Proteas warm-up match washed out

Head coach Rob Walter took a pragmatic view after his team’s opening warm-up match at the World Cup was washed out without a ball being bowled on Friday.

The Proteas were due to face Afghanistan at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram but heavy rain made it obvious from early in the day that there would be no cricket after three days of largely uninterrupted and issue-free nets and training.

“We wanted to keep the momentum going from the back end of the Australian series, to acclimatise and get used to the heat, but unfortunately the weather didn’t play ball. We would have loved to have a run out but, hopefully, we’ll get a full one in two days time,” Walter said.

South Africa are due to play New Zealand in their second warm-up match on Monday.

The fixtures are not official ODIs with the teams permitted to utilise as many of their 15-man squad as they chose, although only 11 can bat and field.

Walter was also phlegmatic about the immediate return to South Africa of captain Temba Bavuma who is attending to a ‘family matter.’

“It’s still early days so hopefully he’ll be back next week for the first game (against Sri Lanka in Delhi on 7 October). He’s been playing really well, especially recently, so it’s not a worry that he’s missing the warm-up games,” Walter said.

The coach also took the opportunity to explain the situation regarding seamer Sisanda Magala who was omitted from the squad three days before departure because of a knee injury – but played a CSA 1-day Cup match for the Lions just two days after the Proteas arrived in India.

“The decision on Sisanda was an incredibly difficult one. Every squad I’ve picked has had him in it because I really value him as a performer for this team but unfortunately, throughout the Aussie series, we just couldn’t get him on the park,” Walter said. “Everyone was working hard to make it happen, but it didn’t.”

“The regulations for a World Cup are very different to playing for the Lions. If he pulls up (injured) for the Lions then he just gets replaced, but at a World Cup it’s different. You can’t replace someone if they arrive with an existing injury, which was the case. So, we had to make a call based on that risk.

“The last thing we wanted was to be carrying a bowler and all the leg-work has to be carried by the other five fast bowlers. It’s no more complicated than that, the risk of him breaking down. It’s a chronic injury which can flare up at any stage so we just couldn’t take the risk of having him here,” Walter said before wishing Magala well.

“I hope he does play, and continue to play for the Lions, we do miss him here, but we don’t have a crystal ball and we couldn’t predict other than what was in front of us.”