Last month, a South African T20 squad that last played together in December 2023*, traveled to (the USA and) the Caribbean and reached the World Cup final. This month, a South African Test side that last played together in the first week of January** is traveling to the Caribbean to begin their busiest period of red-ball cricket this cycle and attempt to get their WTC campaign on track.
South Africa sit eighth on the points table but have only played four Tests, and you could argue only one real one. The Newlands Test against India lasted seven overs longer than an ODI thanks to an unsatisfactory Cape Town pitch and was no one's idea of good quality cricket and their trip to New Zealand was headlined by what Kagiso Rabada called an "unacceptable" clash with their marquee T20 tournament and saw a second-string squad become the first South Africans to lose a Test series to New Zealand. Effectively, South Africa's WTC starts now, with the first of four two-match series between now and January, and a real chance to develop something like form in this format, which is as rare a cricketing commodity as it gets for teams like them.
"It's a challenge that's not necessarily unique to us and probably something that all the teams outside the big three face. It feels like we're starting again and again as a team," Temba Bavuma, South Africa's Test captain said in Johannesburg. "You can hear in terms of the conversations, there's a lot of reminding ourselves of a philosophy, how we want to play and basically what our blueprint is to winning. It's nothing that is unique to us as a South African team . The challenge is we've just got to make it work with what we have. We don't use it as an excuse. I think there's definitely a lot of excitement from the guys and we'd like to focus on that excitement more than all the other uncontrollables."
Bavuma himself has only featured for a few hours in a Test in this cycle and has not played any international cricket in 2024. He was injured while fielding on the first day of the Boxing Day Test against India and later ruled out of the series with a hamstring strain. He played one SA20 match, two first-class games and in the CSA T20 Challenge but has flown largely under the radar as he readies for a high-profile comeback.
"I've come out refreshed over the last couple of months of no cricket. It's largely been about being in the gym and doing my rehab. I've been under rehab for the last two and a half to three months," he said. "Mentally, that's been tough; physically, it's also been tough but I am quite refreshed and quite excited to have the opportunity again to be out there with the boys."
Since taking over the Test captaincy in February last year, when he was also removed as T20 skipper, the next six months will be his most consequential assignments as a leader. South Africa play in West Indies and Bangladesh and then host Sri Lanka and Pakistan at home which, on paper, seems to give them a fairly good chance of pushing for the WTC final. But they do all that at a time when players have already spent months playing in successive tournaments, from the SA20 to the IPL to the T20 World Cup and MLC, and gearing up for more. The CPL takes place after South Africa's tour to West Indies followed by a fairly full home summer before another SA20, IPL… and so it goes. There is also the Champions Trophy sandwiched in-between and all that has made player management tricky.
South Africa are already without three fast bowlers, for example, after Anrich Nortje opted out of a central contract to concentrate on T20s, Marco Jansen was rested from this series and Gerald Coetzee was ruled out with a side strain. "Obviously, it's a setback. We build our fast bowling attack on our fast bowlers. We'll still find a way to be effective in those conditions. Guys like KG, Lungi (Ngidi) and Nandre Burger - it's a massive opportunity for them again to put up their hands and lead that bowling attack," Bavuma said.
Ngidi has only played one Test since December 2022 and Burger only has two caps to his name. Uncapped Migael Pretorius is also in the squad along with experienced domestic professional Dane Paterson, but it's fair to say there is a level of experimentation happening as South Africa try to find their best Test combinations without much game time.
"Looking at the inexperience and all the new faces that we find within the team, it'll be a good test for the team and for those younger guys to kind of stamp their authority on international cricket," Bavuma said.
The same can be said for the batting. South Africa will have Tony de Zorzi (four caps) opening the batting alongside Aiden Markram and Tristan Stubbs (one cap) and David Bedingham (four caps) slotting in at No.3 and 5 respectively. That puts the onus on Bavuma not just to anchor the line-up, but to provide impetus and it's something he is keen to take on.
"It's a responsibility. In my Test career, I've always found myself at No.6 or No.5 but I think now with the responsibility coming in, wanting to step up, wanting to score big runs, that opportunity comes in nicely at No.4," he said.
Those members of South Africa's Test squad who were not at the MLC - Bavuma, de Zorzi, Stubbs, Dane Paterson, Keshav Maharaj and Kyle Verreynne - took part in a training camp last week in Durban. They will meet their MLC counterparts in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday ahead of a four-day warm up match against a West Indies Invitational XI from Wednesday. The first Test starts on August 7.
*Yes, we know they played three T20Is in West Indies before the T20 World Cup but that was with a makeshift side because most of the first-choice players were at the IPL.
** Yes, we know they played a series in New Zealand in February but that was without all but one - David Bedingham - of the first-choice players, who were contractually obliged to play in the SA20.