Johannesburg, Nov 12 (IANS) South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje is on course to return for the second Test against Bangladesh at SuperSport Park, said head coach Shukri Conrad on Thursday. Nortje injured his groin during the second Test against Australia in Gqeberha, but scans showed the damage was less serious than first feared.
Nortje will not be considered for the series opener at the Wanderers, which starts on Sunday. “He went for the scan at St George’s during the Test match, and it revealed nothing sinister. It wasn’t as bad as initially anticipated and didn’t require anything out of the ordinary either, just a little bit of rest and then some rehab.
“He’ll definitely be in the frame for one of the Test matches here, possibly the second one. From a medical point of view, there was nothing wrong, and he’s recovered well. He’s started training early enough. He’s building up his loads as we speak and he should be good to go by the second Test,” Conrad was quoted as saying by Cricinfo on Thursday.
Until Nortje is available, Corbin Bosch and Dane Paterson are the main contenders for the third seamer’s role. Conrad was also firm in saying that Nortje’s return would not mean an all-pace line-up. “What’s a full pace attack? Is it four or five? Even if you go with five quicks, someone’s not going to bowl his overs.
“What Wiaan does, in particular with the ball now, is that he gives you the luxury of playing a specialist spinner. A fifth seamer, for me, is a bit of a waste because if the four aren’t going to bowl a side out, trust me, the fifth one’s not going to do that. There’ll be no temptation to play five seamers.”
The Wanderers have offered some turn to spinners in recent years, but thunderstorms are forecast for every day of the Test, which could tilt things in favour of the quicks. “It’s stock standard. It’s obviously hot here. We just hope that it’s not over-prepared and ready too early. It’s got a really good grass covering.
“I’d like to think we’ll get a Wanderers wicket of old where there’s good pace and balance because I think our attack can bowl on good wickets. We can take 20 wickets on good wickets. And we certainly want to give our batters every chance of posting big totals,” added Conrad.
On the batting front, Conrad said only the number position is still to be decided. Zubayr Hamza and Tony de Zorzi are the contenders to replace David Bedingham, who was dropped after making just one half-century in five innings against Australia.
“With Zubi and Tony coming in, we’ve still got a couple of days, so I’m not going to pick one yet. Tony is coming back from injury, and Zubi is in really good form this year for both the Lions and the A side and is a natural No. 3. We’ll see how the next couple of days pan out, but one of the two of them will bat at No. 3, and the other one won’t play.”
“The last thing I want to do is create what would look like a bit of a revolving door with that No. 3 position. It definitely isn’t that. Against Australia, I felt that, especially at the top of the order, we required a certain character, especially against the short ball plan, which I’m expecting to continue throughout the summer with Bangladesh up on the Highveld, as well as England on the Highveld,” added Conrad.
Former South Africa pacer Charl Langeveldt has joined the support staff for the full Bangladesh tour, including for the white-ball games, while bowling coach Piet Botha is away for personal reasons. Bangladesh have South African knowledge on their side too, with Malibongwe Maketa as assistant coach and Dale Benkenstein as batting consultant.
“They’ll have a lot of confidence when they come here. We’re certainly not going to be underestimating them in any way. We give them the exact amount of respect that we pay to Australia and England. The big thing for us is remaining in the present.
“Charl has worked with all of them. He’ll give us some really good insights as to what to expect from the various bowlers. He won’t just be sitting in the bowlers’ meeting; he’ll definitely be in the batters’ meeting as well, sharing a lot of his ideas,” concluded Conrad.
–IANS
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