Proteas under pressure as schedule ramps up

SOUTH Africa’s men’s national team faces what Graeme Smith described as a “crucial period,” between June and the end of the year.

There is little doubt now that Proteas coach Mark Boucher is firmly under the hammer after a summer of poor results - even though there are plenty of mitigating circumstances. “My perspective is that this is a crucial period for the players and management,” said Smith, Cricket SA’s Director of Cricket.

SA head to the Caribbean in June to play two Tests and five T20 internationals against the West Indies.

The Proteas T20 squad will immediately head to Ireland thereafter for T20 and ODI series there. Following that, there are tours to Sri Lanka and India (Covid-19 permitting), the T20 World Cup, and the year ends with a tour to SA by India.

Boucher has had to swim upstream for most of the period he has been in charge of the Proteas. Nevermind the administrative bungles which certainly impacted on the players, but he also had to deal with the retirements of Vernon Philander and then Faf du Plessis, which had occurred shortly after Dale Steyn and Hashim Amla had exited the international scene as well.

Last summer SA won just one series - the Tests against Sri Lanka - and since taking over in December 2019, Boucher’s Proteas have failed to win any of the five T20 series they have played, a particularly concerning statistic, given there are two World Cups in that format in the next two years.

While Boucher has borne the brunt of criticism directed at the national team, it hasn’t been easy. “We tapped into 32 players who’ve played this season, 45 were kitted out,” Smith said.

“It was a bit of an exploration period for the national team to try and identify players going forward, but I do see this next period, from a results perspective, as being crucial. In the build up to the T20 World Cup we want to get our best group of players together as often as we can and really push hard.”

Whether that “best group of players,” will include AB de Villiers, Smith couldn’t say. “AB is retired, so whether he comes out of retirement is an on-going discussion,” said Smith.

However, the door does remain open for “free agents” - players not contracted by CSA - like Du Plessis, Imran Tahir and Chris Morris. “Free agents are always available for selection. They play a number of T20 leagues around the world and are gaining more experience in the format than most. We’ve seen the success the West Indies have had in bringing back free agents before world events,” Smith said.

The Proteas will gather for a training camp later this month, before travelling to the Caribbean via Paris and the small casino resort island of St Maarten. Smith said the venues for those matches should be finalised soon.