Until batters rise to bowlers' level Test cricket will be a struggle for Proteas

A glaring difference between the batters and bowlers in the Proteas Test team is that the bowlers have KG Rabada leading by example while Dean Elgar and Temba Bavuma are yet to show the youngsters the way in batting in Test cricket.

The South African Test team has always had fantastic bowlers. More often than not, it has been these bowlers who have saved the Proteas. In the current team doing duty in Australia the gap between the performances of Proteas bowlers has widened, and the performances in the opening two Tests has only reinforced that notion.

That was mostly the case in the Test series South Africa played in 2021-22 — a 2-1 home win against India, 1-1 drawn series in New Zealand, 2-0 home win against Bangladesh and 2-1 defeat in England.

In the current series in Australia South Africa lost the first Test in Brisbane by six wickets within two days on a suspect Gabba wicket and are facing down the barrel in the second Test at the MCG after yet another low first innings total of 189 on Monday’s day one.

Interestingly, in terms of Tests played, the numbers are similar for the leading batters and bowlers. Rabada (55 caps) and Keshav Maharaj (45) are the most experienced bowlers while Elgar (80) and Bavuma (52) lead the batters.

But the bowlers have found their feet quicker in Test cricket and made a name for themselves as one of the most feared attacks in world cricket. Since 2019, the year batter Rassie van der Dussen and pace bowler Anrich Nortjé made their Test debuts, the batters have remained stuck in transition.

In that time Nortje has made a mark and taken fifers, while Van der Dussen is still searching and looking to prove himself as a competent Test cricket batter.

“The thing I’ve learnt from every bowler is that there’s that fire in them and I just can’t explain it,” Marco Jansen told TimesLIVE before the Test team left for Australia.

“There would be one spell where for example from ‘KG’ or ‘Ana’ or ‘Kesh’ would come on and it’s just a fire spell. He’d be bowling gun and then out of the blue the other guy from the other end also starts bowling gun.

“We sort of hype each other that way. They [the bowlers] inspire one another in the field with proper application. The fire in the bowling group is vivid. It is felt when Rabada is at the top of his mark, flipping the ball up and down trying to get that familiar grip of the new ball.”

Opposition batters feel the fire when Nortje comes steaming in at them or when Lungi Ngidi’s unrelenting lines and lengths frustrate them. As if this trio is not enough, a tall lefty in Jansen then comes on to bowl and gets the ball to bounce so high off the pitch that it inflicts fear into opposition batters.

“I remember one spell from Ana and KG in a Test in England where I was in the field thinking, ‘Wow, I have to pull up my socks here because these guys are putting in a proper shift and I won’t be the guy that lets his team down,” Jansen said.

“I really have to up my game here because I can see these guys are working their buttocks off’.”

Since Kyle Verreynne made his Test debut in the West Indies in 2021, no senior batter has scored a century. There have been 90s in winning causes but Test cricket batting is about hundreds and not just hundreds, but big hundreds.

South African bowlers get the five-fors but the batsmen are not getting enough big hundreds.

That’s not the only difference as Rabada explained after South Africa were beaten within two days in the first Test against Australia at the Gabba in Brisbane last week.

“The one factor is belief. If we [the bowlers] didn’t have believe I don’t think we’d be able to produce the performances we have,” Rabada said in a press conference.

Belief is very much results-based. The bowlers have the results that skyrocket their confidence that they can defend anything. As the batters continue to battle to put together decent innings their belief sinks.

Until both function together South Africa will find results hard to come by in Test cricket.

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