THE SUNDAY HEAD 2 HEAD

More questions Proteas.

Another loss to Australia, at the business end of a World Cup!  The proverbial question will be asked, did we choke in a must win game again?

This also being the T20 World Cup also begs the question – do the Proteas need T20 specialists in the team?

Thatsportsite looks at Richard Levi, a spectacular T20 century against New Zealand last season put him on the map. But what has he done after that?  Not much, this World Cup he has made just one half-century after which it has been single figure scores.

Thatsportsite is not singling out Levi for the loss to Australia, it’s just that the Proteas do not need specialist T20 players. Play normal cricket. The likes of Ashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers have the skill and talent to adapt. Sure get creative with certain shots but the basics stay the same. It is still cricket.

The so-called T20 specialists have this idea that from ball 1 the boundaries need to flow.

Did you watch Shane Watson bat today? He started slowly and waited for the bad deliveries, which he punished. He made the bowlers bowl to his liking. And he still scored at better than a run a ball. That is how you want to play T20 cricket.

The Proteas have the perfect opening pair in Ashim Amla and Jacques Kallis, Kallis to bat through the innings and Amla to make those quick runs at the start.  Was this not the tactic when Kallis was named in the squad for the World Cup. Remember he has done it before and been successful doing it in the IPL. T20 need not be balls to the wall from ball 1. There is time for patience and to build an innings.

Proteas, play normal cricket, you do not need T20 specialists. You have the players who are more than capable and that can adapt.

Thatsportsite believes that Richard Levi along with other players classified as T20 specialist can become as devastating in all forms of the game, Tests and ODIs. Let’s not curb players’ growth by branding them certain types of players.

Proteas, put this into practice as you take on India on Tuesday. You are not totally out of it. It just could have been a bit easier.

By: Joker Stephen
The game is the leveller.

Fix the Performance, dont change the Plan…

The quite understandable emotional overreaction to South Africa’s loss to Australia at the T20 World Cup earlier today, will naturally lead to many fans questioning the manner in which the Proteas have conducted their tactics thus far.

Drop Richard Levi, Wayne Parnell’s useless, Morne Morkel’s third over was a sham, why not play Vernon Philander, and so forth.

Clear heads however, should come to realize that, as much as what the Proteas were simply outplayed in every aspect of the game today, the demands which the T20 format places on a team’s strategy means there’s no option but to ‘cut the cloth to suit the body’ .

Robin Peterson’s innings – which did manage to add some respectability to the Protea’s total – shows that T20 specialists are indeed a necessity.  He played practically no ‘conventional’ cricket strokes yet managed to hit 32 of 19 balls. Peterson, on current form, cannot be considered either a batsman or bowler who would be good enough to make South Africa’s first choice test team on merit, yet his improvised innings was the one shining light of today’s pathetic performance.

In the same way, AB de Villiers keeping wicket while captaining the team and also being the batting ‘go to guy’ is also a nod to the unique demands of 20 over cricket. The same approach is being adopted by just about every team, see the likes of Cameron White and David Warner for Australia, England’s Kieswetter, New Zealand’s Brandon McCullum and Jacob Oram, etc.

Yes, you should include your very best natural cricketers wherever it is possible to do so and in South Africa’s case the likes of De Villiers, Kallis, Amla and Dale Steyn should be in the team regardless of the format being played. The ideal really would be for the talents which these players bring to blend with those of the T20 specialists, an example being Kallis anchoring an innings while a Richard Levi or Albie Morkel smashes it to all parts. The recent form of both Levi and A. Morkel does make the point difficult to understand, but this is not to say the approach is flawed. Keep playing the T20 specialists, provided they are in good form at that time. The real task facing Gary Kirsten and Co is to have their performance live up to the theoretical ‘T20 strategy’ .

By: Newman Clinton

We aiming for second place

THE SUNDAY HEAD 2 HEAD