Coach Conrad 'satisfied with progress' despite T20I series loss to Australia

South Africa may have lost their T20 International series against Australia after going down by just two wickets off the penultimate ball of the deciding match in Cairns on Saturday night but head coach, Shukri Conrad, was not disheartened by the 2-1 series scoreline pronouncing himself “satisfied” that “everything is pretty much on track” for the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year.

“It was a disappointing result but overall, I’m happy with the growth and progress that has been made and how we’re shaping up. We’ve got 14 T20 Internationals left before the World Cup so, all’s good and we’ll keep building,” Conrad said.

Given Conrad’s often stated desire for allrounders in the test team – both Marco Jansen and Wiaan Mulder were instrumental in winning the World Test Championship – some eyebrows were raised when he selected a team for the second T20I which contained four specialist bowlers with Kagiso Rabada batting at No 8.

“There’s definitely a place for specialists, we’re obviously missing a key allrounder in Marco for this tour and a top batter in David (Miller) but it’s also about having a look at other guys. There’s also the question of how many balls a No 7 or eight actually faces in T20s, it’s minimal, and you’ll see KG’s strike rate isn’t bad at all,” Conrad said.

“No 8s usually only face eight or nine balls anyway, so if we want to be brave then we need to select attacks to beat a team like Australia. So, if I can nudge a batting unit into playing a certain way, and I concede we were a batter light for these games, then imagine what they can do when we’ve got a properly balanced side,” Conrad said adding that “…the top six should get the job done. I’m not obsessed with allrounders in this format.”

The undoubted highlight of the series was the ‘coming of age’ batting performances of Dewald Brevis who spanked a national record 125* from just 56 balls in the second match – which SA won by 53 runs – and 53 from only 26 balls in the third match.

“Aiden said the other day that ‘he’s only 22-years-old’ – he’ll get older but I hope he continues to play like a 22-year-old. Sometimes, with experience, guys tend to adjust the way that they play but he’s a breath of fresh air and he’s nailed down that spot going forward. He’ll spur on the other guys to take things on a little earlier,” Conrad said.

“Sometimes we can be too humble, we don’t show off to the world what we are capable of doing. Australia have a blueprint for how they want to play and sometimes it’s absolutely brilliant and box office stuff. And there are times when you can have them in trouble, like we did in the first couple of games, but they stay true to it.

“Guys like Stubbs, Ricks and Aiden himself, there’s so much they can do but sometimes I feel they’ve boxed themselves in a bit too much. It was a different format but it wasn’t long ago that Aiden showed what he could do with that innings in the World Test Championship final. I’m sure he’s just a couple of games away from unlocking that state of genius. It’s not always going to result in a win but I just want us to show off a bit more,” Conrad said.

The three-match ODI series starts in Cairns on Tuesday before moving to the town of Mackay, also in north Queensland, for the final two games on Friday and Sunday. Most followers would expect a change of pace in the 50-over format but Conrad only half agrees: “There isn’t much difference between the formats, you’ve just got longer to take wickets and score runs. It might be a bit slower but it should be played with exactly the same intensity.”