South Africa A has crucial role shaping future Proteas: Omphile Ramela

As the South Africa A squad touched down in East London at the weekend for their four-day match against the West Indies A starting on Tuesday, Border CEO Omphile Ramela took a trip down memory lane, recalling his time with the second-string national side that produced some of the best moments of his career.

The former Cape Cobras captain, 35, was one of a handful of black African batsmen to make their name in the longer format in his playing days. He earned his first call-up to the SA A side, which is used as a pathway to the Proteas by many players, in the winter of 2015 after an excellent season with the Cobras. He finished as the team’s top run-scorer in the first-class competition with 724 runs at 48.26, which included a double hundred.

In taxing conditions in 2015 at India’s Krishnagiri Cricket Stadium in Wayanad, playing alongside the likes of Temba Bavuma, Reeza Hendricks, Stiaan van Zyl and Theunis de Bruyn, Ramela scored a century on debut against India A. The left-handed Ramela struck 121 off 197 balls, with 12 fours and three sixes, as SA A drew with a formidable India A that included now household names such as Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer.

The next summer, he featured in SA A’s game against England and, later, against Zimbabwe, scoring another hundred in Harare.

“Playing for SA A is a high standard of first-class cricket,” the often outspoken Ramela, who is establishing himself as a prominent voice in South African cricket, said. “You get tested by quality players who have played Test cricket against some of the best international cricketing nations.

“The experience you get from the guys who are playing for the Proteas comes in handy when you return to your franchise. Some guys try to make a statement in their performances because it is one step away from making the national side.

“I had a good turnout while I was playing for the SA A team. It was some of the best moments in my career. It was good to score some valuable runs for my country and put them in good positions to win games.

“Some of the players in the SA A team have played for the Proteas Test team and will provide a great spectacle that [fans] usually only see on television,” he said.

SA A captain Neil Brand wants the team’s batsmen to kick on, once set, when they tackle West Indies at Buffalo Park.

Disappointed with their first innings batting performance in the opening Test won by the tourists, Brand, who made a second innings hundred in the first match, says the batters need to step on the gas and take full advantage when they get themselves into commanding positions.

In the narrow one-wicket loss to the Caribbean side in Benoni, coach Shukri Conrad’s charges were on top for three days of the match until Guyana’s Kevin Sinclair held off a determined SA A attack with an unbeaten 80 to help West Indies A edge the win.

Sinclair and Jair McAllister fended off the home team bowlers with a nerve-racking 53-run last-wicket stand to secure the tense win and a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

While he applauded Sinclair’s efforts, Brand feels his team had chances to grab the game by the scruff of the neck with the batters having decent starts in the first and second innings and his bowlers picking the spine of the Windies batting line-up, without doing any damage in the tail.

“It was obviously a tight game last week, it happens in cricket that when you think you have secured a win under your belt, that last partnership comes in and takes the game away from you,” Brand said.

“We have been trying to focus on the things we did well and how we can improve during the next four coming days. I feel like with the bat in the first innings we let ourselves down. We were in a position to take the game away from the West Indies and only bat once.

“We bowled excellently in the second innings to keep it at 2.4 runs per over on that pitch. It was a good effort from us. We just have to bat better in the coming few days and score big hundreds.

“And that is a mental thing. The positive thing is that guys are getting starts and half-centuries, but they have to go big when they get in, have big partnerships of 150-plus and things will take care of themselves because that is what has been lacking with the bat.”

Squads

South Africa A: Neil Brand (capt), David Bedingham, Ruan de Swardt, Tony de Zorzi,

Clyde Fortuin, Zubayr Hamza, Tshepo Moreki, Mihlali Mpongwana, Duanne Olivier,

Dane Paterson, Keegan Petersen, Dane Piedt, Raynard van Tonder, Hardus Viljoen and Khaya Zondo.

West Indies A: Jair McAllister, Kevlon Anderson, Kirk McKenzie, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Zachary McCaskie, Abhijai Mansingh, Kavem Hodge, Joshua Da Silva (capt, wk),

Tevin Imlach (wk), Akeem Jordan, Jayden Seales, Kevin Sinclair. Shamar Joseph,

Shermon Lewis.