- Joined
- Oct 2, 2004
- Runs
- 217,910
"It seems like there's an echo in the room; it's the same question," Shukri Conrad said as he glanced at various parts of the ceiling during a press conference in Bloemfontein on Thursday. He had been asked, for the third time in not quite 13 minutes, about the importance of South Africa's World Cup Super League (WCSL) series against England.
The truth is self-evident. If England win all three matches, South Africa will have to make an unprecedented trip to the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in June and July to reach the World Cup in India in October and November. If South Africa beat England once they will need to prevail in both matches against the Netherlands on March 31 and April 2 to avoid the qualifier. Win two against England and just one victory will be required over the Dutch. A 3-0 sweep over the English would mean, from the South Africans' perspective, that the Netherlands needn't bother coming.
England are fourth in the standings, so well on course for the top-eight finish that would guarantee the holders - it's difficult to call a team who were awarded the trophy by dint of a boundary count in 2019 the champions - a place in India.
The home side's challenge won't be made easier by the confirmed return of Jofra Archer, who hasn't played for England since March 2021 because of injury. Archer, who estimated his readiness at "about 80%" on Wednesday, has been in decent nick in the SA20, where he has taken eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.57 in five games in which he has bowled 19 overs.
Archer isn't the only member of England's squad who has been able to tune up for the series by playing in the SA20. Jos Buttler is the leading run-scorer in a tournament in which Phil Salt has scored two half-centuries. Phil Salt, Jason Roy, Olly Stone, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and Reece Topley have also been in the mix, with varying degrees of success.
Of the South Africa squad of 16, only Temba Bavuma isn't playing in the SA20 - he wasn't bought at the player auction. Heinrich Klaasen has made three 50s in the tournament, Quinton de Kock two, and Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen one each. Anrich Nortje has claimed 13 wickets at an economy rate of 6.07, with Lungi Ngidi taking nine at 6.39, Parnell nine at 8.43 and Kagiso Rabada seven at 7.40.
The series is the first South Africa will play in any format after Mark Boucher's departure in the wake of the T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November. Boucher has been replaced by Shukri Conrad in a Test capacity and by Rob Walter for white-ball cricket. Conrad will be in charge for the England series while Walter, who has been coaching in New Zealand since 2016, packs up his life and moves back to South Africa.
England are the only visiting team never to have lost an ODI to South Africa in Bloemfontein. They have won three of the four they have played there with the other washed out.
When: January 27, 2023; 1pm Local Time (3pm BST, 4.30pm IST)
Where: Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein
What to expect: A flat pitch and plenty of running between the wickets on the biggest outfield in South Africa. That could be interesting considering a forecast high of 32 degrees Celsius.
Team news:
South Africa:
In their most recent ODI in Bloem, in March 2020, South Africa deployed both Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi - and dismissed Australia for 271 on their way to victory by six wickets. The spinners kept the damage to under a run a ball, but the star on the day/night was Lungi Ngidi, who took 6/58. Might we see that kind of configuration again?
Possible XI: Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (capt), Heinrich Klaasen, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi.
England:
Phil Salt's involvement is in doubt because of illness. If he doesn't make it Ben Duckett will step into the breach.
Possible XI: Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler (capt), Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
What they said:
"We know where we stand in terms of how many games we need to win. But we'd like to shift our focus. There's an opportunity for us to clear up our identity and how we'd like to play. We'd like to use these games to do that." - Temba Bavuma seems resigned to having to go to the World Cup qualifier.
"This will be his first international game for a long time, and there's always going to be a level of expectation on Jofra because we all know what he's capable of." - Jos Buttler looks forward to unleashing Jofra Archer.
Squads:
England Squad: Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Reece Topley, David Willey, Olly Stone, Philip Salt
South Africa Squad: Janneman Malan, Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma(c), Aiden Markram, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Heinrich klaasen, Rassie van der Dussen, Sisanda Magala, Tabraiz Shamsi
The truth is self-evident. If England win all three matches, South Africa will have to make an unprecedented trip to the qualifying tournament in Zimbabwe in June and July to reach the World Cup in India in October and November. If South Africa beat England once they will need to prevail in both matches against the Netherlands on March 31 and April 2 to avoid the qualifier. Win two against England and just one victory will be required over the Dutch. A 3-0 sweep over the English would mean, from the South Africans' perspective, that the Netherlands needn't bother coming.
