Star batter Tristan Stubbs is Proteas’ man for all seasons

Tristan Stubbs of South Africa up on his toes during the second T20I match against India at Dafabet St George’s Park on November 10, 2024 in Gqeberha, South Africa. (Photo by Richard Huggard/Gallo Images)

By Keanan Hemmonsbey

14 Nov 2024

South Africa have a middle-order gem in Tristan Stubbs, who has had a breakthrough season with the national team.

When Tristan Stubbs walked out to bat for the first time in international cricket, South Africa needed 148 more runs, with four wickets down, chasing an improbable 234 for victory against England in a T20I match in Bristol.

Stubbs strode to the crease in the 10th over and after facing his first 28 balls on the big stage he had scored 72 runs which included stroking two fours and bludgeoning eight sixes.

South Africa went on to lose the match by 41 runs, but it did provide a glimpse into the psyche of the young batter. The then 22-year-old Stubbs showed with that knock that he was capable of stepping into the trickiest of situations and handling it with composure.

This year, he has gone on to be the Proteas’ go-to crisis man, stepping up when the national team has needed someone to take charge.

In South Africa’s second match, against the Netherlands at the T20 World Cup this year, Stubbs walked to the crease with the score on 12 for the loss of four wickets in the fifth over, chasing a modest 104 for victory. He scored 33 off 37 deliveries to help steady the ship and guide the side to a four-wicket win.

stubbs gqeberha Tristan Stubbs hits his third four of the over in the second T20I match against India on 10 November 2024 at St George’s Park in Gqeberha. (Photo: Richard Huggard / Gallo Images)

In the biggest match of his short international career, the final of the T20 World Cup, he struck 31 off 21 deliveries after coming in with the Proteas on 12 for the loss of two wickets, to put the team back on track.

In a T20 match against West Indies in August, he rescued the team from 42 for the loss of five wickets in the eighth over to 174 for seven after 20 with a blitzkrieg innings of 76 off 42 deliveries.

More recently, in the second T20I against India, he guided the team home from 66 for the loss of six wickets, chasing 125, to reach the total comfortably with a cool and composed undefeated 47 off 41 deliveries.

“As someone who bats in the middle … your goal when chasing is to get the team over the line but do it by being not-out at the end,” Stubbs said after his match-winning knock.

Stubbs is the man for a crisis. His cool head, despite his youth, as well as his range of strokes and ability to execute them under pressure, means that whenever there’s a sticky situation in the middle, he can hit his way out of it.

Not only that, outside of Stubbs’ most impressive innings coming against the grain, most of it has also come in unfamiliar, away conditions.

Red ball

Despite his international success coming in the shortest format of the game initially, Stubbs has built his batting foundations in the red-ball game.

“I really enjoy the longer format because you can spend more time in the middle without feeling like you need to make a play every ball,” he said.

“I really enjoy the graft of batting long and I think that the longer form cricket just naturally helps your T20 game and the batsmanship.

“Spending time in the middle and not having to make a play just helps the other formats, that’s been the biggest thing.”

The 24-year-old made his Test debut against India at the start of the year, batting at No 4 on a difficult Newlands pitch where he scored only a cumulative four runs in the match.

In the next eight Test innings, batting at No 3, he passed 20 each time, including a 50 against West Indies in Port of Spain as well as reaching his maiden Test century in his latest Test knock against Bangladesh in Chattogram.

tristan stubbs west indies Tristan Stubbs of South Africa drives for four on day two of the first Test against West Indies at Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain, Trinidad And Tobago, on 8 August 2024. (Photo: Daniel Prentice / Gallo Images / Getty Images)

Stubbs is not just a batter who tees off from the word go, which he showed he can do in his debut international innings, he’s a proper batter with excellent technique.

His ability to bat for extended periods was on full display when he recorded only the 11th triple century in first-class cricket in South Africa after striking an undefeated 302 runs off only 372 balls for the Warriors against KwaZulu-Natal Inland in February this year. He smacked an incredible 37 fours in the knock.

Wanted man

It’s been a year filled with milestones for Stubbs, having also notched his first One Day International century against Ireland with an imposing 112 off 81 deliveries in a team score of 343, where he was the only batter to pass 50.

He has displayed countless times this year that he can play any type of innings required. However, what comes easier depends on what format he has played most recently.

“The way my game is at the moment, a run-a-ball knock is easier at the moment than striking it, having not played much T20 cricket recently,” he said during the T20I series against India, having come off a Test series against Bangladesh.

Stubbs’ ability to strike the ball far and long with his long levers and raw power but also play elegant cricket shots (his most eye-pleasing being the lofted back-foot punch over cover for six) has seen his value skyrocket on the franchise league front.

batter stubbs Tristan Stubbs of South Africa up on his toes in the second T20I match against India on 10 November 2024 at St George’s Park in Gqeberha. (Photo: Richard Huggard / Gallo Images)

In the initial season of the SA20, Stubbs was the most expensive player at the auction, going for a cool R9.2-million from two-time champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

He is also one of only two South Africans – alongside Heinrich Klaasen – to be retained by an Indian Premier League club ahead of the mega-auction with Delhi Capitals retaining his services for R21-million.

Now that Stubbs has established himself as a regular all-format player for South Africa, he has decided to prioritise only the two aforementioned tournaments – in a sea of franchise tournaments – alongside international duty to ensure he remains fresh when it matters most.

At only 24, Stubbs has the potential to be the leading light in the Proteas’ middle order for the next 10 years at least. Having had a breakthrough season this year, there’s still a lot more to come from the blade of the man from Knysna. DM

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