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Opinion: The Proteas won’t be excused a poor performance despite CSA’s bungling

The Proteas won't be excused a poor performance despite CSA's bungling

If the Proteas think that Cricket South Africa’s bungling of the Director of Cricket issue will garner them some public sympathy they have another thing coming.

Cricket fans in South Africa have no desire to be taunted by the travelling England fans for weeks on end, and the side remain on thin ice in the court of public opinion.

Photo Copyright – Steve Haag Sports 

Very few players who might lay claim to a place in the Proteas XI can be completely secure in their position especially after a horrendous 2019 on the field, that included the dismal World Cup and a Test series loss to Sri Lanka in South Africa.

Skipper Faf du Plessis needs a series win over England to save his role, if indeed he still wants it after a trying tenure beset by frequent retirements and a few kolpak defections. The captain has done his best to keep this ship afloat and hold the middle-order together.

The openers are in contrasting positions, Dean Elgar has ground his way to being the Proteas most consistent batsman while his partner Aiden Markram has looked the part at times but failed to deliver innings of substance on a consistent basis.

The middle-order is a hodge-podge of players trying to find a place in a rebuilding Proteas lineup, and it may fall to Temba Bavuma and Quinton de Kock to come up the list a few places to resolve the issues plaguing the batting core.

The bowlers have carried South Africa in Test cricket for a long time but they need support in the field and the Proteas flagging standards in the field have been a major concern for lovers of the game.

England arrive in South Africa off the back of a defeat away to New Zealand and a failure to regain the Ashes. They come here sporting batting issues of their own, but they will be a tough prospect for their hosts to overcome.

The series also carries World Test Championship points with the Proteas yet to get off the mark in the multi-year competition that runs until 2021. South Africa were whitewashed by India in the only series attached to the WTC but will have four chances to put points on the board. The nature of that tournament makes it vital that the Proteas win as many of their home Tests as possible as points will be hard to come by on the road.

England’s perceived frailties mean that South Africa should still be favourites to win the four-match Test series and failure will not go down well.

Written by James Richardson for Hollywoodbets 

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