Proteas Test captain Elgar hopes rest has done wonders for Bavuma

Proteas Test captain Dean Elgar is hoping middle-order batter Temba Bavuma has benefited from a few weeks’ break as the team leaves for a three-match Test series against Australia.

The Proteas depart for Australia on Thursday for the ICC World Test Championship tour Down Under, which starts in Brisbane on December 17 before moving to Melbourne from Boxing Day and Sydney from January 4.

Bavuma has not played competitive cricket since the T20 ICC World Cup in Australia, where SA failed to qualify for the semifinals after a defeat to minnows the Netherlands.

Speaking as the team assembled in Johannesburg, Elgar said he had had private conversations with Bavuma.

“For now [the discussions] are personal, between me and him. I respect what he’s been through but I can’t speak for what he has been through because I wouldn’t know how to deal with it personally.

“For now I am respecting the space he is in. I think the time off maybe has done him well. The conversations will still start with him — he just wanted a break from the game a bit and you have to respect that.

“He has a lot of pressure on him but at the end of the day we have work to do and he has to be in the right space for the team. That is the message I am going to put to him and I am sure he will respond well.

“He hasn’t played a lot of cricket of late and it is up to me to get him in the right space and give him the best opportunity to go out there and play a good brand of cricket for us.”

Elgar expects a tough battle from their hosts in their own conditions.

“We’re playing in their home conditions and it is going to be feisty. The nature of the individuals they have in their squad is brash, bold and in your face ... but that can work in our favour.

“I think we enjoy confrontation as a group, we manage it pretty well and have calm heads around, so if they want to be in our face it is fine. I definitely won’t shy away from it and will encourage the players not to either.

“What happened in the past is in the past and I am sure this series is going to be tough because playing against Australia Down Under is always tough and they are not going to make it easy.

“The style of cricket we have played over the past few years is tailor-made for playing over there. We still have our great fast bowlers.

“I always say I don’t want to face them [SA’s pace attack] in a match — it is bad enough facing them in the nets.”