CENTURION, South Africa, CMC – New Test captain Temba Bavuma said South Africa were giving serious thought to picking seven batsmen for next week’s first Test against West Indies, as the hosts looked to play a “positive brand of cricket” in the two-match series.
The Proteas are coming off two successive Test series defeats – to Australia and England – where they managed only a single win in six outings, and will be looking to bounce back with a bold statement against West Indies.
“I think going in with six batters has been a bit of a struggle for the out-of-form batters. So, having an extra batter is something that we need to strongly consider,” said Bavuma, who last week replaced Dean Elgar at the helm of the Test squad as part of a Cricket South Africa restructuring of the leadership group.
“In terms of the composition of the team, all the guys who have come into the 15 have a realistic chance of playing.”
He added: “In terms of where I will bat, I will probably bat at number four. I don’t see that changing.”
South Africa struggled on their tour of Australia last December, losing the first Test at Brisbane by six wickets and the second at Perth by an innings and 182 runs.
The final Test at Sydney ended in a draw.
Against England last summer, South Africa won the first Test at Lord’s by an innings and 12 runs but then suffered heavy defeats in the two remaining Tests at Manchester and London, to surrender the series.
Bavuma, the country’s first ever black Test batsman, said it was now important for South Africa to look to dominate against West Indies.
“I am not going to say anything different, we will always advocate for a positive brand of cricket. We will always be looking to take the game forward and looking for opportunities to put opposition teams under pressure,” stressed the 32-year-old.
“That’s exactly what we will be looking to do. During the England series I said that we would like to play a certain way but I wasn’t too sure how it [would] look like then, and I couldn’t articulate it.
“The real articulation is out there on the field and in this two match series against the West Indies we will be looking to find that way. With the new faces in the team, you kind of need to give them a bit of time to find their feet at international cricket.
“We are going to be looking to play a positive brand, I know it sounds like a cliché but everything will play itself out on the field.”
A feature of that “positive brand” will be South Africa’s highly vaunted pace attack led by Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, both of whom terrorised West Indies in the Caribbean two years ago in the tourists’ convincing clean sweep of the two-Test series.
And Bavuma said South Africa’s pace attack would be crucial in the series depending on conditions.
“We know South Africa is traditionally known for their quick bowlers and at the moment we have three or four guys who can bowl at the speed of 140 consistently. If we have that at our disposal, then we will probably want to use it,” said Bavuma.
“Obviously conditions are the biggest dictator of it all, that’s going to be the biggest factor that decides which way we want to go.”
South Africa have not lost a Test series to West Indies in 24 years and a Test since 2007.
