Pictures tell stories on Galle boundary

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Galle

The picture that emerged on the boundary in Galle yesterday in SA’s last training session before the start of the first test against Sri Lanka today was not worth a thousand words.

But the few words it was worth were important: Quinton de Kock will likely play because AB de Villiers’ dodgy hamstring will probably limit his role to batting.

That was the logical conclusion to draw when, after the squad had warmed up with a game of football, De Kock donned his wicketkeeping gear while De Villiers pulled on the gloves players use to spare their palms during fielding practice.

“He (De Villiers) has not kept in any of our practices and he is highly unlikely to keep wicket,” Hashim Amla had said minutes earlier.

That would rob Stiaan van Zyl or Dane Piedt of a test debut. With De Villiers fully fit, SA could have chosen to add steel to their middle order by including Van Zyl or opted for Piedt as Imran Tahir’s spin twin.

“With Quinton playing, it changes the dynamic of the team,” Amla said. “We’ll probably go with one spinner and JP (Duminy).”

But another part of yesterday’s picture might have been worth more than a thousand words.

In the football game, when De Villiers was stationed close to goal. However, it’s hard to keep a player of his enthusiasm tethered for long, and soon De Villiers was sprinting upfield and back towards goal like Philipp Lahm himself.

In fact, De Villiers looked in better shape than the man who is entrusted with panel-beating his hamstring back into shape, SA team physiotherapist Brandon Jackson, who hobbled around the place in a heavy knee brace.

Soon, conspiracy was in the air: De Kock was being smuggled into the team at the expense of Thami Tsolekile, who is often referred to by the selectors as De Villiers’ understudy but is - conveniently? - not part of this squad and no longer contracted to Cricket SA.

There was little in the way of fact available to add substance to this theory, but the circumstantial evidence buzzed with compelling possibility.

De Kock is likely to bat at No. 7, modern wicketkeepers’ default position unless they are De Villiers. But why not send him in at the top of the order? He opens for the Lions, and it would make sense to unleash his destructive power on the Lankans’ limited pace attack before the ball gets old, the pitch deteriorates and the spinners come into their own.

Ground staff have been leaving the pitch uncovered to bake under the intense sun, but sporadic downpours and air soaked with humidity have precluded its premature desertification.

“As the game progresses it will turn, even if it is slow turn,” Amla said. His Sri Lankan counterpart, Angelo Mathews, was more hopeful: “It might spin towards the end of the second or third day.”

The match will be played under the ramparts of the famous fort that has stood on Galle’s seafront since 1588. Sri Lanka’s record here is worthy of that backdrop. They have lost just four of their 22 Galle tests and won 12.

SA did not win either of their previous two tests here. But, before Saturday, they had never won a one-day series in Sri Lanka ...