Proteas red-ball coach Shukri Conrad will be crossing his fingers that he doesn’t suffer any more disruptions ahead of the highly anticipated World Test Championship final against Australia in June.
The Proteas are currently sweating on the availability of two of their middle-order batters after it was confirmed on Tuesday that David Bedingham sustained a fractured toe that will keep him out between four and six weeks. Bedingham was struck on the toe whilst batting for Durham last week against Warwickshire.
Bedingham’s injury is on the back of the Proteas captain Temba Bavuma having suffered a recurrence of his elbow injury last week that forced him to miss the Cricket SA 4-Day Series final at the Wanderers.
Bavuma fractured his left elbow in 2022, which forced him out of Proteas’ tour to England that year and sidelined him for three months. The SA captain also spent time behind the ropes last year.
There are just seven weeks remaining before the WTC final, which starts on June 11.
The Proteas’ batting line-up has been a pretty settled unit over the last year, with basically everyone contributing big runs at crucial times during their incredible unbeaten run to the showpiece match.
It’s been the fast-bowling department where the team has had to chop and change, with injuries to speedsters such as Nandre Burger, Anrich Nortje and Gerald Coetzee causing disruption.
Bavuma’s contributions have been immense, especially in the home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. As the captain he has also been outstanding, with his on-field leadership key to the success.
Bedingham, while not as prolific, would be a key batsman against the vaunted Aussie attack because of his experience in English conditions, having top-scored in last season’s County Championship.
Tony de Zorzi is expected to reclaim the opener’s berth alongside the in-form Aiden Markram, who is having a super Indian Premier League campaign. That should see the impressive Ryan Rickelton move down to No 3, as he is probably undroppable now after scoring a double century in the Proteas’ previous Test match against Pakistan at Newlands.
That leaves the conundrum of Tristan Stubbs, who himself has been in fine form in the Test team over the last year. If fit, Bavuma and Bedingham should be batting at No 4 and No 5 respectively, with wicket-keeper Kyle Verreynne following them.
Conrad is also a big fan of Wiaan Mulder’s all-round talents at No 7, as he has made big contributions with bat and ball last summer and adds much-needed balance to the side. Marco Jansen coming in at No 8 also gives the South Africans plenty of depth in the batting stakes.
However, if the Proteas decide to go with four seamers and Markram as the sole spinning option ahead of veteran Keshav Maharaj in the early English summer, there may be a case for seven front-line batsmen, with Mulder and Jansen moving down a spot. But this is unlikely to happen.
So, the Proteas are in a fortunate position when all their batters are fit, but Stubbs can also fit in if one of Bavuma or Bedingham hasn’t fully recovered.
Hopefully that is the worst-case scenario for Conrad, and that there aren’t any more injuries to come ahead of the Proteas’ biggest Test match in their history.
@JohnGoliath82
