Proteas coach goes by form and ‘gut feel’ for T20 World Cup selections

Heinrich Klaasen of the Proteas during an ODI match against West Indies. (Photo by Lee Warren/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

5 May 2024

The Proteas’ 15-man World Cup squad was selected solely by head coach Rob Walter, who was guided by statistics and some intuition.

While most of the team that will vie for the country’s first World Cup silverware in the Caribbean and the US – at the T20 World Cup in June – were straightforward selections, such as big hitters Heinrich Klaasen and Tristan Stubbs, head coach Rob Walter used “gut feel” for some others.

The batters selected themselves. The only person who might feel slightly aggrieved at not being on the flight to the tournament is Rassie van der Dussen.

The right-hander has been in terrific form this year. He was among the top run-getters in the SA20 and the recently concluded CSA T20 Challenge.

Van der Dussen also has respectable international stats in the format, averaging a shade under 35, with a strike rate hovering around 130.

The batters headed to the tournament, though, have just shot the lights out a little more, according to the criteria set out by Walter, who is the sole selector of the squad.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Uncapped Rickelton and Baartman crack the nod for Proteas T20 World Cup squad

“There are various criteria,” Walter explained. “Performances this year, performances over the last year, historical performances further back than that, the make-up of squads, the potential conditions that we are going to have to balance.

“And then there’s the good old-fashioned coach’s gut feeling.”

The top-order batters in the squad are Reeza Hendricks, Quinton de Kock, Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram.

Hendricks has been the Proteas’ most consistent T20I batter for the past 18 months. De Kock, according to Walter, has performed “time and time again for us”, including being the team’s highest run-scorer at last year’s 50-over World Cup. Rickelton – Van der Dussen’s teammate at MI Cape Town in the SA20 and at the Lions in the CSA T20 Challenge – was the highest run-scorer in the former and the second highest in the latter. And Markram as skipper is an automatic selection.

Proteas Proteas coach Rob Walter. (Photo: Getty Images)

Bowling spots

Where the selections were more tricky for Walter was in who would steam in with the white leather in hand.

Kagiso Rabada, as the leader of the attack for the national side for the past seven years, was perhaps the only uncomplicated choice.

The selection of fast bowler Anrich Nortje, who had a six-month medical hiatus before returning to the field in March, is another one of Walter’s “gut feeling” choices.

Nortje has been outstanding for the Proteas across formats since making his debut in 2019 but has struggled to get back to his best since returning to play.

The right-arm quick has an economy rate of 13.36 in the six matches he has played for the Delhi Capitals this season, a jump from the 7.14 he usually goes for in international cricket.

“I trust the quality of the players,” Walter said. “Anrich has another month before the World Cup starts. [I] have no doubt that he will hit his straps.

“It’s good to see that his speed is up, along with playing time and training. He’ll start to get his feel [of the game] back, no doubt. And with Marco [Jansen] the same.

“We are in touch with these guys continuously, ensuring that they are putting in the work. They understand that the turnaround is short and that they need to be ready when the time comes.

“We just need to trust the quality of the players and make sure that we… hit the ground running.”

Meanwhile, a selection almost purely based on recent form shown in the SA20 is that of uncapped Ottniel Baartman.

Baartman took 18 wickets at a scarcely believable economy of 6.95 for champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the SA20.

“If you’re going to talk about someone who has forced his name into the squad, you’ll have to talk about Ottniel,” Walter said.

“Over the last couple of years he’s been outstanding, but in particular in the SA20. I felt he was a cut above the rest. He really showed himself as a quality death bowler in particular. If you look at the numbers, he’s been successful through all the phases of the game.

“He’s worked really hard to get his name in the mix through sheer performance and it’s a pleasure to be able to reward those guys when it happens.”

Proteas Ottniel Baartman of the Dolphins during the CSA T20 Challenge. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images)

A numbers game

Though Baartman was able to force his name into the hat through match-winning performances in big matches for his side, there have not been enough such performances by black players to take the number of selections above one for the World Cup, according to Walter.

Rabada is the only black player in the side, with Lungi Ngidi selected as a travelling reserve.

Besides Tabraiz Shamsi, no other active player has more T20I wickets for South Africa than Ngidi. But according to Walter, it was a toss-up between him and Nortje – both having returned from injury recently – and the latter’s ability to bowl above 150km/h was the deciding factor.

Temba Bavuma, who captained the side in the last two T20 World Cups, was not close to selection either.

An injury at the end of 2023 kept him out of the start of the SA20 and he subsequently found playing time scarce. And in the recent CSA T20 Challenge Bavuma didn’t find his groove, averaging 21.38 at a strike rate of 117.93 in 12 innings.

Andile Phehlukwayo, after winning player of the match in the Paarl Royals’ opening match of the SA20, fell off the boil with both ball and bat after that and is probably behind Wiaan Mulder – who is behind Jansen – in the all-rounder pecking order.

Two players who have raised their hands high are Siya Simetu, the left-arm orthodox spinner who finished as the highest wicket-taker in the T20 Challenge with 21 scalps in 15 matches, as well as impressive 21-year-old leg-break bowler Nqaba Peter.

Peter took 20 wickets in 10 matches.

But neither of their performances was enough to usurp the regular international web-spinning trio of Shamsi, Keshav Maharaj and Bjorn Fortuin.

“My number-one imperative is to create a winning Proteas team,” Walter said about the lack of representation in the World Cup squad.

Proteas Heinrich Klaasen of the Proteas during an ODI against West Indies. (Photo: Lee Warren / Gallo Images / Getty Images)

“In order to do that, every time I pick a side I’ve got to pick the best team at the time that I think will give us a chance of doing that.

“That said, the [domestic] system needs to up the ante so that in six months’, 12 months’ or two years’ time, and in particular when we reach the 2027 World Cup at home, [hopefully] the demographics of our team are different.

“Outside of the World Cup we’ll continue to use our bilateral series to do exactly that – to grow our base of players, to create international opportunity, to give opportunities for players to take their skills to a higher level.

“And [we’ll continue to] make sure that we’ve bought into and are delivering on a process that’s going to change what our team looks like as we move forward.”

Peter has been selected for South Africa’s pre-World Cup tour to the West Indies.

Walter’s World Cup selections – unlike so many other previous tournaments when selection committees were involved – are his own. The headstrong coach, though, is happy to live and die by his sword. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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A numbers game