The curious case of why the Proteas bosses keep picking Wiaan Mulder

When new Proteas Test coach Shukri Conrad named his first Test squad, for the series against the West Indies, there was a lot I liked about it.

And I am sort of pleased all the players have been given a run, even though some of the selections – for the sake of giving everyone a chance to show what they can do – have been a bit strange. And, shouldn’t you always play your strongest team in a Test?

But the one player whose continued selection, for the most part, over the last few years I just don’t get and understand is that of Wiaan Mulder.

Now I’m sure Wiaan is a lekker guy and he doesn’t pick himself, so I’m not having a go at him, but rather those selectors and coaches at national level who seem to think he is going to be the Proteas’ next Jacques Kallis or something.

Come on, Mulder can play a bit – his stats in English county cricket prove that, and so does his highest Test score of 42, which he registered in a key partnership with Temba Bavuma at the Wanderers on Friday afternoon – but is he really good enough to play Test cricket and do his “numbers” justify his selection? And how many chances does he get?

Bowler or batter?

The thing is, I’m not sure if anyone really knows if he’s a batter that bowls a bit or is a bowler who can bat? Or is he simply an out-and-out all-rounder?

Let’s try to see why Conrad (and some coaches before him) picked Mulder for the West Indies series.

Before the Wanderers Test in 20 Test innings’ he had scored 284 runs at an average of 14.2. As a bowler, he’d picked up 19 wickets at 27.

In First Class cricket Mulder averages 35 with the bat, with eight hundreds and nine fifties from 102 innings. In bowling he averages 29.5 with the ball, thanks to his 139 wickets from 60 matches. His economy rate is 3.4.

Mulder has, however, shown some great form in the last year, and he looked really accomplished on Friday. He scored a career-best 235 not out for Leicestershire against Sussex last July, in a record fifth wicket partnership of 477 with Colin Ackerman (277 not out) as the team posted 756 for four declared. Now that’s impressive.

But, at international level Mulder just hasn’t quite cut it and perhaps it is time to rather seriously back Marco Jansen as the Proteas’ next all-rounder.

Blitzboks

Goodness me, what is going on with the Blitzboks?

For so many years they were this country’s most loved and most successful rugby team.

They couldn’t go wrong at one stage, won tournament after tournament on the World Rugby Sevens circuit and were the darlings of Sevens rugby.

There may even have been a time when rugby fans in this country preferred the Blitzboks to the proper Boks — that’s how good they were and how poor the Boks were.

But right now, the SA Sevens team are in the doldrums. Sure, they’ve had their moments in this year’s series, but they came properly a-cropper in Los Angeles and Vancouver and have slipped down the points table.

Yes, several key players are injured, but is that the reason for the slide? Or are the players simply taking some time to get used to the new coaching style of Sandile Ngcobo and Philip Snyman?

Whatever is wrong needs to get fixed quickly, because for such a powerhouse in Sevens rugby what is going on right now is not good. In fact, it’s a little embarrassing.

Until next week, enjoy the action. I’ll be keeping an eye on what happens in the Currie Cup this weekend and let you know what I think in next week’s column.