Lack of Test preparation no bother for Proteas ahead of WTC final
Team know the importance of starting well in a one-off match, says Markram
08 June 2025 - 19:50
by Mark Gleeson
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Proteas all-rounder Aiden Markram faces the media at Lord’s on Sunday. Picture: PAUL HARDING/GETTY IMAGES
London — A lack of preparation for the World Test Championship (WTC) final will be no problem for the Proteas as they get set to take on Australia at Lord’s, opener Aiden Markram said on Sunday.
SA last played a Test in January when they beat Pakistan to book a place in the WTC final and their hopes of an extensive warm-up last week were stymied as their four-day match with Zimbabwe was largely rained out.
“A lot of our series have been two-Test series, so to win them, you can’t start slow, so I suppose there’s a bit of that that’s helped us along the way,” Markram told a press conference at Lord’s, where the WTC final begins on Wednesday.
“We know the importance of starting well, trying to get ahead of the game early and how important each session is going to be, because there’s no second dip at it.
“We have to make sure we hit the ground running and are nice and sharp come day one,” he added.
SA qualified for the final with a seven-match winning streak but also having played seven Tests fewer than Australia, who are defending champions.
“We’ve had a lot fewer games, so I suppose every time you get in, everyone’s obviously getting super pumped up to play Test cricket because we don’t play as much of it,” Markram said.
SA cricket has a long history of coming close but failing in limited overs tournaments, but Markram felt that would have no effect on their first WTC final.
“This team’s very different [in] personnel to what the white-ball squad was, so we haven’t addressed it too much,” he said.
“The few of us that have been a part of previous ICC events that didn’t go our way, have dealt with it. We’ve chatted to each other and made sure we’ve buried it nicely and taken some good lessons from it.
“But besides from that now it’s more about the excitement of having another opportunity to actually do the job. So it’s pretty much where the mind is at the moment. If we play good cricket, we give ourselves at least a fairly good chance of winning.”
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Lack of Test preparation no bother for Proteas ahead of WTC final
Team know the importance of starting well in a one-off match, says Markram
London — A lack of preparation for the World Test Championship (WTC) final will be no problem for the Proteas as they get set to take on Australia at Lord’s, opener Aiden Markram said on Sunday.
SA last played a Test in January when they beat Pakistan to book a place in the WTC final and their hopes of an extensive warm-up last week were stymied as their four-day match with Zimbabwe was largely rained out.
“A lot of our series have been two-Test series, so to win them, you can’t start slow, so I suppose there’s a bit of that that’s helped us along the way,” Markram told a press conference at Lord’s, where the WTC final begins on Wednesday.
“We know the importance of starting well, trying to get ahead of the game early and how important each session is going to be, because there’s no second dip at it.
“We have to make sure we hit the ground running and are nice and sharp come day one,” he added.
SA qualified for the final with a seven-match winning streak but also having played seven Tests fewer than Australia, who are defending champions.
“We’ve had a lot fewer games, so I suppose every time you get in, everyone’s obviously getting super pumped up to play Test cricket because we don’t play as much of it,” Markram said.
SA cricket has a long history of coming close but failing in limited overs tournaments, but Markram felt that would have no effect on their first WTC final.
“This team’s very different [in] personnel to what the white-ball squad was, so we haven’t addressed it too much,” he said.
“The few of us that have been a part of previous ICC events that didn’t go our way, have dealt with it. We’ve chatted to each other and made sure we’ve buried it nicely and taken some good lessons from it.
“But besides from that now it’s more about the excitement of having another opportunity to actually do the job. So it’s pretty much where the mind is at the moment. If we play good cricket, we give ourselves at least a fairly good chance of winning.”
Reuters
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