Ongama Gcwabe
LACK of game time is one of the pressing concerns around the Proteas Test team that is set to play a two-match series against the West Indies in their backyard.
The Windies themselves are coming from a three-match series in the UK and despite losing series 3-0, their bowlers have enjoyed a good workout and batters have had time in the middle facing the red cherry.
In the Proteas case, the last time they took to the field in Tests was during the New Year’s Test at Newlands some seven months ago.
They head into this series rusty, however, quick Kagiso Rabada says they are more excited for the challenge of testing themselves to see if they can still deliver good quality Test cricket despite their lack of red-ball action.
“It is a bit of a concern that we haven’t played together but the exciting part is that it’s going to be a test to see what we can produce, having not played so much recently,” Rabada told the media yesterday.
“They (the Windies) have been playing some cricket. There’s nothing we can do about that. We just know the challenge that lies ahead of us.
“We are just going to have to make the most of what we got. We know that we can beat them. We do believe that we can beat them. It’s going to be a tough series.”
South Africa have a win percentage of 69 over the Windies in Test cricket and head into the series as favourites despite their lack of game time.
Rabada emphasised that despite having the upper hand according to the past results, they still have to do their homework, especially now that the Windies have new faces in the likes of Alick Athanaze and Shamar Joseph.
In addition, Rabada told the media that they are expecting dry conditions at Port of Spain that will most likely favour spin bowling while still assisting the quicks in terms of pace and bounce.
“There’s a few new names in there that we haven’t played against but there are some regular names that we have played against. So, it’s just about adapting to a few of their new faces,” said Rabada.
‘Playing in Port of Spain, it’s drier conditions here in the Caribbean so I’m expecting the ball to turn and maybe expecting them to play their spinners.
“Even though it spins here there’s usually a bit of pace and bounce as well. You tend to find that in the Caribbean, regarding their rich history of pace bowlers.”
At the age of 29, with 62 Test matches under his belt and almost a decade into his Test career, Rabada is nine wickets away from reaching 300 Test wickets.
Despite the landmark, the leader of the attack is focused on getting the team a series win and positioning them higher up the ICC World Test Championship table.
‘I am aware (that I need nine wickets to reach 300 Test wickets),“ he said.
"It will be such a special landmark but I am not focused on that, it will be just a by-product. I’m focused on getting the job done for the team,“ he concluded.
South Africa play a four-day warm-up match starting today before they play the first Test at Port of Spain on August 7.