Ashwell Prince has provided a possible reason for the Proteas’ lack of intensity and low energy levels during the first Test against New Zealand in Christchurch.
South Africa suffered an innings-and-276-run defeat in the first Test, with frustrated captain Dean Elgar unable to explain the drop-off in performance since winning a series against India last month.
“It’s something I’m trying to wrap my head around,” he said. “But I do feel our intensity was lacking during the last two and a bit days.”
HIGHLIGHTS: Black Caps vs Proteas (1st Test, Day 3)
After day two of the Test, Proteas coach Mark Boucher said: “I think there was a high expectation from everyone, and we just haven’t come out and given the energy that is expected of us.”
“I’m going to try to offer some sort of defence for the players,” he said. “When you are travelling to Australia and New Zealand, you are going to the other side of the world.
“Scientifically, they told us, you need one day per hour [of the flight] to acclimatise to a different time zone. So if it’s 11 hours, you need 11 days to acclimatise.
“For Bouchy and the captain to say the intensity and energy wasn’t quite there, I’m thinking to myself, your first 10, 11 days in New Zealand, you’re not sleeping at night. You are awake throughout the night; when you fall asleep, it’s kind of the day time in New Zealand.
“When the matches are being played, it’s kind of when your body is still in the South African time zone and you’re falling asleep.
“So, in defence of the team, they should only be playing a warm-up match now, and then be getting into the Test match.”
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Prince was recently in New Zealand with Bangladesh as their batting coach and said there was a big difference between their preparation and the Proteas’.
“We had 10 days of Test cricket [two matches] but we were there for 35 days,” he said. “We had the time to acclimatise beforehand.
“We were all wide awake at night for 10, 11 days, but then we had three days of training and a two-day practice match. And then the Test match [which Bangladesh won].”
