South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma is unhappy with the Proteas’ red-ball calendar as they have just played four matches in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 calendar.
The Proteas are currently seventh on the WTC points table and their chances of making it to the final are not that bright. Bavuma stated that the players believe that they are starting over and over again because they don’t get to play as many Tests as the Big Three — India, Australia and England.
“It's a challenge that's not necessarily unique to us and probably something that all the teams outside the big three face. It feels like we're starting again and again as a team. You can hear in terms of the conversations, there's a lot of reminding ourselves of a philosophy, how we want to play and basically what our blueprint is to winning,” Bavuma was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“It's nothing that is unique to us as a South African team. The challenge is we've just got to make it work with what we have. We don't use it as an excuse. I think there's definitely a lot of excitement from the guys and we'd like to focus on that excitement more than all the other uncontrollables,” he added.
South Africa have eight more Test matches scheduled in the WTC cycle, two against West Indies — starting in August, two in Bangladesh in October and a home series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.
South Africa Test squad for West Indies series
Temba Bavuma (c), David Bedingham, Matthew Breetzke, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Dane Piedt, Kagiso Rabada, Tristan Stubbs, Ryan Rickelton, Kyle Verreynne
Tour Itinerary
Warm-up Match: 31 July – 03 August @ Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Trinidad and Tobago
First Test: 07 – 11 August — @ Queen’s Park Oval, Trinidad and Tobago
Second Test: 15 – 19 August — @ Guyana National Stadium, Guyana
