Times Media
TELFORD VICE, Cape Town
THERE is life after the World Cup. Proof of that came on Monday in the form of the itinerary for next season’s tour by England.
Four tests have been scheduled, which means that SA will play more than three matches in a single series for the first time in five seasons.
The Boxing Day test, which was not played in 2012-13 and has been moved to St George’s Park this season, will be back at Kingsmead next summer.
Of the 72 test series SA have played since readmission in 1991, only 12 have featured more than three matches. The most recent of them was in 2009-10 and also against England, who have been SA’s opponents in seven of those dozen series - seven of which have been played in SA.
The test series comes first on a tour that will also include five one-day internationals and two T20s. England are due to arrive on December 11 next year and leave after the second T20 at the Wanderers on February 21.
Back in the here and now of preparations for next year’s World Cup, SA will look to take a step towards winning the ODI series against Australia in the third match of the series in Canberra on Wednesday.
That AB de Villiers’ team were able to level the series in Perth on Sunday with a three-wicket win that followed the 32-run smack they took at the same venue on Friday had much to do with Morne Morkel’s career-best haul of 5/21.
“It’s important for us to strike in the first 10 overs, and with them batting heavy and quite attacking up front it’s important for us to hit those margins - which are very small at the WACA,” Morkel said.
On Friday, Australia were 60 without loss after the first 10 overs. On Sunday, they were 27/2 at the same stage of their innings and 27/3 two balls later.
Bowlers, Morkel said, were required to sacrifice expansiveness for precision in the shorter formats - particularly against classy opposition.
“In test cricket, a lot of batsman can leave deliveries because of the bounce,” he said. “In one-day cricket, if you give them a little bit of width or you are a little bit short, they can score quite freely.
“The Aussies are high-quality attacking players, and if you’re not on the money they are going to make you pay.”
Sunday’s match was notable for SA’s comprehensive win, but also because it marked Hashim Amla’s 100th ODI.
“I’m really grateful to all of my teammates and the ones I’ve played with before,” Amla said. “It’s been a wonderful 100 games.
“No-one does it by themselves; you are always part of a team. They run your runs with you.”
A case in point was Sunday’s match, when SA need just 154 to win but slipped to 113/5 before getting home with three wickets standing and 22.2 overs to spare.
“We were favourites to win, but scrapping it out to get that kind of win - it was probably closer than we thought it would be - was a lovely feeling, especially in the 100th game,” Amla said.
England itinerary:
Dec 15-17, 2015: SA Invitation XI v England, Potchefstroom
Dec 20-22: SA Invitation XI v England, Pietermaritzburg
Dec 26-30: First test, Kingsmead
Jan 2-6, 2016: Second test, Newlands
Jan 14-18: Third test, Wanderers
Jan 22-26: Fourth test, Centurion
Jan 30: one-day tour match, Kimberley
Feb 3: First ODI, Bloemfontein
Feb 6: Second ODI, St George’s Park
Feb 9: Third ODI, Centurion
Feb 12: Fourth ODI, Wanderers
Feb 14: Fifth ODI, Newlands
Feb 17: T20 tour match, Paarl
Feb 19: First T20, Newlands
Feb 21: Second T20, Wanderers
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