- Malibongwe Maketais confident that the Proteas are moving in right path.
- Maketa is now upbeat about their chances in the first of three Tests.
- He was definitely one of the top batters on display at Gabba.
Interim Malibongwe Maketa, the head coach of the South Africa men’s team, is confident that the Proteas are moving in the right path as they prepare for the opening Test against Australia in Brisbane this coming weekend.
At a four-day match against a Cricket Australia XI staged at Brisbane’s The Allan Border Field, the tourists’ only exhibition match ended in a draw, with the majority of their hitters getting some much-needed time in the middle.
The Dean Elgar-led team’s batting had been a concern during their previous tour to England, when the team struggled for significant scores despite challenging batting conditions and lost the series 2-1. Maketa is now upbeat about their chances in the first of three Tests that begin on Saturday at The Gabba.
“I am extremely content with where we are right now. We were fortunate to travel here, stay for a while, and play in environments comparable to those we will play in. The bounce and pace of Allan Border (Field) are a little bit different from those of The Gabba, but being able to be here and play the way we have has given us a lot of confidence.”
“And I am really confident in the sense that batsmen did get some runs in the warm-up game when (captain) Dean (Elgar) had a good hundred, Kyle (Verreynne) and Theunis (de Bruyn) got beautiful eighties…everybody got in,” the author continued. “Rassie (van der Dussen) also scored 90, so we were given the chance to spend time in the middle, and some of the men were given the chance to face enough balls to feel at ease. I’m quite pleased with the bowlers’ performance since they hit the lengths we’ve been asking them to.” Temba Bavuma, the leader of the limited overs team, too received accolades as he prepared to play his first long-format game in months. However, the right-absence hander’s from the early innings of play due to soreness in his left elbow raised questions about his physical condition. But when he got another chance to bat, he faced nearly 100 pitches without incident.
“The way he’s batting has greatly increased my level of comfort. Although he’s hit a lot since we got here, two innings would have been wonderful for him. I’m therefore pleased with his improvement from the perspective of the amount and quality of the work he has done.” “He was in the middle a lot and hit the ball fairly well. He was definitely one of the top batters on display at The Gabba even on our first practise there. In terms of being one of our best batters going into this series, where he is mentally, grinning and confident again, that is very encouraging for us “Maketa tacked on.
Maketa responded that it was too early to discuss his team’s potential composition thus much in advance of the game when asked about it after being questioned about it. “Even though we now have our plans, we want to give the wicket some more time. The curator here believes that it will be a while before we can accurately predict how the wicket will play and look.”
“We’ll thus wait a little longer before making such choices. If there is a lot of grass and it is really helping the bowlers, we will require an additional batter to give us that elusive 400 to 450. If the pitch is particularly difficult and you’ll have to work hard to acquire your 20 wickets, you’ll need the extra bowler and you can rely on your top order to score runs because the wicket is favourable.”
“That is mostly what motivates us when deciding on the lineup. We are conscious that we are not there to defend anyone; therefore, if we need to go out there, grind it out at the plate, and score large runs, we will use six hitters. We’ll choose what’s best for the team if we believe we have enough on the pitch to defeat them with three bowlers and a spinner.”
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