Proteas focused on Pakistan Tests and ODIs

Andrew Hudson, the national cricket selection convener, said yesterday he was reasonably satisfied with the Proteas' performance in the first Twenty20 international against Zimbabwe in Bloemfontein on Friday night.

"It was a typical early season game in terms of the bowling and perhaps the fielding," he said of SA's thrashing of Zimbabwe by seven wickets with more than four overs to spare. "I was pleased, though, with the batting (SA chased down 168) where I thought we did really well. As (captain) Johan Botha said, we were at 85%, and that was about right."

Unperturbed by neither the Proteas injury worries (Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Albie Morkel and his brother, Morne, are all afflicted with one or another injury) nor the back-up strength of bowling around the national side, Hudson was however mildly concerned about the dominance the World Cup would exert on his and others' thinking this season.

"Primarily if we can have everyone up and running for Dubai where we play Pakistan in two Tests and five ODIs, then that's going to be pretty important," he said, noting that the conditions he expected to find in Abu Dhabi and Sharjah would be closer to World Cup conditions than anything the Proteas would experience in their home series against India.

Other than this minor worry, Hudson was optimistic about the season to come.

"We've got sufficient ammo in all departments - I don't think a severe lack exists. I really don't see any massive holes," he said, noting that the purpose of this winter's tours to Sri Lanka and Australia by the SA A and Emerging Players side respectively were designed, in part, to introduce younger players to unfamiliar conditions and broaden the experience base of a younger generation of players.

Hudson did accept, however, that some senior players' workload would need to be carefully handled, adding that they understood this. "It's got to be a managed process," he said, suggesting that with some in the World Cup squad of 15 likely to be in the twilight of their careers, there was to be a careful rationing of what they played and when.