Mulder fit and raring to go but starting spot not guaranteed at Newlands

With an extra Test match at Lord’s secured, the Proteas head into the New Year’s Test in Cape Town keen to show off, desperate to perform better than they did last week and hoping for a pitch that allows for at least three days of play. 

Last season’s barely two day fiasco against India at Newlands was deeply embarrassing for Western Province and Cricket SA, and showed the venerable old venue in a dreadful light. There’s still much renovation that needs to be done, but Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad has expressed optimism the second Test with Pakistan will still be on the go  during the first full week of 2025. 

Before then he and skipper Temba Bavuma face intriguing selection decisions. Last week’s dramatic victory in Centurion came without two key components of the team, left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder. 

The former almost has to return to the starting line-up, given the anticipated conditions, which to be fair to Western Province Cricket, have not been as diabolical as they were last season. Pakistan scored more than 300 runs in the ODI played there two weeks ago, and the Proteas were on course to chase it down, but ran out of batting. 

Unlike Maharaj, Mulder’s return is less predictable. There doesn’t appear to be a policy with the Proteas team which says players who miss matches because of injury automatically reclaim their starting spot once fit.

Mulder wasn’t sure if he’d be in the starting XI on Friday, despite fully recovering from the fractured finger he picked up in the first Test against Sri Lanka at the end of November. 

“I did a lot of work last week. I caught, hit and bowled a lot of balls, to get fit for this week. I don’t think more training will get me fitter. I’m ready to go,” Mulder said before training on Wednesday.

The timing of the injury couldn’t have been worse. Besides the match situation, Mulder had been on a run of form in the limited overs and Test teams that emphasised his importance for the Proteas, and finally saw him achieve the potential many forecast for him when he was a schoolboy superstar at St Stithians College in Johannesburg.

There was his man of the match display in Guyana, when SA beat the West Indies in the second Test with Mulder, scoring a crucial 41 not out in SA’s second innings and taking six wickets. In the first Test against Bangladesh, he picked up three wickets in the first innings, made 34 in a vital partnership with Kyle Verreynne and in the second Test he scored his maiden Test hundred. 

“I feel like my career is stop/start, that I have to play well today. The difference (in the first few years of my career) was that this — playing for my country, something I’ve wanted to do since I was a little kid — was all I had,” said Mulder.

“In many ways, in my heart, I wondered if I was good enough to consistently put in performances at this level. No-one knows (the answer) until they play and they do it. The difference now is I’ve spent time in England (with Leceistershire) and put in match-winning performances. 

“I have a hundred at international level, I’ve got few important spells where I’ve taken key wickets and I am an important feature in the slips. There’s a lot of good things I can rely on and look back on when it is difficult. I’m worthy. I'm here to win a game, not just to fill a spot.”

He scored 258 runs at an average of 64.50 in seven Tests in 2024, along with taking 10 wickets at 18.20 and grabbing seven catches. 

But he’s not the only one delivering for the Proteas in the all-rounder spot. Marco Jansen took six second innings wickets and a match-winning knock last week at SuperSport Park; Corbin Bosch made his debut and was impactful with four wickets, an beaten 81 and held a catch, and in Chattogram in October; Senuran Muthusamy made a half-century and took four wickets with his left-arm off-spin. 

“When I was younger seeing those players perform would have affected me a lot more  because you’re desperate to be here,” Mulder admitted.

“But in a team like this, or maybe it's where I’m at in my career, I don't want someone else to fail for me to get in. If Corbin comes in and plays the way he did, (it’s because) he’s worked extremely hard. He’s had the same journey I’ve had. No-one deserves it more than somebody else. The important thing is what you can contribute now.” 

“It’s the same with Marco, I want the best for him and he wants the best for me. That culture is so important. There’s lots of extra noise in international cricket and if we start picking on each other or hoping another person fails, then we are not, when it's crunch time, going to win.”

The Proteas are chasing a seventh consecutive Test win in Cape Town which would be the country’s second longest winning streak. Between March 2002 and May 2003, SA won nine matches in a row. 

For an inexperienced group, qualifying for the WTC final is already a big deal, but showing the kind of consistency they have in the past few months, winning in different conditions, with a variety of contributors to the cause, is indicative of growth. Cape Town should be a match they all enjoy, even if some of them — Mulder possibly — don’t get to play.