Rickelton battling for rhythm while Proteas pursue more aggression

At the start of 2025 Ryan Rickelton bestrode Newlands like a colossus. Both arms thrust in the air, bat in one hand, his helmet atop the handle, Rickelton soaked in the applause of a packed house and the nation at large. 

Finally after years of barging down the door, here was his moment. But that double century feels like a long time ago. As with all things in life, cricket moves on, and the cheers from that January are more muted now, with Rickelton amid a lean patch, which naturally is causing frustration. 

After scoring 71 in the opening T20 match against Australia two-and-a-half weeks ago, Rickelton’s next five innings read: 14, 13, 33, 8 and 11.

“He got some starts but unfortunately was not able to kick on. It is a rhythm thing,” Proteas batting coach Ashwell Prince remarked. 

Batting rhythm can be harder to relocate than it is for fast bowlers.

Rickelton followed that 259 against Pakistan by starring for MI Cape Town in the SA20, then made a hundred to start the Champions Trophy, followed by a solid first season in the IPL for the Mumbai Indians. 

He wasn’t as prolific as he’d have liked in the World Test Championship final, and then like the other all-format players — including Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs and Kagiso Rabada — he was given an extended break after Lord's. 

That period — some of it spent in the bush — was the first Rickelton has spent away from the game since he underwent ankle surgery in 2023.

In Australia — his first serious cricket since Lord’s — Rickelton looked scratchy across all six innings, even that 71, when he took too long to get going.

However, Prince and Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad are willing to show patience with Rickelton and Stubbs, who also struggled Down Under and in the latter’s case seemed to suffer a crisis of confidence, with a number of catches also being dropped.

Ahead of South Africa's next ODI assignment, which starts against England next week, Conrad wants the players to be more attacking in their approach, said Prince.

“Rickelton is naturally a positive player, but from Shuks’ point of view he might want a little more aggression. It can take time for people to settle into that mindset and style of play, but we encourage that.”

Rickelton is part of a reconfigured top order that Conrad, who took over as white-ball coach in May, wants to embed.

At the Champions Trophy, Rickelton opened the batting with Tony de Zorzi, Stubbs and in the semifinal Temba Bavuma. But Conrad has shifted Markram, who’s batted at No 4 in 43 of his 76 ODI innings, back to opener.

“The head coach is a massive fan of Rickelton and Markram and their style of play, which is naturally aggressive — also the left/right combo,” said Prince. 

Bavuma, who’s opened in 28 of his 49 ODI innings, is now at No 3, a position he’s occupied 17 times and from where the coaching staff feel he is best equipped to manage the innings. 

“In our Test team, in the last year or so, he’s been at No 5, but before the WTC final we identified No 4 to be the key position, purely because we felt he is our best Test player. Similarly in 50-over cricket, No 3 is a key position — both from losing an early wicket, then setting up the innings and being able to grow the innings. He is our most organised Test player and it suits him to be at No 3.”

As an opener, Bavuma averages 48.64, and at No 3 it's 40.81.

“I don’t think there is a big difference from No 1 to No 3. He has the maturity and as the leader he can make an assessment for how early to put the foot down or set up the innings if that is the case,” said Prince. 

Conrad’s wider plan for the batters is further underscored by his attitude towards landmarks.

“It was a little bit disappointing that no one made a hundred in Australia,” Prince acknowledged. 

Though South Africa won the series, the Australians made three hundreds, while the highest score by a Proteas batter was Matthew Breetzke’s 88 in game 2.

“The focus is more on making an impact. We don’t necessarily want someone who is in the 70s and 80s to have just scoring a 100 in the back of his mind and nursing himself towards that.

“We want to encourage those guys, when they are in that phase of their innings, that if they fancy it to put their foot down — and sometimes they will go on to get a hundred and if they bomb out and don’t, that is the way the cookie crumbles.”