Shukri Conrad lamented the superior skill and intensity of the England Lions as the main reasons for South Africa A’s disappointing England tour.
The tourists suffered two heavy defeats during the ODI series, by nine wickets and 144 runs en route to a 2-0 series defeat to the hosts. Conrad and his side would have hoped that a change in format would reverse their fortunes come the the unofficial Test against the Lions. It was not to be, however, as they fell to a crushing defeat by an innings and 50 runs.
‘We created the odd chance here and there, but the English boys out skilled us. They played with much better intensity than we did and we were found wanting, as has been the case for most of this tour bar one game against a second-string Hampshire side, so it was largely disappointing,’ Conrad commented.
SA A do not have much time to dwell on the results of the England tour with home series against Australia A and India A fast approaching.
‘There’s a lot of soul searching that needs to be done, a lot of introspection that needs to take place and obviously we need to turn things around quickly,’ Conrad said.
‘We’ve got Australia A arriving on our shores in a few weeks’ time. The first game against them is on 12 July, so we’ve got to be ready for that and whatever learnings we’ve taken out of this tour, and there have been plenty,’ Conrad added.
The England tour did end on a positive note, however, for Aiden Markram and Heino Kuhn who have both been included in the Proteas Test squad to face England.
