Proteas looking for energy, attitude ahead of second Black Caps Test

After a dismal performance in the first Test against New Zealand that saw the Proteas destroyed by an innings and 276 runs, the team is set to take a few days off to refresh and reflect before trying to come back stronger.

The second Test starts on Friday at the same ground and South Africa will need to put in a massively improved showing if they want to stand any chance of overturning their huge defeat to level the two-match series.

“I think everybody is very disappointed. We’ve got two days off for the guys to do a little bit of self reflection and as coaches we will do the same,” said Proteas batting consultant Justin Sammons.

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“So hopefully we will meet back up and come with good energies and a good attitude to turn things around. We can definitely use these two days to our advantage so that we can come back fresh and raring to go.”

Coach Mark Boucher and captain Dean Elgar mentioned the poor energy in the group being a major contributor in their terrible showing and Sammons reiterated the need to improve that ahead of the next game.

“I don’t think anyone can pinpoint the reasons (for the lack of energy) – it is difficult to say – but at the end of the day you can’t look for excuses. We didn’t pitch up and we weren’t good enough, it’s as simple as that,” he said.

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“They out-skilled us and that’s what it boils down to, but it is just one Test match and we have come off a great few months, so I think we have to reference that as much as we can.

“So it’s three bad days, it doesn’t mean that all of a sudden we are a bad team and the players aren’t good enough, so we need to reference the experiences we’ve had in the last few months where we’ve done well.”

The Proteas will be placing a lot of importance on sticking to their game plan in the upcoming Test, after it went out the window after a brutal assault from the Black Caps bowlers and batters in the first game.

They will need to improve in all three departments, after their batting, bowling and fielding was found wanting, and be a much sharper unit if they are to upset the home favourites.

“I think the ability to stick to our game plan and have freedom within those plans will be very important,” said Sammons.

“So the guys will take the lessons from the first Test and hopefully come back and fight our way back into drawing the series.”