Questions aplenty for Proteas selectors

Stuart Hess says the Proteas selectors face a tough task finding the right balance for the England series.

As hard as it was in Nagpur last week, I have to stick to my opinion from a few weeks back, that the South African players - the batsmen in particular - failed to adapt and apply themselves properly.

Of course it was tough. They knew it would be and only in the second innings, when Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis were together did we start to see a semblance of what was required to play on that surface.

In his column on SuperSport.com, Du Plessis states that the “wind has been knocked out of our sails a bit”. It’s a reflection of the mental damage that has been inflicted on the Proteas team, particularly the younger members, by the Indian spinners.

England, who South Africa face next, will have taken note.

But what to do? Certainly the selectors face some tough talks over the coming weeks. Dane Vilas looks hopelessly out of place and with Quinton de Kock back to form - both with the bat and the keeping gloves - he’d have to be included for the Kingsmead Test.

Stiaan van Zyl, too, has a “deer in the headlights” look about him and perhaps someone more experienced in the opening role needs to be considered; Stephen Cook and Andrew Puttick spring to mind.

Then there is the bowling. South Africa’s spinners have been out-bowled in India. They’ve lacked the patience and consistency to keep the Indian batsmen under pressure. Spin won’t be as influential against the English and hopefully Dale Steyn is fit for Durban. Vernon Philander, according to reports, is struggling to be fit for the first two Tests of the series.

Finally, a word on the Indians. There is no doubt they took a risk in preparing such spin-friendly tracks. They were desperate after the series defeats in the T20s and ODIs and they reckoned on Ashwin and Co out-bowling the South Africans - which is what happened. It won’t help their cricket however.

In a report in the Hindustan Times it was claimed that host broadcaster Star Sports lost out on close to $15-million in advertising revenue owing to the matches finishing early. Given that Star is one of the BCCI’s major financial backers there is no doubt they’d want to have a word about the returns on their investment.

Match referee, Jeff Crowe, in his post match report described the surface as “poor” and the ICC have demanded a response from the BCCI within a fortnight.

I have no faith that a response will be proffered. After all, how are the ICC going to punish their biggest and wealthiest affiliate? – The Star