Aiden Markram enjoyed a tremendous return to Test cricket on the first day of the opener against West Indies with a century that ensured South Africa's subsequent minor collapse was not too drastic.
The Proteas began a new era at Centurion Park with Temba Bavuma as captain and Shukri Conrad as head coach, and it initially looked to be starting in style as Markram and former skipper Dean Elgar combined impressively.
But after that pair helped the hosts to 221-2, South Africa endured a difficult third session, eventually reaching 314-8 at stumps.
Elgar paid the price for the crushing defeat by Australia but benefited from early luck on Tuesday when his outside edge was dropped by Roston Chase.
He eventually fell to Alzarri Joseph (3-60), caught by Jermaine Blackwood – who did well to readjust himself – after ramping it too short.
Cricket West Indies (CWI) has praised the “competence and hard work” of regional umpire Jacqueline Williams, who on Sunday stood in her first-ever International Cricket Council World Cup final.
Williams was one of the on-field officials for the championship game of the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup as Australia beat hosts South Africa by 19 runs at Newlands in Cape Town to claim their sixth T20 title.
The accomplishment followed on the heels of the Jamaican’s 100th international match, coming in Friday’s semi-final between hosts South Africa and England also at Newlands when she was one of the on-field umpires.
“Every cricket lover in the West Indies should be very proud of Jacqueline. [Her] 100th match and most importantly, first-ever semi-final in an ICC [World Cup event],” said CWI president Ricky Skerritt.
VERSATILITY in all areas remains a top priority for West Indies if they are to make a winning start to their two-match Test series against hosts South Africa, which bowls off with the opener in Centurion on Tuesday.
This was the sentiment shared by both maroon head coach Andre Coley and Test team skipper Kraigg Brathwaite on Saturday, after they battled to a drawn result against a South Africa XI, in a three-day warm-up match on Friday.
Coley and Brathwaite agree South Africa would be a tougher test than their recent stint in Zimbabwe and both believe the key to success is to ensure they’re at their best in all aspects of the game.
In a Cricket West Indies interview on Saturday, Coley said, “You want to maintain standards and discipline. Catching behind the wicket, because the ball tends to bounce more consistently here, it’s something we have to make sure we’re on top of.
“The lengths that we bowl, our consistency, making sure we plan well. From a batting standpoint, ensuring there are consistent partnerships throughout the innings from top right through to the bottom.
Discarded West Indies batsman Nkrumah Bonner is set to return to the Jamaica Scorpions squad for its upcoming matches in the 2023 West Indies Four-Day Championship which is set to resume on March 15.
Bonner who toured with the West Indies team to Zimbabwe on their two-Test tour, was overlooked for the tour to South Africa with young Alick Athanaze from the Windward Islands replacing the Jamaican in the Test side.
Bonner is set to play in the third round against the Windward Islands in Trinidad and Tobago with the Jamaican coaching staff elated that the right-hander will return to bolster the team’s batting.
“One of the positives I am really looking forward to is the fact that we will have Bonner back which will add a little bit more experience to the batting which we lacked in the opening encounters,” said assistant coach Nikita Miller.
The Scorpions will be hoping that Bonner’s inclusion will have an immediate impact as the Scorpions’ inexperienced batting line-up was certainly exposed during their opening drawn encounter against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes and their second-round loss to the Barbados Pride.
Given the fragility of West Indian batting, it is not unreasonable to ask what has taken the 24-year-old Dominican Alick Athanaze so long.
When the diminutive teenager announced himself to the world at the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand, the only question was when he would be considered ready for Test cricket. Not if.
Back then he topped the tournament's batting aggregate with 418 runs in six innings at the jaw-dropping average of 104.50. As it turned out the West Indies were relegated to the Plate Final, losing to Sri Lanka at that stage, with India triumphant as Under-19 World champions.
Those trailing Athanaze in terms of aggregate at that Under-19 tournament included current Indian stars Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw, and the name now on every lip in English cricket, Harry Brook.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has to take part of the blame for slowing Athanaze's progress, especially since the accursed sickness prevented regional cricket in 2021.
