Giving the Proteas the runs for his money — Tristan Stubbs is about to blossom in all formats

28 Jul 2024

As he steps into the No 3 spot for the West Indies Test, the rising star’s hunger for ‘big runs’ and his refusal to hand his wicket to bowlers make him suited to excel in every kind of cricket. The big auction price looks more and more like money well spent.

Tristan Stubbs is one of the most destructive batters in South Africa. He is equally adept at smacking world-class spin bowling and blistering pace. His height allows him to reach and dismantle the slower bowlers, while his fast reactions give him the time to get into a good position to club fast bowlers.

Stubbs’s muscular frame and incredible hand-eye coordination also help him clear the boundary where other batters would find the fielder.

Since he is only 23 years old and possesses the attributes he does, it would be a breeze for him to make a living by focusing on the shortest format and playing franchise T20 leagues around the world.

But Proteas red-ball coach Shukri Conrad sees more than just a big-hitting bully in the youngster, not only selecting him for the Test series against the West Indies next month but declaring, because of his sublime technique, that he would bat at No 3.

“I’m very excited for the opportunity that’s coming. It’s going to be very challenging for myself but Shukri is really backing me,” Stubbs told Daily Maverick.

“I back myself. I’m going to have a game plan and try to commit to that, and hopefully it comes off.”

The No 3 and 4 spots in the batting lineup are usually reserved for the team’s best and more experienced batters. For a long time it was South African legend Hashim Amla who played at No 3.

Although Stubbs does not have that experience, according to Conrad he does have the pedigree.

Stubbs has played one Test match, the infamous two-day New Year’s Test against India at the start of the year, where he contributed scores of three and one in team scores of 55 and 176.

On that occasion he batted at No 4, showcasing Conrad’s belief in the youngster.

“I knew how hard it was going to be, but that was very hard,” Stubbs said about his debut Test. “I’m under no illusion that it’s going to be easy. It is the hardest format of the game for a reason.”

Being backed

It’s not only Conrad who has recognised Stubbs’s prodigious talent. White-ball coach Rob Walter entrusted the youngster with coming in at some of the most difficult moments at last month’s T20 World Cup.

In the final, Stubbs walked to the crease in Barbados with the score on 12 for the loss of two wickets in the third over. He put on a half-century partnership with Quinton de Kock, scoring 31 runs off 21 balls.

“Whenever I played previously, I was playing to play the next game, [whereas the T20 World Cup] really felt like I knew I was going to play the next game, so it’s just about doing everything you can to win the game,” Stubbs explained.

“It might sound wrong but it happens when you’re not sure if you’re going to play a lot; you start playing for another game.

“I really enjoyed that backing. If you feel like you’re backed you tend to perform much better.”

South Africa lost the final to India in heartbreaking fashion by seven runs.

How has Stubbs worked through the loss? “I’ve tried not to think about it as much as possible,” he explained.

“I’ve gotten away from the game, haven’t even watched cricket, just to try not to think about it. Because it was so close it hurts so much more.”

Tristan Stubbs

Consistency

After a stuttering inaugural SA20 season in 2023 – where he had entered as the most expensive player at the auction (going for R9-million) and in which he scored only 190 runs in 11 innings – Stubbs has found a real consistency to his game across formats in 2024.

At the second edition of the SA20, he scored 301 runs in nine innings at an average of 60.2 for the back-to-back title-winning Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

In four-day cricket, too, he was the second-highest run scorer, facing up only nine times and managing 562 runs at a ludicrous average of 80.28, with a highest score of 302 not out for the Warriors against the Tuskers – scoring only the 10th triple century in the country.

Where has the consistency in his game come from?

“I’ve worked a lot on my mental side,” he explained. “I [used to] let a lot of things get to me, especially in the first SA20 – the price tag and stuff.

“Then, playing in big games, I always felt rushed, so that was a big point of focus – just my mental side, controlling things under pressure.

“I feel I’ve gotten a lot better at it, my thinking in big moments, in big games.

“The biggest thing is, I’ve valued my wicket through everything. I’d rather have a bowler get me out than me giving him my wicket, in all formats, which has really helped me.

“I still always look to score, but I’ve just put a big focus on valuing my wicket and having the approach of ‘I want to get the team over the line’.”

Stubbs’s ability in the longest and shortest formats has been recognised but he sees his game as best suited to the One Day International realm, despite only having one cap in the format internationally.

He said: “Fifty-over cricket is my favourite, then Test cricket, then T20s as a batter.”

Read more: Proteas’ Wiaan Mulder has big shoes to fill in search for Test all-rounder

It’s his appetite for scoring runs and scoring them quickly that makes it such an appealing format.

“You’re playing with a white ball and you can still take the game on and score relatively quickly, but you can do it for like 30 overs as a middle-order batter,” he said.

“You can still score big runs.”

“In T20, where I bat, if you get in early you might score a 50, but I feel in 50-over cricket you can get in and make a big 100 while batting quickly.”

Since the start of 2022, of the current crop of Test players, only Temba Bavuma, David Bedingham, Aiden Markram and Kyle Verreynne have crossed 100 for South Africa as the struggle to set big team scores in the format has persisted.

With Stubbs promised an extended run in the side and his hunger for runs, and his new mental approach to boot, he will be looking to add his name to that exclusive list soon and become the all-format star his potential promises. DM

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

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Being backed

Consistency