Proteas captain Dean Elgar insists his team won’t lack motivation heading into the third Test against Australia in Sydney, which starts on Wednesday.
The SCG clash is a dead rubber after the hosts won the first two matches of the series in Brisbane and Melbourne. All that the South Africans can now hope for is a consolation victory, although that would also keep them in contention for a place in the World Test Championship final later this year. The Proteas are currently fourth in the standings behind Australia, India and Sri Lanka.
“There’s plenty to play for,” Elgar said on Tuesday. “We’re playing for pride, we’re playing for a potential place in the World Test Championship final.
“That’s a massive incentive for us and, for me, you play every Test match like it’s your last and hopefully we can put on a better spectacle this time. We always want to play good Test cricket and be a thorn in the side of the opposition and we’ll be aiming to do better this time.”
South Africa have been disappointing with the bat throughout the series, especially the top order. Barring some exceptions, like Kyle Verreynne and Temba Bavuma, Elgar believes the batsmen need to be far better in Sydney.
“You can’t hide in Test cricket and the top five obviously need to find a way to deal with and negate the demands of batting discipline in Test cricket,” Elgar explained.
“I think Kyle’s been brilliant for us at six and I don’t think moving him around is going to help us or help him at all and I don’t think it’s fair,” he added after being asked if Verreynne could move up the order.
Theunis de Bruyn will miss the match in Sydney due to paternity leave, so there will be at least one change to the line-up.
“I think our only batting options [to replace De Bruyn] are those two [Rassie van der Dussen and Heinrich Klaasen] by squad composition. Rassie has quite a bit of experience at Test level and he can bring a lot to the role. Then you look at a guy like Heinrich, who’s immensely talented and maybe he’s deserving of a chance now, an extended chance as well. We’ll make those decisions this afternoon.”
The captain was also asked whether he would consider playing an extra batsman.
“I’m still thinking towards 6-5 [batsman-bowler split], but all options are on the table for us. To play seven batters would be a massive call for us and a massive ask for our bowling unit to obviously cover those four spots.
“The workload has been pretty hectic on our fast bowlers of late, especially in the last Test where they really pushed quite a few numbers with regard to overs bowled. To expect them to come into a Test match and only have four bowlers, potentially only three seamers, is quite a big ask for them.
“But the options are there, and we’ll make those decisions by tonight.”
