Coach Conrad lauds 'spectacle' of test World Championship

Shukri Conrad was appointed Proteas test coach just in time for the start of the 2023-25 World Test Championship cycle and made a less than promising start – not that it had anything to do with him. Now, 18 months later, his team are test Champions of the world following their thrilling five-wicket victory against defending champions, Australia, at Lord’s on Saturday.

The journey began well enough with a resounding innings victory against India at Supersport Park but slipped rapidly out of control with a seven-wicket loss at Newlands in the shortest test ever recorded with the home bowled out for just 55 on a pitch patently unsuited for anything other than a junior school game.

Conrad was forced to cobble together a make-shift squad for two tests in New Zealand with the country’s best players contractually committed to the SA20 and they lost 2-0, South Africa’s first ever defeat to the Black Caps, home or away.

But they stormed back with seven consecutive victories to clinch a place in the final and then made it eight at Lord’s to win the country’s first ICC title for 27 years.

South Africa needed a further 69 runs on Saturday morning after resuming on 213-2 chasing 282: “It was probably the two worst hours of cricket for me, but the two best at the same time. Living every emotion, sketching everything that could potentially go wrong. The mind just plays weird and wonderful games,” Conrad said after the match was over.

“But when Kyle (Verreynne) hit the winning runs there was just an outpour of applause from everyone. I’m so thrilled for these guys, so happy for them. Something we never talk about is what it means to the country, but today we can talk about that. This means a hellova lot for the country.”

Aiden Markram’s brilliant 136 in the run-chase, Kagiso Rabada’s match haul of 9-110 (and second entry on the Lord’s Honours Board) and Temba Bavuma’s courageous 66 in a third-wicket partnership of 147 with Markram were the obvious keys to victory although Lungi Ngidi’s three-wicket burst in the second innings, starting with Steve Smith, reduced Australia to 73-7 with a lead of just 147.

“KG was buggered at that stage so someone had to bowl, and it had to be Lungi, because he wasn't comfortable bowling from the Pavilion End and we needed to swap him to the Nursery end. It was a case of ‘Lungs, now's the time, you need to step up here. We need you. And he delivered. That has been the great thing about this team, someone always steps up. Don’t forget Wiaan’s 27 in the sedond innings, that just settled the change room,” Conrad said.

Conrad bristled with delightful indignation, as always, when he was asked about the ‘Big Three’ test nations, India, England and Australia, and how they dominated the global game:

“We're the world champions. We create our own reality. We haven't played any of the big three? We played one of them, and beat them. This is not me being arrogant, this is me saying ‘when we play against supposedly the top three, we will perform’. We're the world champions.

Conrad was also reminded of the two big selection decisions he made at the start of his tenure: to recall Markram and appoint Bavuma as captain:

“They were simple decisions. Aidan Markram was always going to be my opening bat, he delivers on the big stage. The look in his eyes when we went into bat…you knew he was going to come good. And Temba, quiet leader, leads from the back, but certainly from the front with the bat.”

Conrad was also quick to acknowledge the crowd and the WTC final as an event at Lord’s:

“It's easy to say because we’ve just won, but if the result had been different, it'd still have said it was the best cricketing experience we've ever been a part of. It's an absolute spectacle. Everything about this place is spot on. But the vibe, the crowd support, it was wonderful.

“People who take time off and spend hard-earned cash at 25 Rand to a Pound to come out here and support us. We're just thrilled that we could deliver for them as well. Australia have been a thorn in South Africa's side for a long, long time.

“It's the most amazing feeling. Obviously, a lot of teams in different formats have got close and not got over the line. And I think in some perverse sort of way, guys like Aiden and Temba will experience the heartache and the trauma of not getting over the line. They become more experienced at handling pressure situations like this. I’m just so thrilled that those guys will get us over the line. An amazing feeling.

“I just want people to fall in love with first-class and test cricket again. I think people will, because the spin-offs are immense. T20, the most popular format, benefits if you've got a strong first-class system and a strong test team. You only need to look at the IPL. Our players are the most sought after, and today we become world test champions as well.”