Proteas gear up for three-match T20 series against West Indies

Despite missing half their first-choice players, Proteas coach Rob Walter says the national squad are ready to face West Indies in a three-match T20 International series in Jamaica starting on Thursday (9pm SA time).

With the series concluding just eight days before their first T20 World Cup game, the coaching staff have brushed aside suggestions that this week’s fixtures are merely warm-up matches.

And they’re not lying. Nearly half the World Cup squad are not even there.

Only eight of the 15 players in the squad for the global T20 spectacle will turn out against the West Indies. Most of the others are still tied up with Indian Premier League (IPL) commitments, including regular captain Aiden Markram, while fast bowler Kagiso Rabada is at home recovering from a lower limb soft tissue infection.

So the squad will be boosted ahead of the upcoming World Cup, with the IPL coming to a close this weekend and Rabada expected to recover in time for their first match against Sri Lanka in New York on 3 June.

This week, however, they will need to rely on a largely second-string squad which features a handful of inexperienced players (at international level), including Ryan Rickelton, Patrick Kruger, Ottniel Baartman and Nqaba Peter, who are all uncapped in the T20 format.

Tough challenge

And while their hosts are currently ranked sixth in the world (two places below South Africa), the Proteas will have to dig deep over the next few days if they want to build momentum and confidence going into next month’s tournament.

As co-hosts of the global spectacle, along with the United States, the West Indies will be even hungrier than the visitors for a series win ahead of their home World Cup.

Walter, however, felt the Proteas were settled and well prepared after the majority of the squad spent time together in camp in Pretoria before leaving for the Caribbean.

“At the end of the day [the training camp] was just really about getting back together, getting competitive and dialling in on our skills,” Walter said in the build-up to the series.

“We’re continuously working on connecting as a unit and growing our skill sets and self-belief, and gaining confidence in our execution.

“Not everyone has had the luxury of the IPL’s competitiveness, and it’s a very quick turnaround in the West Indies, given all the travel, so we needed to do the bulk of our work here (in SA) and not in the West Indies.”

After Thursday’s match, the Proteas will turn out against the West Indies on Saturday and Sunday. All games will be played at Sabina Park in Kingston.

They will leave for the US on Monday in order to start their final preparations for the T20 World Cup.