Proteas must adapt to conditions quickly to get upper hand: Erwee

The only thing on Proteas opener Sarel Erwee’s mind is to right the wrongs of the first Test.

SA suffered a heavy innings defeat to New Zealand last week, scoring only 206 runs in two innings, as they were dominated in the batting, bowling and fielding departments.

They meet again in the second and final Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch with SA looking to avoid another defeat and the Black Caps going all out to seal their first Test series win over the Proteas.

After a period of reflection, Erwee said the players want to correct their mistakes and improve as individuals and as a team. “Physically you try to stick to what is called active recovery and mentally you go through your game plans and think about where you went wrong and what you did right,” he said.

We don’t want to overthink things too much, but at the same time we want to correct the mistakes we made as a unit and as individuals in the first Test.

—  Sarel Erwee

“Those things you did right, you have to stick to and those you got wrong, you have to find a way to adapt and reflect on how you are going to improve and get better.

“We don’t want to overthink things too much, but at the same time we want to correct the mistakes we made as a unit and as individuals in the first Test.”

To be able to bounce back, Erwee said they must adapt to conditions. “It is about adapting to conditions and putting our best foot forward; that’s basically it. We face tough conditions back home and it’s a case of adapting and watching the ball.

“Lots of things have been said by a lot of people, but it is about adapting early on and making peace with the conditions.”

The second match will be played at the same venue and Erwee expects conditions to be similar to the first Test. “Not much is going to change in the second Test. We have looked at the conditions again and they seems similar. We have had a chat about it and we are preparing well.

“If you look at the stats of the ground, the toss does not make much of a difference. I think the team that adapts quickest gets the upper hand. People might think that if you win the toss and bat first you’ll have the upper hand, but I think the team that adapts quickest and learns from mistakes early will get the upper hand.”