The new-look South Africa team take another step forward in Chittagong on Thursday when the first Test against Bangladesh gets under way at the MA Aziz Stadium.
The squad arrived in the bustling coastal city mid-morning on Wednesday and had a nervous wait for their playing kit and luggage that had been sent by road from Dhaka on Tuesday night.
It was a mighty relieved Manager Goolam Rajah who welcomed the truck to the hotel just forty minutes before the team was to leave for training. ”I was getting a little worried, we would have had to share kit with the Bangladeshis,” he joked.
A journey that should not take more than seven hours had taken fifteen hours thanks to a mechanical failure in the truck.
The first thing the team noticed upon arriving at the ground was the bare, rock-hard outfield. The pitch was not a lot different, devoid of any grass and baked hard. There are numerous cracks throughout the length of the strip and they could be hazardous for batsmen as the Test unfolds.
It’s been 28 Tests since South Africa played two spinners. The last time was on August 6th 2000 in the third Test against Sri Lanka at the SSC in Colombo when Paul Adams and Nick Boje both played.
The scenario is rather similar this time, Adams is back in harness having played in South Africa’s last Test, a convincing win over Pakistan at Newlands over New Year this year, and orthodox left-armer Robin Peterson is also in the mix.
Should they both play then the decision will revolve around which of Andrew Hall, Alan Dawson and Charl Willoughby gets the nod as the third pace bowler. All three bring strong claims to be included. Hall showed in the ODI series that he has mastered bowling on these sluggish pitches and of course he is a seriously good lower batsman.
Dawson took 11 wickets in the TVS Cup and was named Man of the Series. He has great control over pace and length and is the in-form man. Left-armer Willoughby brings extra pace and an ability to swing the ball late, however he has not played since the opening match of the triangular tournament where he endured a baptism of fire against the rampant Indian batsmen.
Of course there is the option of playing one spinner and including two of the above three mentioned seamers, with the Graeme Smith and Jacques Rudolph to provide support to either Adams or Peterson.
One thing is certain; there will be new caps.
Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Nicky Boje and Nantie Hayward all played at Newlands in January, none are on this tour.
Jacques Rudolph looks likely to make a long awaited and richly deserved Test debut, 33-year-old Dawson could be rewarded for his good form and Willoughby and Peterson are also on the brink of playing at Test level for the first time.
Add to that Graeme Smith who will be leading his country for the first time in just his 9th Test match.
One area that both teams will have no control over is the weather. Storms, called ”nor’westers” in Bangladesh, have brought heavy rains and destructive winds to the country over the past week and more are predicted for the Chittagong area over the next four days. – Sapa