England are fourth in the standings, so well on course for the top-eight finish that would guarantee the holders - it's difficult to call a team who were awarded the trophy by dint of a boundary count in 2019 the champions - a place in India.
The home side's challenge won't be made easier by the confirmed return of Jofra Archer, who hasn't played for England since March 2021 because of injury. Archer, who estimated his readiness at "about 80%" on Wednesday, has been in decent nick in the SA20, where he has taken eight wickets at an economy rate of 7.57 in five games in which he has bowled 19 overs.
Archer isn't the only member of England's squad who has been able to tune up for the series by playing in the SA20. Jos Buttler is the leading run-scorer in a tournament in which Phil Salt has scored two half-centuries. Phil Salt, Jason Roy, Olly Stone, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid and Reece Topley have also been in the mix, with varying degrees of success.
Of the South Africa squad of 16, only Temba Bavuma isn't playing in the SA20 - he wasn't bought at the player auction. Heinrich Klaasen has made three 50s in the tournament, Quinton de Kock two, and Aiden Markram and Marco Jansen one each. Anrich Nortje has claimed 13 wickets at an economy rate of 6.07, with Lungi Ngidi taking nine at 6.39, Parnell nine at 8.43 and Kagiso Rabada seven at 7.40.
The series is the first South Africa will play in any format after Mark Boucher's departure in the wake of the T20 World Cup in Australia in October and November. Boucher has been replaced by Shukri Conrad in a Test capacity and by Rob Walter for white-ball cricket. Conrad will be in charge for the England series while Walter, who has been coaching in New Zealand since 2016, packs up his life and moves back to South Africa.
England are the only visiting team never to have lost an ODI to South Africa in Bloemfontein. They have won three of the four they have played there with the other washed out.
When: January 27, 2023; 1pm Local Time (3pm BST, 4.30pm IST)
Where: Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein
What to expect: A flat pitch and plenty of running between the wickets on the biggest outfield in South Africa. That could be interesting considering a forecast high of 32 degrees Celsius.
Team news:
South Africa:
In their most recent ODI in Bloem, in March 2020, South Africa deployed both Keshav Maharaj and Tabraiz Shamsi - and dismissed Australia for 271 on their way to victory by six wickets. The spinners kept the damage to under a run a ball, but the star on the day/night was Lungi Ngidi, who took 6/58. Might we see that kind of configuration again?
Possible XI: Quinton de Kock, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (capt), Heinrich Klaasen, Rassie van der Dussen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Lungi Ngidi.
England:
Phil Salt's involvement is in doubt because of illness. If he doesn't make it Ben Duckett will step into the breach.
Possible XI: Jason Roy, Phil Salt, Dawid Malan, Jos Buttler (capt), Harry Brook, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Jofra Archer, Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley
What they said:
"We know where we stand in terms of how many games we need to win. But we'd like to shift our focus. There's an opportunity for us to clear up our identity and how we'd like to play. We'd like to use these games to do that." - Temba Bavuma seems resigned to having to go to the World Cup qualifier.
"This will be his first international game for a long time, and there's always going to be a level of expectation on Jofra because we all know what he's capable of." - Jos Buttler looks forward to unleashing Jofra Archer.
Squads:
England Squad: Jason Roy, Dawid Malan, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Sam Curran, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Reece Topley, David Willey, Olly Stone, Philip Salt
South Africa Squad: Janneman Malan, Quinton de Kock(w), Reeza Hendricks, Temba Bavuma(c), Aiden Markram, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Wayne Parnell, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Heinrich klaasen, Rassie van der Dussen, Sisanda Magala, Tabraiz Shamsi
<a href="https://t.co/yNuLgtNp85">pic.twitter.com/yNuLgtNp85</a></p>— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) <a href="https://twitter.com/SkyCricket/status/1619052755120754701?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 27, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
