The failure of the Proteas’ lower order is a worry despite the second-Test victory
John Young
The traditional virtues of South African cricket pulled the coals out of the fire in Port of Spain again and ignited the Proteas’ hopes of joining a very exclusive group of cricketers to win a Test series in the Caribbean. Tight fielding and tighter bowling won the day with all the seam bowlers answering the call and Herschelle Gibbs’s bit of magic adding the spice. Shaun Pollock’s team has earned some time on the fine beaches of Barbados.
Winning away is always a major achievement and the Proteas did particularly well to recover in this match. One sensed that some of the South Africans were feeling that the dice were loaded against them. For the first seven days of the series all the umpiring mistakes seemed to be going against the visitors. By the end of the second Test, the home team also had reason to complain.
South Africa showed great character in coming from behind to go one up but coach Graham Ford will be reminding his team how and why they lost the initiative. Having won the toss and discovered that the Oval’s new roller has removed the devil that used to make the pitch so unreliable, South Africa tossed away the advantage on the first day. Having got to 189/3, they were on course for a first innings score of 450, which would have put them in charge. Only 97 more runs were scored. In the second innings, the last seven wickets added just 100, a reversal for the normally reliable lower order. Some of the bowling and fielding on the two mornings of the West Indies’ first innings left lots of room for improvement.
The Proteas will work on those disciplines tomorrow. South Africa normally approach these rare non-international games with a Best XI mind-set. Keep the top players in nick, keep winning. There are a few reasons why that approach would be wrong for this match against what is effectively a West Indies B team. For one thing, it’s not so certain what the best team is. Exhausted bowlers must also rest and the reserves need motivation.
The Test team we all thought was so settled has two problems, in the middle order and in the spin department. Both Neil McKenzie and Nicky Boje are carrying injuries. We are told Boje’s rotator cuff problem in the shoulder affects only his throwing but he lacked confidence in Port of Spain and if he’s not part of Pollock’s plans for the fifth day of a Test then someone else should play. The good news is that Paul Adams took full advantage of the Queen’s Park Oval facilities (the only nets at a Test ground in the Caribbean) and is bowling with good control and sharp turn. Barbados is supposed to offer bounce so the pitch should suit him.
McKenzie has an injured forearm but his hand movements are not the problem. So far, he hasn’t adjusted his feet movements to the slower pitches in the West Indies. He concentrated hard on staying in during the Test but the three hours it took him to score 25 could mean he’s dropped for the next international. He’ll have a chance to fend off his rival this weekend.
Boeta Dippenaar is champing at the bit to get to the middle and Bridgetown’s Kensington Oval is where he scored his maiden first-class hundred. In Sri Lanka, McKenzie and Dippenaar went head-to-head in the warm-up games. McKenzie scored more runs and won a Test place. This game should offer the same opportunity to both young stroke-makers. McKenzie has as many Test centuries in 17 innings as Herschelle Gibbs does in 41 (two) but he looks so ill at ease at the moment that Dippenaar has a real chance.
Saturday’s game is also important for two West Indians. There is no local cricket running concurrently with the Test series so there is no chance for the fringe players to claim places or stay in form. The three Jamaican youngsters at the top of the Test XI batting order have all showed ability but they all have deficiencies when it comes to footwork and the South African bowlers are cottoning on fast. My guess is that if Shivarnine Chanderpaul can get a big score over the next few days, he’ll come in for Marlon Samuels.
Guyana’s Reon King will be pushing for the erratic Nixon McLean’s place. King has the better Test record and he’s done well in domestic cricket. The rest of the Board XI has a youthful look to it. The majority of the team are drawn from Jamaica and Guyana, the region’s strongest teams.