SA will make changes for the second Test but are wary of panicky decisions

The Proteas have a lengthy list of questions after their crushing defeat in the first Test against Australia at Kingsmead.

Where do you apportion blame? Do you apportion blame? Is it the rustiness?

Is it the lack of Test match innings? Is it because of the long break? Did they overthink things?

And finally, will there be changes?

Those were all questions Shukri Conrad posed in response to inquiries about what went wrong in Durban, where Australia won by 214 runs on Tuesday.

“All of those sorts of questions would pop up. I’m not going to be able to give you all the answers right now,” said the Proteas coach.

Which is perfectly understandable. He and captain Temba Bavuma had taken time to draw breath. They cannot afford to make decisions for the second Test starting in Gqeberha on Sunday that are emotional.

“This was neither a calamity nor a catastrophe,” Conrad said. “We just lost a Test match. It doesn’t mean you’ve now got to go soul-searching and questioning all the things that we’ve done really well and are not doing really well. We just need to get bloody better.”

Bavuma had some quiet time before the post-match presentation to gather his thoughts and reflect on what had transpired over the five days, and will continue to do so before sharing his opinion with the selectors on Wednesday, once the team arrives in the Eastern Cape.

South Africa’s squad for the second Test will be named on Thursday morning.

Rustiness certainly played its part in Durban. The Proteas are notoriously slow starters anyway and not playing a Test for 11 months before facing Australia certainly affected how they operated.

They lacked critical foresight in crucial periods, most notably when player of the match Matt Renshaw was taking control of Australia’s lower order, and ensured the last four wickets stretched the first innings for 95 overs, boosting their total to 390 with his excellent 190.

It was also mentally exhausting and played a big role in Ryan Rickelton’s first innings dismissal on the second night.

“Is it the rustiness? I remember them coming back after their hiatus and losing to Bangladesh,” Conrad said, referencing Australia’s defeat in their first Test after an eight-month break in August.

“This is going to sound like a host of excuses and it’s not that. We haven’t played in a while. We’ve come up against arguably the best attack in the world on a really good wicket, and they challenge you in so many respects. Every time we felt we were just getting ourselves out of the woods, we’d let them back in.”

He acknowledged his side were out-batted. Given the conditions on the third day — a flat pitch and warm temperatures — South Africa should have scored more than 284 in their first innings. Six batters made at least 30, but David Bedingham’s 49 was the inning’s highest score.

We obviously need to look at how we can improve the side without being knee-jerk in our decision-making and panicky. We need to show composure.

—  Proteas coach Shukri Conrad

“On a good wicket like that, you shouldn’t be going behind. Again, the amount of starts we got and no one really getting a big one. So yeah, that’s the disappointing part.”

Besides Renshaw, there was an example from within their own stable of a better approach. Aiden Markram was the one Proteas batter who learned from the missteps in the first innings and produced a dogged, nearly six-hour effort in the second innings, scoring 75.

The usually attractive cover drives were largely put away, with Markram conducting some weird leaves — with his back leg in the air — as he allowed the ball to pass over the stumps. “That single bloody-mindedness where you say: ‘I’ve got to bat a day-and-a-half here now irrespective of what it looks like.’ Some of our batters can take a leaf out of his book,” Conrad said.

There will be at least one change for St George’s Park, with Kagiso Rabada set to start, most likely for Simon Harmer.

“We need to look at what Gqeberha throws up or puts out and then base our decisions, again, on what we think the conditions are going to be. Hopefully our Rolls-Royce [Rabada] will be purring down the highway there.”

Other changes will be based on conversations Conrad has with senior players, chief selector Patrick Moroney and the coaching staff. “We obviously need to look at how we can improve the side without being knee-jerk in our decision-making and panicky, we need to show composure.

“We need to front up and we need to get the personnel that we believe are going to front up. Will there be changes? We’ve got guys in our squad that probably deserve a crack. So yeah, it’s safe to say that might be an option,” the coach said.