Spinners can give Proteas the edge
In years gone by, there was a reluctance from national selectors to pick spinners in the Proteas team. How the times have changed.
|||South Africa long ago gave up on the notion that spin bowlers are only good for carrying drinks - nowadays the Proteas embrace leg-breaks, googlies, flippers and toppies as much as any cricket nation on earth.
Imran Tahir is such an important component of the attack, the selectors wouldn’t dream of omitting him.
Quite the opposite actually - they’re giving him help in the shape of Aaron Phangiso and Tabraiz Shamsi, while JP Duminy offers another slow bowling option.
Spinners aren’t meant to just contain either.
Tahir puts it best: “I never look to contain, I always look to take wickets.”
That change in mindset from players, coaches and selectors has helped create depth and variety in the spinning department and it’s an area that’s a genuine weapon which the South Africans believe gives them an advantage against Australia, whom they face in a five match One-Day series starting in Centurion tomorrow.
The last time the two teams met - in June this year in St Kitts - half of the overs were bowled by spinners. That is not likely to happen in the first two matches of this series, but there is still no denying the importance of the variety and balance that spins provide to the attack.
“You’ve got four or five really good spinners in the country at the moment, where a couple of years back there was probably two. I like the competition, that means I can never relax. I must thank these guys, they always make me improve,” said Tahir.
If South Africa is to beat the world champions over the next few weeks, then Tahir will form a vital part of their plans. The Australian way has always been to attack the opposing spinner, which is something Tahir relishes.
The big challenge for him is bowling at the two premier venues on the Highveld, both notorious for providing assistance to stroke makers, where the balls skids rather than spins, with fast outfields providing value for shots and the thin air allowing the ball to travel further.
“The ball is not going to spin much here, and we have to be really good with our plans.”
It’s not that Tahir has struggled at either SuperSport Park or the Wanderers, just that his record at those grounds is not as prodigious as elsewhere. In a combined six ODIs at those venues, he’s claimed just eight wickets at an average close of 38.00. His overall record of 105 wickets at 23.13 highlights just how hard it is even for him to bowl well on the Highveld.
“You have to bowl more wicket to wicket and use your variation,” said Tahir.
South Africa is unlikely to go with more than Tahir as a frontline spinner, for the first two matches of the series. Duminy, as was seen in Benoni last Sunday, is more than adequate support in the spin bowling role.
With Dale Steyn back in the ODI squad - and very keen to prove a point after missing the tour to the West Indies - South Africa will rely on pace from him and Kagiso Rabada, with Wayne Parnell providing extra variety via his left arm pace and one of Andile Phehlukwayo or Dwaine Pretorius to fill the other front-line all-rounder spot.
Hashim Amla was back at training yesterday following the birth of his third child and is set to resume his partnership at the top of the order with Quinton de Kock.
The absence of AB de Villiers does rob the series of a star attraction and South Africa of its most dynamic batsman, while also placing greater emphasis on Duminy, Dave Miller and Farhaan Behardien to fill in and underscore their value to the national team.
Australia and South Africa had little trouble dismissing Ireland in a pair of one-off matches in Benoni, and a mouth-watering series is in the offing. In addition both teams recognise there’s also an opportunity for psychological point scoring ahead of the Test series Down Under in November.
*There are still tickets available for tomorrow’s first ODI at SuperSport Park. They can be purchased from ticketpro.co.za
The Star