Cricket
Exclusive: “It’s Unfair for Markram to Bowl 20 overs and Go Open the Batting,” says Former Proteas Coach
Former Proteas coach Vincent Barnes critiques the team's selection strategy, highlighting the unfair burden on Aiden Markram, who had to bowl 21 overs and then open the batting.
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Following the drawn Test match between South Africa and West Indies in Port of Spain last week, questions have been raised about the selection of only two specialist seamers and one spinner in the line-up.
Thin Proteas Bowling Attack
When the Proteas captain, Temba Bavuma, announced the playing XI on the eve of the first Test at Queen’s Park Oval, there were two takeaways.
One was how the batting line-up was lengthened down to Wiaan Mulder at number eight, a batting all-rounder who bats in the top six in domestic cricket in South Africa and for Leicestershire in the County Championship.
The second takeaway was how there were only three specialist bowlers in seamers Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi and spinner Keshav Maharaj.
It was from that point that questions were asked.
Would this be enough bowling resources to take 20 wickets and help South Africa win the Test match they so desperately needed to win given their position in the World Test Championship table (seventh)?
It proved insufficient as South Africa failed to claim ten wickets in the second innings despite the Test losing 150 overs due to rain.
Moreover, the combination selected by Test coach Shukri Conrad and captain Bavuma meant that opening batter Aiden Markram had the added responsibility of bowling a few overs supporting the four-man bowling attack. Markram ended up bowling 21 overs in the match, returning figures of 1/68.
Former Proteas Coach Speaks Out
You’ve got to think about this, if you have three seamers and a spinner, I know Markram can give you overs but it’s unfair for Markram to be bowling 20 overs and then go open the batting. It’s tough for the player to be doing that,” former Proteas bowling coach, Vincent Barnes told SportsBoom.com.
“You want your opening batters to be nice and fresh when they walk out to bat. That was my only concern.”
“You had three seamers (Rabada, Ngidi & Mulder) and spinner Keshav and if one of the seamers walked off the field due to a niggle, then you’re in trouble and there’s a lot of pressure on the other two seamers now to perform a role.” he added.
You want your opening batters to be nice and fresh when they walk out to bat. That was my only concern.
Vincent Barnes
Leaving Out Nandre Burger, the Only Bowler with Express Pace
Given that the West Indies batters struggled against express in their series against England last month, a series that they lost 0-3, many expected to see left-arm fast bowler, Nandre Burger, in the field for South Africa as he is one of the few in the side with the ability to crank it up to 150 km/h.yo
However, that was not the case, and Barnes believes it was a warranted decision purely because of the slow nature of the Caribbean surfaces as compared to those in England where the Windies were blown away by quicks Gus Atkinson and Mark Wood.
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“We’re talking about England and the Caribbean which have two totally different conditions. I was at Lord’s when the West Indies played England in the first Test last month," said Barnes.
"If they were playing in South Africa (where wickets are fast and bouncy), there’s no doubt that Nandre Burger enters the scene. But it is the conditions that determine the make-up of the side."
Rain in Trinidad Killed the Possibility of a Result
Essentially, the Proteas had a little over two sessions to bowl the West Indies out on Day five having set the hosts 297 runs as a target.
It was a brave call from Bavuma but one that was warranted given their dominance over the West Indies in Test match cricket.
After all, any team boosting a 69% win ratio over a particular opposition would fancy their chances of pulling off yet another victory, regardless of the odds.
However, Barnes believes that the match was far too gone for South Africa to pull off a victory having lost so many overs due to rain.
“To bowl a Test team out in two sessions is always going to be a tough ask. If you had five days of uninterrupted play, the wicket would have deteriorated a lot quicker,” said Barnes.
“I don’t believe the game would have gone to day five. I thought the game would have just gone until day four but with the amount of moisture in the air and on the field, it meant that batting became a lot easier than trying to bowl a team out.” he added.
An Extra Spinner at the Expense of a Batter for Guyana Test
From a batting point of view, the Proteas showed glimpses of what they are capable of achieving, particularly in the first innings.
Apart from Markram, all the other batters in the top seven had excellent starts despite not being able to convert those starts into big scores.
However, Barnes believes that one of the batters would have to make way for an extra spinner in the second Test on Guyana where spin-friendly conditions are expected.
“I think that we can look at the second Test and maybe look at a second spinner because there’s no doubt that Guyana will spin as well. Maybe look to play an extra spinner at the expense of one of the batters,” Barnes advised.
“Let’s say you leave Wiaan Mulder (seamer) out, that means you’ve got Rabada and Ngidi and two spinners (Maharaj and Danne Piedt), but there’s a risk there. I think a batter is going to have to sit out and Wiaan will probably play.” he concluded.
Ongama Gcwabe is an experienced Sports Journalist based in South Africa. In his career, Ongama’s work has been published in the country’s biggest newspapers company, Independe Newspapers, and some of the leading news and sports websites including IOL Sport.