Proteas Test team powered by special Ks
Graeme Smith believes that the Proteas can take a lot of positives from their Test series win against the West Indies especially among the bowlers.
Former Proteas skipper Graeme Smith believes that the team can take a lot of positives from their Test series win against the West Indies.
Smith found bowlers, Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj particularly impressive.
Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj star for Proteas
He feels the two experienced bowlers are pillars of this team.
“The highlight of South Africa’s Test series win over the West Indies was seeing two experienced campaigners perform well in Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj,” Smith told Betway.
“I think those two are key pillars for this team. The batting is currently the nervous point for South Africa, and it wasn’t flashy but there were enough positives in there to see progression from the batters. South Africa aren’t playing a lot of Test cricket, but it’s important that they keep building on the positive story after a really successful T20 World Cup.”
Learning from the Springboks
Smith believes that the Proteas can take a leaf out of the Springboks book when it comes to developing depth.
“There’s so much cricket that’s being played now, so I think it was a good decision for South Africa to rest a couple of players.
“With the amount of cricket being played, the players don’t have periods where they work on their body, their mind and their techniques. South African cricket took a decision over players like Marco Jansen where they decided he needed a block to get fitter, stronger, and to work on a few technical things in a bit of a training period.
“It’s a huge lesson learned from the Springboks. They’ve developed a huge talent base, and obviously they’ve got quality coming through.
“Rassie Erasmus’ unique ability is that he doesn’t always play the best team every week – he’s developed incredible squad depth where anyone can come in and produce at a certain level.
“That’s where Betway SA20 comes in, as well. We said from the start, if we can put 60 to 70 players on the global stage instead of only 12 to 15, you suddenly start to have a talent pool that challenges every week.
“From a coach’s perspective, they will have learned valuable lessons about the next tier of players and for the bigger series coming up, it’s important to have that knowledge.
“Although the West Indies aren’t seen as the strongest Test team in the world, any time you travel to someone else’s environment, it’s about adapting to a different style of cricket and winning away from home.
“That comes with elements of resilience, planning and ability to perform in someone else’s backyard. It was exciting to get another positive story and win.”
Are the Proteas on the right track?
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