“Cricket is played the same way at all different levels. The only difference is the intensity.” - David Miller
Telford Vice | Cape Town
SECOND-STRING. Inexperienced. Out of their depth. Not up to the standard that will be required of them. South Africa’s squad for the T20I series against Pakistan in Lahore, which starts on Thursday, has been written off in every which way.
Heinrich Klaasen, the captain, bristled in the face of that kind of questioning at an online press conference on Tuesday, and on Wednesday it was David Miller’s turn to surf the swell of negativity: “We know we’re up against a really strong Pakistan team. We do respect that. At the same time, in T20 cricket if you prep well and you’ve got a great team, there are opportunities to still lose. I don’t see why we can’t compete against one of the stronger teams.”
Of the South Africa Test squad that arrived in Pakistan in the middle of January, only George Linde, Dwaine Pretorius, Tabraiz Shamsi and Lutho Sipamla have stayed on for the T20Is. The rest have gone home in time to quarantine for a Test series against Australia next month. Thanks to that, South Africa have been weakened for the T20I series. Except that the Tests have had to be postponed because the Aussies have gone AWOL over Covid fears.
How much the South Africans have lost is difficult to gauge. One measure is the fact that the 17 players who are no longer in Pakistan have taken with them 1,012 international caps across the formats. The T20I squad has only 443 caps between them, and 210 of them — 47.40% — belong to Miller.
But would the departed players have been able to give of their best considering several of them were part of a team who were convincingly beaten in both Tests? Quinton de Kock, for instance, would have captained the side, kept wicket and opened the batting. And all that after he had recorded his lowest average — 11.50 — in all of his 21 Test series. So it could be no bad thing that all that hurt isn’t hanging around the dressingroom in Lahore.
“It’s a really refreshing group of guys; it was always going to be,” Miller said. “Yes, we’re going to come under quite a lot of pressure in the games, we would assume. But it’s a great opportunity for guys to step up. We know we’re representing the Proteas, regardless of whether you’re playing your first game or your 100th game.
“We’ve come with the mindset of competing in every department. We don’t want to be hiding away by saying we’re just building. We’re actually here to win. I think we’re very capable of doing that, if we just stick to what the guys have done in domestic cricket and travelling around the world to play in T20 competitions.”
Pakistan’s squad for the T20Is comes with 835 international caps of all kinds. Or almost twice as many as their opponents. But add up the first-class, list A and senior T20 games the South Africans have played and you get 4,046. Do the same with the Pakistanis and, despite the fact that they have two more players, you arrive at 3,997. While a difference of 49 is marginal, it’s plainly untrue to label South Africa the less experienced squad in the series.
“The guys have been around the block in domestic cricket for many years; they know their games,” Miller said. “Cricket is played the same way at all different levels. The only difference is the intensity. That’s been brought to the guys’ attention in preparation this week. They need to know that everything is faster but the game remains the same. The guys know their strengths and weaknesses, and if they can gather their thoughts under pressure I don’t see why we can’t go away with a victory in this series.”
Miller made his point in another way, albeit inadvertently, before the presser started. Having sat down in front of his camera, he realised he was wearing a shirt that did not have the team’s crest on the chest. So he nipped out of view for a few seconds, and when he returned he had changed into a shirt that was properly emblazoned.
Different shirt. Same player. Different level. Same game.
First published by Cricbuzz.
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