Coach cool about the pressure facing Proteas

Pressure, and the Proteas’ inability to deal with it, will be the dominant theme for players, coaching staff (permanent and interim), selectors and Cricket SA’s senior management until the side secures — or fails to secure — qualification for the 2023 World Cup. 

Temba Bavuma’s side face the ultimate test against world champions England over the next week, right in the middle of the SA20 tournament, which has excited the public beyond what anyone could have predicted.

Shukri Conrad, the Proteas’ new Test coach who is standing in for his white-ball colleague, Rob Walter, for the three one-day internationals (ODIs) against England, hopes to ride the wave of excitement generated by the tournament for the series that starts in Bloemfontein on Friday. 

“I don’t think we are competing with the SA20 League, I’d like to see it as an ally. The one thing I have seen is that people in SA are still very much in love with cricket,” he said.

Conrad got a reminder — not that he needed it — about the kind of reputation the Proteas have created for themselves when faced with pressure. “It feels like I’ve got a few different versions of the same question,” he uttered at one point.

Indeed, that was the case. When it comes to dealing with pressure the Proteas aren’t very good, with the most recent example coming against the Netherlands at the T20 World Cup last November.

That outcome left Bavuma a broken man. A few months down the road and once more they are under pressure, with their qualification for the World Cup in India on the line. 

The Proteas need to win at least three — and possibly all — of their next five ODIs to ensure automatic qualification for this year’s 50-over showpiece. After this series, their other two matches are against the Netherlands and, as that fateful Sunday at the Adelaide Oval illustrated, nothing can be taken for granted.

Conrad is a wise and pragmatic individual, so he knows there is nothing that can be done about the past. What he can control is the squad’s preparation and mindset this week.

“We, and I understand this sounds like a cliché, need to focus on our process. We cannot focus all our energies on this week only, there’s a reason we are where we are,” said Conrad. “Even if the position was different it would still be a high-pressure series. We are not going to be focusing on what the potential outcomes will be if we don’t get over the line in this series.

“It’s about focusing on those key moments in the game, identifying them, and then being able to take the right option, which is hopefully an aggressive one.”

It’s not been the easiest build-up for the two teams. England have had eight members of their squad, including their captain, Jos Buttler, participating in the SA20. A few others flew in from Dubai, where they were playing in another T20 tournament, while a couple more jetted in from England along with the management.

The Proteas had all gathered by Wednesday morning, with a first squad meeting taking place in the evening. There is no doubt that the SA20 will be a prime topic of conversation and, while that tournament has generated plenty of interest, Conrad doesn’t view it as being something that should be used as a gauge of the popularity of the national team.

Ticket sales for the first ODI are understood to be sluggish, but Conrad, referencing Nick Mallett’s axing as Springbok manager in 2000, said he wasn’t going to concern himself yet about how many people would pass through the gates at Mangaung Oval.

“Bloemfontein hasn’t had much cricket. I’m pretty confident that the people of Bloemfontein and the surrounds will turn out to watch an SA side that they haven’t seen play in a long while.”