Conrad emphasises development as SA A prepare to tour Sri Lanka

Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad weighed up the option of including more senior members of the Test squad, including skipper Temba Bavuma, in the South African A squad for the tour to Sri Lanka before deciding to put the idea on the back burner. 

Instead, Tony de Zorzi will lead the side to Sri Lanka in June for a tour comprising three one-day matches and two four-day games. “Yes, but I didn’t think about it very long,” Conrad said about the idea to include Bavuma and even his predecessor Dean Elgar in the SA A squad.

Ultimately, he leant towards a younger group, feeling the importance of gaining experience for some players, and for others to re-establish their international credentials, held greater value right now than giving game time to the senior players.

Conrad said there was a possibility the SA A team could play a series before the start of next season, which would provide an opportunity to Elgar and Buvama — should they feel they need it — to get in game time before the marquee series with India in December. 

Sri Lanka will be an important marker for a number of young players hoping to feature in the Proteas next season, such as Kyle Verreynne, Keegan Petersen and even Zubayr Hamza. For young batters, such as Jordan Hermann, Dewald Brevis and Matthew Breetzke, it offers the chance to enhance their development. 

“The Proteas programme is what it is,” Conrad said, hinting at the lack of Test matches on the calendar for South Africa. It is easier to arrange A series’ and those become important with the Proteas in mind.

“One aspect is we can give guys who are fresh in the Proteas side such as Tony and Gerald [Coetzee] an opportunity to continue playing and growing against high quality opposition and they continue to gain experience. The other aspect is developmental so we increase the depth of players we can choose from.” 

Senuran Muthusamy is the only spinner in the squad, which is strange when touring the subcontinent, but Conrad said it was done with a bigger picture in mind.

“I think Dewald’s bowling is an underrated part of his game and it is something we want to see develop more,” Conrad said of Brevis’ leg-spin.

“It is the same with Stubbo. They won’t get as many opportunities to bowl and thus develop that skill in South African conditions, so this is an ideal chance to see that.

“Rob [Walter] is looking for an extra spinning option with the World Cup in India later this year and giving those two more chances on this tour opens the opportunity with an eye on the World Cup and maybe even the Test side in future.” 

The choice of Corbin Bosch over his brother Eathan, a standout performer in the SA20 last season, is to assess the former’s all-round ability.

“If there’d been T20s on the tour, Eathan would have gone, but he is definitely on the books. We just want to see what Corbin offers as a front-line bowler, where I have seen him crank it up and the aggression with the bat in the lower order,” Conrad said.

With Sri Lanka’s A side for the one-dayers likely to feature many of the front-line ODI players with an eye on preparation for the ICC World Cup qualifiers to be played in Zimbabwe late in June, Conrad knows there will be stiff competition for the SA A side he will be coaching.

“I think it’s great for us if they do play their strongest team. It is a great place to tour and they are a country with many great players.”

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