Bavuma wants aggressive style to continue but Proteas can't expect endless support

The Proteas’ new attacking mindset will challenge not just the players, but Victor Mpitsang and his national selection panel too.

The players want the selectors' backing that they won’t simply get dropped when they make mistakes, but that has to be balanced by the fact that continued failure won’t be tolerated. 

Heinrich Klaasen, who’s 80 almost propelled the Proteas to victory in the third ODI against England and captain Temba Bavuma both hoped there’ would be sufficient backing for the players, but the latter felt it would be unrealistic for players to simply think support would be unwavering. 

“International sport is ruthless. If as a player you are looking for security if you fail and someone is going to continue to back you — I’ve never felt that,” said Bavuma. “I do know that within the team, if you are playing a certain way, guys are going to give you the rope that you deserve. As captain that’s what I am looking at and Rob (Walter) as well.”

The Proteas delivered another encouraging performance with the bat, despite losing by 59 runs to England in Kimberley on Wednesday with Bavuma pleased with the intent shown. He and Klaasen highlighted the risks involved in doing so, but while Bavuma said it was unrealistic to expect endless support from the selectors, Klaasen hoped Mpitsang and his panel would also buy into the plan. 

“I don’t think everyone will be consistent, so that is why when it is your day then you must take the team over the line,” said Klaasen. “That’s where the coaches and the players will keep buying into the plan. Hopefully we will get backing throughout this, because if we are going to play that way then obviously the consistency will be up and down. Some days it will look very bad and other days it will be great.

“That’s the big challenge for the management and selectors, if they want to keep the consistency in the players, so we can play that way, the players need to believe and ride that wave. To play the brand of cricket is not the issue; it’s, will you be dropped? Will you keep your position when you fail?”   

Klaasen cited his own career as an example, claiming that on a 2018 tour to Sri Lanka, after playing two games, he subsequently fell down the pecking order. “All the coaches wanted to play aggressive cricket. I didn’t come off in two games and was dropped and back to seventh in the queue. It was tough for me to come back and play that positive brand of cricket and at that stage I just gave up. Then when I returned, I went ‘if this is my last tour, then it is my last tour and I will go out the way I want to go out’ and since then I’ve been playing good cricket. I take every series as my last. That seems to be freeing me up to play the game I want to play.

“I’m not worried about getting dropped, if they want to drop me they can. I’ve learnt that if I average four they drop me, if I average 60 I get dropped. That’s a difficult part of our system and the way the selectors have been going, you do not want to fail and that holds you back from playing the game (aggressively). But we’ve had some good chats and we will see what happens in the future.”

Klaasen explained that the Proteas’ new mindset isn’t actually that new. “With (Mark) Boucher it was the same, it’s coming from different voices now. It’s just that everyone is now believing that we can play with this gameplan.” 

While Klaasen would appreciate more support, Bavuma reiterated that the selectors couldn’t supply it endlessly. “It's not ideal or reasonable as players that we are looking for comfort. International cricket is not about that. As much as we want to play a certain way, the responsibility is on you as a player to execute according to that way,” he said.

The more assertive approach will continue to be backed from within the squad Bavuma explained. “We need to keep speaking this language, that the environment keeps challenging us so that we are always on our toes, so that we are always trying to stretch ourselves. If we are able to dominate that process, the result will take care of itself.”

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