Crocked quicks give SA headaches ahead of second Test

Another day‚ another fast bowler down.

One of these fine mornings Faf du Plessis and Ottis Gibson might draw back their curtains in trepidation.

Which of their dwindling supply of quicks‚ they will wonder‚ will be removed from the equation that day?

On Monday that fast bowler was Morne Morkel‚ who has been ruled out for up to six weeks with a side strain.

Morkel pulled up during his sixth over in Bangladesh’s second innings in the first Test in Potchefstroom on Sunday.

A dark smudge of deja vu followed him off the field.

He already had the wickets of Tamim Iqbal and Mominul Haque in his pocket when‚ with his 14th delivery‚ he produced an in-swinger that sniped between Mushfiqur Rahim’s bat and pad.

It crashed into the top of middle stump‚ a thing of highlights packages for months to come.

What’s the deja vu?

Bangladesh’s captain was two-thirds of the way to the boundary when the big screen showed Morkel had over-stepped to extend to 14 his world record for being denied Test wickets by no-balls.

Morkel’s fate was indeed cruel‚ given that he was in the throes of a torrid spell that said the mantle of leading the attack sat well on his broad shoulders.

He inherited it from Vernon Philander‚ who took it from Dale Steyn.

Both Philander and Steyn are‚ you guessed it‚ injured. So are Chris Morris and Lungi Ngidi.

Not to put too fine a point on it‚ what the hell is going on?

“I know I’m going to sound really old-fashioned but you get really hard and really fit as a bowler by bowling‚” Craig Matthews‚ himself a former member of the blood-in-the-boots brigade‚ said.

“You can over-bowl people but you can also under-bowl people. Fast bowling is‚ in some ways‚ a dangerous profession‚ but you’ve got to put the work in.”

Since South Africa’s tour to England ended in the first week of August‚ and going into the first Test‚ Morkel had bowled 54 overs in three T20s and a first-class match for a World XI and the Titans.

Enough? Too few? Too many?

The line between too much or too little rest and too much or too little work seems damnably fine.

But Gibson and the rest of South Africa’s management team are going to have to get a grip on it‚ and sooner rather than later.

Wayne Parnell‚ a surprise selection in the squad for the Bangladesh series given that he has played only two Tests in the past seven years‚ is just back from a spell on the sidelines himself.

Suddenly he is central to South Africa’s plans for the second Test in Bloemfontein‚ which starts on Friday.

Ditto Duanne Oliver‚ who took 1/52 and 0/12 from the 16.4 overs he bowled in Potchefstroom‚ and Andile Phehlukwayo‚ who was entrusted with only seven overs in both innings and finished with 1/18.

You would be forgiven for doubting whether an attack staffed largely by Parnell‚ Olivier and Phehlukwayo could get the job done in Bloemfontein‚ even allowing for Bangladesh’s brittle batting: they were shot out for 90 on Monday with their last seven wickets tumbling for 47 to seal South Africa’s victory by 333 runs.

Happily for South Africa‚ Kagiso Rabada would seem to be emerging from the funk he has been in for 14 innings since he took 6/55 against Sri Lanka at Newlands in January — the last time he claimed five wickets.

Rabada took 2/84 and 3/83‚ but the flames of his fire flickered higher and brighter than they have done for months.

Thank the gods‚ then‚ for Keshav Maharaj‚ who hits the road to Bloem with a match haul of 7/117.

The left-arm spinner‚ who was easily South Africa’s most threatening bowler once Morkel exited, seems certain to be Du Plessis’ trump card in the second Test‚ given the likely conditions.

South Africa‚ playing at home‚ depending on a spinner to beat a side from the sub-continent?

Now there’s a day to draw the curtains back to see.

 - TimesLIVE