The most important element of South African captain Dean Elgar‘s third test preparation will be to remind his players they aren’t “crap cricketers” after two straight wallopings which have exposed a one-time powerhouse as cricketing battlers.
Trying to put the disappointment of a crushing series loss into words, knowing the tourists had to pick themselves up to go again at the SCG, Elgar declared that “playing for the badge” would be a theme of discussions with his men before they take to the field in Sydney.
Bronx cheers ringing around the MCG as the Proteas passed 200 for just the first time in eight test innings, and only minutes before the thrashing was complete, was a low mark for a team which took down the Australians the past three times they toured.
While all evidence suggests his batters are not up to the level required to compete, and with Elgar lamenting ongoing issues with the cricket system in his homeland, the skipper said boosting their confidence rather than lamenting everything that has gone wrong was the only way forward.
“For me it‘s about that positive affirmation that you have to give to the greater group,” Elgar said.
“I‘m not gonna go away from that because I still feel the guys that we have, they’re talented cricketers but they obviously just lack that experience at the test level.
“You have to still keep the encouragement and keep reminding the guys that they‘re not crap cricketers, let’s put it that way, and to be blunt.”
Through two completed tests, keeper Kyle Verreynne is their leading run scorer, and only he and Temba Bavuma have more than 100 runs. David Warner outscored them both in a single innings.
But apart from fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who rocked the Australians with repeated spells of bowling David Warner declared was the fastest he’d ever faced, the much vaunted South African attack hasn’t fired as hoped.
Elgar conceded Kagiso Rabada, who finished 2022 as the equal –leading wicket taker in test cricket, but went for five runs an over at the MCG, may be flagging after a big year.
But he also said his No.1 strike bowler would want to “push himself until he breaks” in duty for his country, a factor Elgar is relying on from all his players in Sydney.
The captain said his men were now “playing for pride” with the series gone, hoping that could give them the competitive edge they have lacked so far.
“We’ve got to believe that we can still bounce back and put up a massive effort for the third test,” Elgar said.
“Playing for pride is of utmost importance for us going forward. There‘s a lot of guys hurting, I can tell you that.
“So going forward, I‘m sure that conversations are going to be … that’s what we play for now, we’re playing for the badge. And we need to try and restore a little bit of pride that maybe has been hurt over the last two weeks.”
