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With a Test average of 22.21 Wiaan Mulder is the first to admit he needs more runs, though he and his coach believe he can continue batting at three.
Wiaan Mulder will bat at number three for the fourth time, come the first Test match against Zimbabwe. Picture: Gareth Copley/Getty Images
Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad said while he hasn’t finalised his line-up for the first Test match against Zimbabwe starting on Saturday, all-rounder Wiaan Mulder would be batting at number three again.
Mulder first appeared at three in November last year after playing all of his international cricket in the middle-to-lower order before that. He broke his finger in the first innings against Sri Lanka in Durban and returned in the second innings to score 15 runs.
He batted at three against Pakistan in January, and then again against Australia in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. In those three innings, he scored five, six and 27 – the last one important and under pressure.
While his first-class average of 35.86 is decent, if not spectacular, his Test average is a meagre 22.21. After 31 innings, he has only managed one fifty and one century.
‘I always see myself as a batter’
It’s a far cry from the legendary all-rounder who used to occupy positions three or four, Jacques Kallis. But Mulder is the first to admit he needs more runs.
“I always see myself as a batter. A lot of my career, I have hidden behind that fact, tried to bowl more or whatever the case may be. I loved the chance to bat at three, and when I broke my finger, it all kind of changed,” the 27-year-old said.
“Technically, I’ve worked really hard to get my game in place to be able to manage the new ball, to look after and score runs during that new ball phase of every innings. I think I learned a lot playing at the WTC about batting at three.”
He said the WTC first innings taught him the positions he needs to get into to transfer pressure is more important than just surviving. “The important thing about it is we look to score all the time, and that’s the mindset that when I play that way, I play at my best.”
He reflected on how this has worked for England and Australia stars Joe Root and Steve Smith.
Shukri says Mulder is good enough
In the very inexperienced squad selected for the two-Test series, David Bedingham and Kyle Verreynne are the only more accomplished batsmen, while Tony de Zorzi and Zubayr Hamza will likely open.
Matthew Breetzke, Dewald Brevis and Lhuan-dre Pretorius will likely be sheltered in the lower order. Lesego Senokwane may also get a nod at the expense of one of the other batsmen.
“If he [Mulder] was going to bat at three in the World Test Championship final, I think you can work out where he is going to bat in the Test match,” Conrad said.
“Not because we are underestimating Zimbabwe, but because he is good enough in our minds to bat at three in a World Test Championship final. Surely he has got to be good enough to bat at three in any other Test series.”
