“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,” Conrad said in Johannesburg, where the first Test begins on Sunday. “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.
“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.”
All indications are that Hamza, who also plays his domestic cricket at the Wanderers, will get the nod over de Zorzi, despite the latter’s greater Test experience. In 17 Tests, de Zorzi has batted at No. 3 in seven innings under Conrad, averages 20.71 in the position and has one fifty. Most of his success in the format has come as an opener or at No. 4 but with Aiden Markram and Marques Ackerman at the top and captain Temba Bavuma at No. 4, there is no room for de Zorzi there. Hamza, on the other hand, has played the bulk of his first-class career at No. 3 and has an average of 47,88 in the position, including 12 hundreds. Hamza hasn’t played a Test since South Africa’s tour of New Zealand in 2024, which they undertook with a second-string side, and could have the opportunity to make the role his own over the rest of the season.
“Matt did a hell of a lot of good things [in Cape Town]. And again, the character speaks loudly to us. He is a big-hearted guy, and he fits the bill in terms of the type of character that we want in the middle order,” Conrad said. “We’re going to give these guys a good run now. You don’t want to be chopping and changing after every series. I’ll be very surprised if the batting top seven would change between now and the end of the English tour.”
“It was specifically for Pakistan and possibly India. And on that podcast, which was recorded almost a year ago, we spoke around our horses-for-courses policy. With Temba injured for the Pakistan leg of that tour, I felt I needed someone in the middle there,” Conrad said. “We’ve got a tour to the subcontinent next year in Sri Lanka. We look at all of that. But with the success that we gained in India with guys like Sen [Senuran Muthusamy] and Tony doing as well as they did, I doubt very much if David will come into the equation.”
There are far fewer questions over the make-up of South Africa’s attack, which will be led by Kagiso Rabada and is likely to include allrounders Marco Jansen, Wiaan Mulder and one other specialist seamer as well as a spinner. Conrad ruled out the possibility of a “full pace attack”, as he put it, even on surfaces known for pace and bounce.
“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,” he said. “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.”
Corbin Bosch, Dane Paterson and Anrich Nortje are the other quicks Conrad has to choose from and Nortje, who was injured in match two against Australia, could only come into contention for the second Test against Bangladesh at SuperSport Park. “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,” Conrad said. “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.”
Should Conrad want extra pace, Bosch will get the nod but if he is after seam movement and more of a holding role, Paterson will edge ahead. He will also need to decide between Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj as the sole spinner, with Harmer’s 6 for 16 against Australia in Cape Town making it difficult to look past him. The Wanderers has also taken some turn in recent years but with thundershowers forecast for every day of the game, it is more likely to assist seamers.
“It’s stock standard,” Conrad said when asked about the surface. “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.”
South Africa’s support staff has been bolstered by the inclusion of former international Charl Langeveldt, who also coached briefly in Bangladesh, while Bangladesh have former South African coaches Malibongwe Maketa, as assistant coach, and Dale Benkenstein, as a batting consultant, in their ranks.
“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,” Conrad said. “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.”
Langeveldt will be with South Africa for the entire Bangladesh tour, including the white-ball fixtures, with regular bowling coach Piet Botha away for personal reasons.
Firdose Moonda is Cricinfo’s senior correspondent for Africa and women’s cricket
Source: www.cricinfo.com
