife being the rock at home.

When the tantalising offer came from Gibson, he admits tthere had to be some thinking made. “It was important not to make an emotional decision. I had to make sure that it worked out for my family, because I didn’t want to be spending 200 days on the road again.”

He also didn’t want to leave Hilton in the lurch after they had done so much for him. And, of course, his fierce passion for the game wasn’t going to allow him to walk away from a chance to work with some of the finest cricketers in the history of the game.

There have already been some who have questioned his level of commitment to the job, given his Hillton duties. But Benkenstein ironed out all those issues with all parties, starting at home.

“I sat down with both Hilton and CSA and we felt that there was scope for it to work. If I had chosen one or the other, I feel I would have really lost out,” he maintained.

With the finer details sorted, Benkenstein expressed his burning ambition to succeed in his latest role. Lest we forget, his growth as an international cricketer - and possibly captain - was stunted before it ever really got going.

“I had a limited international career. I won every domestic trophy with Natal but realised that I wasn’t really going to play for South Africa,” he conceded.

A “season or two” in Durham became a decade, such was his influence on and off the field. He helped transform the unfancied north-east coalface of a county into a generation of gem cricketers, with talent to match their honest endeavours.

But he still wants to have an impact at the highest level, and it is clear he can’t wait to start working as batting coach of a star-studded unit. “You look at the Proteas side and you then look to the World Cup and you say, ‘we can win this’."

 

[SeamUp]

Really impressed with this but obviously the upward curve in young Mulder as well.

Actually really glad we got a non-South African as coach. It needed a different view from the outside.

Chris Morris’ gets a (friendly) Proteas ultimatum

National coach Ottis Gibson has already made his presence felt on the all-rounder by changing his action for a very specific reason…

If there’s one example of new Proteas coach Ottis Gibson stamping his authority, it’s Chris Morris.

The 30-year-old has had his bowling action changed by the West Indian because “it simply isn’t good enough”.

And he won’t get a look-in at international level again if he doesn’t adapt.

“I’ve had a few tweaks in my action that Ottis has changed,” said the genial Titans all-rounder, who’s in the final stretch of recovering from a lower back injury.

“I had to iron them out because it wasn’t good enough – simple as that. Once I’ve done that I should be good to play, but that’s dependent on the injury.”

Gibson’s tough attitude, however, isn’t a sign that he doesn’t rate Morris.

In fact, he wants him in the Proteas mix.

“It’s always good to know that the coach is backing the guys who aren’t playing, especially with injuries because that’s part of the game,” said Morris.

With the national team currently experiencing a shortage of top-class bowlers, Gibson can hardly neglect a fine but inconsistent talent like Morris.

“My action got tweakend because I think in striving for a bit of extra pace, there was some twisting in my action. I’ve got quite a bad kick-out with my left foot before I land. I was getting lazy and doing quite a lot of twisting, which caused a lot of pressure on my lower back and inevitably caused the injury,” he said.

“If I didn’t get injured I still would have had to change it. In bowling you like to work in straight lines, and I was working along the wrong lines.”

Morris has nothing but praise for his new national mentor.

“I’ve only had a week and a half with him and he’s been excellent. He’s been doing this for a long time and has a lot of experience. It’s quite clear what our plans are going forward as a team.”

Morris will start bowling in the nets on Wednesday.

 

[StephenZA]

Actually really glad we got a non-South African as coach. It needed a different view from the outside.

It seems it was definitely the right choice.... still early to be sure, but all the right noises are being made and seems the decisions are solid so far. Brings new perspective and may actually help us win a WC....