Shukri Conrad never had the opportunity to prove whether he was good enough to represent his country during his playing days, but he is certainly making progress in convincing people that he is ‘the business’ as an international coach.
Conrad is, and has always been, a very good talker but he’s the first to admit that talk is cheap and results more expensive. He’s far more polished than he used to be, but still capable with the verbal scythe. Currently he talks as the coach of a team with seven consecutive test victories about to play in the World Test Championship final against Australia at Lord’s.
He was asked whether he’d done anything to help his squad – particularly the eight out of 15 who had never been before – to overcome the ‘Lord’s effect’ before the match starts on June 11.
“It's difficult to get the place out of your system. We've taken the view of embracing it, whatever comes with it. It's going to be humming in two days' time, and we’ll probably be enjoying the majority of the support. I think all the English will be supporting us as well, so it’s really about embracing the occasion, because it is huge,” Conrad said.
Stuart Broad in a Proteas kit seems like an alternate universe kind of thing 😂#WTC25 pic.twitter.com/lbi3DEINLy
— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) June 9, 2025
“We can't wish it away, and don’t want to. We had these conversations (with former England fast bowler Stuart Broad) last night, about taking it all in, making sure you settle yourself down, enjoying the moment. There are going to be nerves, obviously, and the excitement levels are already ramped up, but it's a great occasion, and I'd rather be part of it than not. We all would!” Conrad said.
The sometimes burlesque Conrad had his moments in front of a largely unfamiliar but appreciative sea of media faces at Lord’s on Monday, but wasn’t afraid to bare his teeth when the moment presented itself. Like: South Africa’s ‘easy’ 12-test journey to the final, facing neither Australia nor England?
“I think enough's been spoken about that. I'm tired of speaking about it, to be honest. We're here now and that's all that matters. We get a chance to walk away as the world test champions, playing against Australia. It doesn't get any bigger than that. So, yeah, what's gone before counts for absolutely nothing at the minute,” Conrad bristled.
“And we'll be quietly confident going into this game that we can pull one over them. We're a confident bunch. We play well as a unit. And if there are any vulnerabilities among them, I'm sure we'll be able to exploit that.”
Conrad happily conceded that his team were underdogs – if the criteria for the judgement were weight of numbers. The Proteas cannot compete with anywhere near the caps, runs and wickets accumulated by Australia’s squad.
“Those are the usual landmarks (for judging favourites) and hopefully it stays that way until our numbers start becoming more comparable with our ‘greats’, Hashim, AB and Jacques – and Graeme Smith, obviously. But that's our strength at the moment, that as a collective, the guys fight for every run, every little contribution. And then look at a guy like Tristan Stubbs, I mean, he doesn't even bowl, but look at his celebrations when wickets get taken, that is like the essence of what this team is about."