Eyes firmly on Test series vs England, Proteas set to take on Lions in warm-up

Aug 09, 2022

Eyes firmly on Test series vs England, Proteas set to take on Lions in warm-up Image

When they play a four-day tour match against the Lions starting here later on Tuesday, the Proteas will formally commence their preparations for the first Test against England next week. 

After a very successful journey thus far, the players made the weekend trek from Bristol to Canterbury to start their red-ball preparations. 

They drew their wet ODI series against the hosts 1-1 before defeating them 2-1 in a three-match T20I competition. After that, India defeated Ireland 2-0 in their two-game T20I series.

Test captain Dean Elgar stated that having players from those limited-overs games join the squad was very beneficial for the team in his remarks prior to the exhibition game. 

He told the media on Monday, "They've got a lot of confidence coming into the set-up and it's almost like a breath of fresh air with these guys arriving. "It's fantastic for us that they are playing here after having such success in the previous month. It provides us with useful materials, a wide range of choices, and knowledge we can utilise to best prepare for the series." 

Numerous members of the Test team have extensive backgrounds in English county cricket. Elgar thinks that South Africa will gain a great deal from this as well.

I believe those are excellent choices for us, he remarked. "With men playing country cricket here now and performing admirably in their matches, I believe we are moving in the right direction. Just from a point of view of experience with the weather, it's a huge advantage for us heading into this Test series." 

Kagiso Rabada, who missed their most recent white-ball matches owing to an ankle issue, was also updated on his injury by Elgar.

Since we began our programme in Canterbury, he has bowled. The biggest question, in my opinion, is whether he can manage the workload of a Test match with the intensity and quantity of overs in a day's play. 

He's acting morally upright for the time being. He's high on our list to get healthy and give us more choices for the series, but I can't yet say yes or no since there are still eight to nine days till the first Test.

Anrich Nortje's return to the Test team has greatly strengthened the Proteas while Rabada is recovering. The paceman's final 12 Test match against West Indies was over a year ago. 

Elgar continued, "It's nice to have Ana (Nortje) back." "With his injuries over the past year, he's gone off course a little bit. We value the manner he is now bowling in the nets and in the white-ball match. 

"If you have those kinds of assets in the UK, you need to exploit them," the speaker said. "He adds a whole different kind of pace to the table." 

On August 17, the first of a three-game Test series versus England gets underway at Lord's.