South Africa’s new Test captain Dean Elgar has on Saturday (May 29) admitted that the Proteas players were “frustrated” by having limited access to international cricket, especially Test cricket in the last one and half year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While England, India, and West Indies have contested 12, 10, and 9 tests respectively, South Africa has got to play only four Tests in the last 16 months, largely due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. However, the Proteas are finally set to return to action against the West Indies next month.
The South Africa team is scheduled to tour West Indies to play two Tests and five T20Is from June 10th – July 3rd, 2021 in St Lucia and Grenada. Elgar said his team is fired up to perform on the upcoming tour after being starved of Test cricket for much of the past year.
Elgar told reporters: “It’s been such an up and downtime for all of us, as players we have been frustrated by having limited access to international cricket. We are excited and keen to get going.”
At the moment, the South African side is ranked number seven in the ICC Test rankings and Elgar said it is “not a good look” for the country that topped the standings a few times over the past decade.
Calling for improvement and consistency, the Test skipper hopes to bring in a new era of success for South Africa, as he is eyeing to change the team’s ranking when the next ICC World Test Championship cycle gets underway. He also admitted that it would be challenging for the players to believe in a process that would lead to significant improvement.
Elgar further explained, “We need to play more cricket and better cricket, we are very conscious that over the last period we haven’t been consistent. Our skill level hasn’t been where it should be.”
He signed off by saying, “We want to compete and play in a final of a test championship, but I understand that there is a process that you have to follow. It is a challenging aspect to get players to believe in the process and adapt quickly. We must start to climb the rankings again. Where we are at the moment is not doing us a lot of favors and is not a good look for a lot of us.”
Noteworthy, South Africa hasn’t played Test cricket in the West Indies since 2010 when Graeme Smith led the Proteas to a 2-0 win in a three-match Test series. If South Africa manages to beat the West Indies in the upcoming two-match Test starting on June 10, then they can climb up to the sixth position.
Proteas Test Squad for the West Indies series - Dean Elgar (captain, Northerns), Temba Bavuma (vice-captain, Central Gauteng Lions), Quinton de Kock (wicket-keeper, Northerns), Sarel Erwee (KwaZulu-Natal Coastal), Beuran Hendricks (Western Province), George Linde (Western Province), Keshav Maharaj (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Lungi Ngidi (Northerns), Aiden Markram (Northerns), Wiaan Mulder (Central Gauteng Lions), Anrich Nortje (Eastern Province), Keegan Peterson (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Kagiso Rabada (Central Gauteng Lions), Rassie van der Dussen (Central Gauteng Lions), Kyle Verreynne (Western Province), Tabraiz Shamsi (Northerns), Lizaad Williams (Northerns), Prenelan Subrayen (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Marco Jansen (Eastern Province).
Proteas T20 Squad - Temba Bavuma (captain, Central Gauteng Lions), Quinton de Kock (Northerns), Bjorn Fortuin (Central Gauteng Lions), Reeza Hendricks (Central Gauteng Lions), Heinrich Klaasen (Northerns), George Linde (Western Province), Sisanda Magala (Central Gauteng Lions), Janneman Malan (Boland), Aiden Markram (Northerns), David Miller (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Lungi Ngidi (Northerns), Anrich Nortje (Eastern Province), Andile Phehlukwayo (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Dwaine Pretorius (North West), Kagiso Rabada (Central Gauteng Lions), Tabraiz Shamsi (Northerns), Rassie van der Dussen (Central Gauteng Lions), Kyle Verreynne (Western Province), Lizaad Williams (Northerns).
(With Reuters Inputs)
