Times Media
TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg
TEST captains usually conduct their press conferences in splendid isolation from each other - always at different times, sometimes at different venues.
But, on Tuesday, the eve of the first test between SA and West Indies at Centurion, the table was set for two. And there they were: Hashim Amla and Denesh Ramdin sat together behind the microphones.
“It feels like a bit of a boxing match, but it’s alright,” Amla said.
Not that there was any chance of fisticuffs between two of the most polite men in cricket.
When Amla first spoke, Ramdin noticed that he had not turned on his microphone. So he leaned over and flicked the switch for him. When the talking was done, Amla offered a mannered, “Thanks Denesh.” Ramdin responded with, “All the best.”
Too bloody civilised, by half. How one of them will be able to toss the ball to a fast bowler this morning with instructions to, “Put it up his nose” is a question worth pondering.
An answer was not blowing in the wind. Instead, it was singing on the roof: rain is set to soak the region until Sunday, Saturday excepted.
That would sap the spice out of Wednesday’s confrontation. It would also complicate the decision on whether to deploy a spinner or fire with fast bowlers on all cylinders.
“With the weather around, it does add favour for (an all-pace attack),” Amla said.
The visitors were also undecided. But Ramdin was sure that “when we get down there and pick our team, our fast bowlers will give the South Africans a good challenge”.
Robin Peterson and Sulieman Benn, left-arm spinners both, are thus waiting to see whether they will be surplus to requirements.
At 2.01m, Benn is as tall as Curtly Ambrose - an advantage worth having given Centurion’s bounce. Besides bottomless positivity, Peterson offers decent batting ability and still sharp skills in the field. He is also the resident dressingroom sage.
Selection convenor Andrew Hudson described Stiaan van Zyl as the “logical replacement” for the injured JP Duminy, who bats at No. 7. On Tuesday, Amla said Van Zyl had “a very good chance” of getting a game. But he added, “If he does play, I don’t think he’ll bat at No. 7.”
Might Van Zyl, the Cobras’ No. 3, open in place of the struggling Alviro Petersen? That way, there would be room for four seamers and a spinner.
However, SA would then rely on six batsmen and not seven - the central plank of Kirstenomics, former coach Gary Kirsten’s successful plan to annex the No. 1 ranking.
The Windies look like unleashing left-arm fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell, the Jamaican army private who took 5/16 in 6.1 overs in a tour match against a SA Invitation XI in Benoni last week.
“Mitchell Johnson had some success against the Proteas, so if he (Cottrell) is in the team I’m sure he is going to do something special for us,” Ramdin said, stirring the ghost of Australian left-arm howitzer Johnson’s 22 wickets at 17.36 in three tests in SA last summer.
SA have won two of Amla’s three tests in charge and drawn the other, all of them played away. Ramdin has won three and lost two of his five tests holding the reins, all of them at home.
Amla described his captaincy style as “on the day, at the moment, see what happens, make the decision there and then”. Ramdin confessed that the Windies’ batting “hasn’t been up to scratch for the past couple of years”.
Perhaps they were in splendid isolation after all.
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