The South Africans have suffered a number of blows to their fast bowling lineup in recent weeks.
Kagiso Rabada of South Africa remains in the mix to face the Australians in the first cricket Test in Durban from Friday. Picture: Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images
Leading Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will be given until “as late as possible” to prove his fitness ahead of the first of three Tests against Australia, starting in Durban on Friday.
The 31-year-old Rabada, who has taken 340 Test wickets in 73 matches at an average of 22, however remains in a race against time to be fit for the Test at Kingsmead.
Fast bowlers
The good news is Rabada has come through an intra-squad two-day game unscathed and according to assistant Proteas coach Ashwell Prince, “looked good” during the match at the Chatsworth Oval on Sunday and Monday.
Rabada being ruled out of the match would be a big blow to the Proteas who are already without the likes of Lungi Ngidi, Kwena Maphaka and Ottniel Baartman, who are all nursing hamstring niggles.
“KG came through the game quite nicely. He bowled well, and will continue to be involved in training,” said Prince on Tuesday.
“He’s not going to be 100% straight away, but he’s looking good. We’ll leave a call to be made as late as possible.”
The other fast bowlers in the Proteas squad are Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Gerald Coetzee and all-rounders Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Wiaan Mulder and spinners Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy.
Warm-up match
Prince said he and his fellow coaches got exactly what they wanted out of the game in Chatsworth. The Australians meanwhile played a warm-up game in Potchefstroom against an Invitational XI.
“The main thing was to get everyone to spend some time in the middle,” said Prince.
“The intensity of the exercise was good. We’ve also got good fast bowlers in the squad to help us prepare [for what’s to come].”
Prince added the last few days of preparation had also been about adjusting again to the longer format of the game and the Proteas players reflecting on what they have achieved in recent times. They won the World Test Championship final at Lord’s, against Australia, in June last year.
“It’s the nature of cricket these days, with the top players playing all around the world and involved in all three formats, T20, ODIs and Tests, and adapting between the three can be a challenge.
“It’s also a big workload for some, but that said, the guys have become accustomed to making adjustments between formats.
“The main thing going into Test cricket is balance and timing … you hit the ball a bit later in Test cricket, as opposed to being at the bowler in the white-ball game. But none of these are major things.
“Also, we’ve reflected on the last 18 months, what we did well, what has brought us success, and must continue doing.”
