Proteas on the right path but the team is yet to be tested: Petersen

SA concluded a relatively successful summer with the 2-0 sweep of a two-match Test series against Bangladesh in Durban and Gqeberha as a confidence boost ahead of a tour to England in July.

Captain Dean Elgar and coach Mark Boucher hailed the season as a success after five wins and two defeats from their seven Test matches in the 2021/22 campaign.

The Proteas played 19 matches in all formats, won 13 and lost five, with one no result.

They came from behind to beat top-ranked India 2-1 and fought back after a humiliating defeat in the first Test to share the two-match series 1-1 in New Zealand in their Test assignments this year.

Former national player Alviro Petersen says the Proteas are on the right path, but there are still concerns.

Petersen conceded the series win over Bangladesh solidified SA’s position in the ICC men’s World Test Championship standings, where they are second with a points percentage of 71.42. Bangladesh, though, are no great shakes as a Test side and were never going to be a threat in SA conditions, he noted.

In those matches there’s intense pressure every over and session whereas against Bangladesh you almost got a feeling watching that at some point they were going to crack.

—  Alviro Petersen

He said the upside of the Bangladesh domination was that the series allowed the selectors to widen a pool of players from which to pick from, but the real test will be against England and Australia away in SA’s next Test assignments.

“Those are the fixtures where you really test yourself and where you are going to get casualties and need to have big players stand up,” said Petersen, who scored 2,093 runs in 36 Tests for SA at 34.88 with five centuries.

“In those matches there’s intense pressure every over and session, whereas against Bangladesh you almost got a feeling watching that at some point they were going to crack.

“I don’t disrespect Bangladesh. It is just the nature of Test cricket and it is harder in SA as they don’t have the makeup for our conditions as a Test team.

“They were never going to be a threat in SA conditions. You can talk to any former player or even current players and they will tell you Bangladesh won’t stay in the contest for five days in SA. Yes, in Bangladesh or elsewhere they will, but not in SA in these conditions.”

Petersen, who commentated on the first Test in Durban, was cognisant of SA’s come-from-behind Test series win over India in January and a comeback 1-1 draw in the two-match series in New Zealand in February.

The former Essex, Lancashire and Glamorgan top-order batter said while the Proteas deserve credit for the way they played against India, the tourists were impeded by not playing warm-ups games and the absence of captain Virat Kohli in the second Test in which SA levelled the series. The South Africans clinched the series victory at Newlands.

“I thought the win over India was obviously good for the Proteas. However, I do feel that Kohli not playing in the second Test at the Wanderers disturbed their momentum and those things are important, but the Proteas played well and credit to them,” Petersen said.

“The Indian team was also in quarantine and didn’t play any warm-up matches, the same thing that happened to SA on their tour of New Zealand.

“India was a fascinating contest and you could feel there was a lot at stake with perhaps some careers on the line. SA play our best cricket when we are up against it. That’s when we become very dangerous.

India was a fascinating contest and you could feel as if there was a lot at stake with perhaps some careers on the line. SA play our best cricket when we are up against it. That’s when we become very dangerous.

—  Alviro Petersen

“Against New Zealand, SA showed that tendency of not starting series well and only coming back to play good cricket when our backs are against the wall.

“It’s almost as if someone needs to give them a kick up the backside. A lot of teams won’t allow you to come back and keep coming back because they keep their knee on your throat for long periods and they don’t let go.”

Between a Test defeat in Pakistan, SA also won Test series against Sri Lanka and the West Indies. But much like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and West Indies are lowly-ranked Test sides compared to SA.

Scoring hundreds and posting totals of 300 and 400 or more has been a struggle for the Proteas over the past two seasons. Though the team is on an upward trajectory, Petersen said against bigger Test teams SA will be found wanting.

“If you do things consistently you start getting used to it and if you consistently score or don’t score hundreds and big totals you get used to it.”

Petersen said he doesn’t see a lot of changes or the selectors having a headache for the tour of England when the six regular players who missed the Bangladesh Test series to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be available.

“I think what will happen is, especially for the bowlers, there are guys who are at the IPL who probably will slot it into the starting XI when they return — guys such as Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortjé and Lungi Ngidi.

“Batting-wise there might just be only one place up for grabs in the order. Rassie van der Dussen or Aiden Markram may have to fall off.”

SA made light work of Bangladesh without frontline bowlers Rabada, Nortje, Ngidi, Marco Jansen and top, though out-of-form, batters Markram and Van der Dussen.

Young Ryan Rickelton became the latest batter to solidify the SA batting lineup, to add to the emergence of Keegan Petersen, Sarel Erwee and Kyle Verreynne who have all debuted in the past year and showed promise.

Lizaad Williams impressed on his Test debut with three wickets in his first match and though he went wicketless in the second, it was only due to the brilliance of spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer. The spin twins took 20 wickets between them in the second innings of both games.