South Africa’s Proteas Test team has quite a job on their hands to shift themselves from a decent team getting solid results to a unit of world-beaters.
A lack of Test cricket naturally doesn’t help this quest but South Africa are not alone in not having the ideal platform from which to build a Test team.
According to the current ICC Team rankings, South Africa sports the fourth-best men’s team in Test cricket finding themselves behind only the big three.
In cricket, the big three refers to India, England and Australia who are the three teams who play the most Test cricket. Because of their clout in the game, other nations line up to face the trio as they are able to promise great TV revenues from any series.
The big three have not been above manipulating the game in order to suit themselves with the ICC having to take steps to avoid being dominated by these nations.
With only the big three in front of them, the question might be ‘is there anywhere for South Africa to go but down’?
India, Australia and England can all bring to bear greater resources at every stage of player development.
South Africa have other teams chasing them, including former World Test Champions New Zealand and sides with great history like Pakistan and the West Indies.
The situation is a complex one and Cricket South Africa don’t get a pass just because the global environment is tricky.
South African players don’t just suffer from a lack of Test cricket, they also suffer from a shortage of first-class cricket.
Players who aren’t able to secure county cricket deals really have little option open to them to get more red-ball cricket under their belts.
The Test team at the moment is also suffering due to a lack of Test experience.
The retirements of experienced players like Quinton de Kock and Dean Elgar have hit this team hardest. They have also had to deal with Anrich Nortje making himself unavailable for Test cricket as he focuses on the short form. Nortje’s absence shouldn’t be taken lightly but there are at least plenty of fast bowlers to fill in.
Bowlers do also benefit from Test experience but it plays a greater role in the career of batters and South Africa’s greatest issues in the Test arena have stemmed from a lack of runs.
Improving the Test team will require an effort across the board, simple changes from the selectors will not get to the root of issues instead greater planning and co-ordination is required to improve the red-ball skills of the team.
Test coach Shukri Conrad arguably has the tougher job among the coaches and could suffer if the results don’t come quickly enough. CSA need to show patience with the coach in this position and give him the time and resources to do the best possible job.
Beefing up the top six and finding quality all-rounders should be the big focus for the team and management will want to make sure that young batters are groomed for positions and kept around the team.
