David Bedingham proved to be a shining light for South Africa in their first Test against New Zealand but was that enough encouragement for the trip to be worthwhile?
Bedingham was the only South Africa batter to reach fifty in the Test and his efforts also outstripped those of most bowlers.
However, despite the Proteas sending a depleted squad to New Zealand there are simply too many capped players who fell flat.
The big disappointment for the Proteas has to be that batters like Keegan Petersen and Zubayr Hamza couldn’t settle in and take their chance to get an extended run in the side.
Petersen and Hamza may even have taken backward steps through their involvement in New Zealand.
The role played by Petersen may have been an unusual one for him and he did well to at least face 195 balls, the most of any South African batter in the first Test.
Hamza also managed to face more than 100 balls in the Test match but the bar really cannot be set so dreadfully low for players who have ambitions of forcing their way into this arena full time.
It doesn’t seem like this series will throw up any realistic contenders to replace Dean Elgar as an opening bat.
Eddie Moore and Neil Brand took on the job in the first Test but they didn’t spend nearly enough time in the middle.
To come back to Bedingham, he managed to find a way to get his natural game to come to the fore.
He did very well to take on the short ball and that paid off for him in the form of a trio of sixes. Bedingham was the only South African batter to clear the fence in the opening match of the series as well and was the sole player to inject a bit of positivity into proceedings.
On top of having sheepish batting up and down the order, South Africa also lacked cut and thrust with the ball in hand.
The experience of Duanne Olivier and Dane Paterson counted for little on a surface that didn’t really suit them but South Africa would have wanted much more from those types of players who have previously forced their way into this team.
Bedingham looks like he could be a part of the Test team for a long time to come but he might not see too many of his current teammates along the way.
