South Africa’s inconsistency in performances is a growing concern.
The Proteas produced a great performance on Tuesday night to beat England by seven wickets at Centurion with wonderful hundreds from Quinton de Kock and Hashim Amla. The debate around De Kock’s selection in all formats is surely now over.
While the victory was a good one and should be applauded, South Africa are not out of the woods yet with two more games to play. They need to improve their bowling but any team will struggle without the likes of Dale Steyn.
The Proteas need to be far more consistent than they have been. South African cricket is currently experiencing its worse period for quite some time and it’s a concern for me that we struggle to be more consistent. I can’t believe how bad things have to get before they play well.
There is talent in the team but the time has come to stick with certain players going forward. I don’t know why the selectors keep persisting with someone like JP Duminy instead of David Miller. It’s amazing to me that Miller is not playing in the ODI side at the moment.
David Wiese is not a bad option and I think he can do the same job as Duminy, depending on the conditions, of course. But they have to start sticking with certain players because a few others have had enough opportunities.
The main difference between the two teams for me has been England’s mental approach to batting. They look more in control at the crease.
That is why I think the decision to appoint Neil McKenzie as batting consultant is a good move by Cricket South Africa because there is a lack of really knowledgable coaches at the moment.
McKenzie is a knowledgable guy who’s played in some good teams over the years. He played at the highest level and has batted in different conditions and in different positions in the batting order.
He reads the game well and I think that will make a difference.
I believe the Proteas can do well in the last two games, but we should wait until after the series to make judgements on the state of the team and how to plot the way forward.
