“I want to win cricket games but I don’t need to win them.” - Faf du Plessis grows up.
TMG Print
TELFORD VICE at The Oval
DALE Steyn stood facing the nets on the outfield at the Oval on Wednesday, and reached his left hand across his chest to examine the most infamous bowling shoulder in cricket.
Twice he has broken the damned thing. Now it will keep him out of the opening match of South Africa’s World Cup match against England on Thursday.
Steyn lowered his left arm, chugged 15 paces and bowled. That, at least, is progress.
On Sunday, he was limited to eight steps in the indoor nets in Bristol. On Tuesday, at the Oval, he was up to 15 paces but daren’t put his shoulder through the wrench of delivering the ball with that level of momentum behind him. He hasn’t bowled in a match since April 21.
Steyn’s removal from the equation, confirmed by Ottis Gibson on Tuesday, didn’t come as a shock — he is the only member of the squad of 15 not to have played in either of South Africa’s warm-up games.
Faf du Plessis didn’t try to make light of the situation, but he knew he couldn’t act surprised.
“It is a big loss for our team,” he told a packed press conference. “We did expect it when we picked the squad. He was probably about 60% [match fit] when the squad was picked. So we anticipated for this to happen.
“But a fit Dale Steyn makes our bowling attack very strong. So tomorrow will be a little bit of chopping and changing to get a balance that we think can take on England.”
Not a lot of chopping or changing can be done. Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Imran Tahir are three-quarters of a fine attack. It’s the other quarter that’s the problem.
South Africa could pick Chris Morris and back him to bowl better than he did in the warm-up game against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on Friday, when his four flat, listless overs claimed no wickets and cost 31 runs.
Or they could put their trust in Dwaine Pretorius, who is in the squad as the third-choice allrounder but looked more the part of a third seamer than Morris on Friday in taking 1/34 from five.
Tabraiz Shamsi as a second spinner? Not here, not now. Maybe later in the tournament, once the summer sun has drilled into the pitches.
Whoever plays will have to find a way to shut up the noisiest batting line-up in world cricket.
England are the only side to have topped 400 in ODIs this year and have talked seriously of shooting for a world record 500.
Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler are their biggest guns, with three centuries between them from a combined 14 trips to the crease in 2019.
“England play very aggressively, we all know that,” Du Plessis said. “So for us as a leadership group it’s about trying to find how can we be most attacking and trying to get wickets.
“Obviously that was with Dale included but that changed now, so we’ll look at set up our team to try to make sure we can take wickets.
“There’s no point in trying to play a defensive style of cricket against England because they have shown that they can take on any attack on the day.
“We’ll try to be as positive in team selection as possible.”
Beyond all that — on another level from the endless questioning about selection and conditions and who might do what and when — South Africa and England are coming at Thursday’s game from markedly different perspectives.
Eoin Morgan was asked whether he would prefer “a win under any circumstances, or are you keen for it to be a sort of statement performance?”.
Morgan twitched at the very thought: “No. No. A win under any circumstances, yeah.”
Du Plessis’ press conference began with former England fast bowler Dominic Cork, now a television pundit, asking him how he felt about “taking on the world’s best at the moment in England”.
South Africa’s captain didn’t blink. Instead he said, “Good morning everyone, howzit ‘Corkie’”, and got on with acknowledging England’s status as favourites and reminding all present that “it’s a six-week period and tomorrow is just the first step”.
Later, when he was asked how South Africa would keep that calm approach when the pressure escalated as the games grew in importance, he took a breath and with it time to consider his answer.
“You know, the older you get the wiser you get. Being a father now everything gets put into perspective.
“Cricket is a very important aspect of all of our lives but it’s not everything. There are a lot bigger things in life than winning and losing games of cricket.
“And that, perhaps, has changed for me — the fact that I'm no longer desperate.
“I want to win cricket games but I don’t need to win them.”
Dangerous thinking. Subversive, even. And required if South Africa’s revolution is to succeed.
Comments
No comments yet. Start the conversation.