Africa-Press – South-Africa. With South Africa needing two runs to win the World Test Championship against Australia, Shukri Conrad, his left arm perched on the railing of the changeroom balcony, thought about his father, Sedick Conrad, who died in March.
“I remember the old man had said to me: ‘I just want to see you beat Australia one day’,” the Proteas head coach recalled.
Temba Bavuma’s team was described as a “tight unit” by batting coach Ashwell Prince, and that unity extends beyond the playing group, but to the staff too. When Prince’s wife Melissa died in January, the team rallied around him too.
“It’s not something we reference in the huddle or a team meeting. The guys just naturally would reach out to me or Ash, with a gesture of some sort,” said Conrad.
Conrad is very much his own person and has been given lots of latitude by Cricket SA to mould this young team. With a South African flag draped over his shoulders, he offered a reminder that Temba Bavuma’s side didn’t have to live up to standards set by anyone else, except themselves. “We create our own reality. We are the World Champions,” he said.
They claimed a five-wicket victory in a match many — including former England captain Michael Vaughan and former Australian coach Darren Lehmann — said they shouldn’t have played. “We played one of the big three now and we beat them. This isn’t me being arrogant. When we play against the top three, we will perform,” said Conrad.
It was, as Bavuma put it, a far from perfect performance. The Proteas conceded a first innings deficit of 74 runs, then let Australia recover from 76/7 to set a victory target of 282 — which, as it turned out, is level with the second-highest run chase in the fourth innings of a Test at Lord’s.
While Aiden Markram, Kagiso Rabada and Temba Bavuma deservedly earned plaudits for their stunning performances, this was a result built on the efforts of the collective.
“That bowling performance in the second innings was where the game changed — we could easily have fallen asleep in the field and they then could have got away from us in a big way.”
Australia didn’t because of Lungi Ngidi. There’d been whispers in some quarters, that Ngidi started because of a need to fill the CSA target of three black African players in the starting side. Conrad refuted those. “Lungi — remember him — that spell… he was selected for the bounce, seam and swing movement, no other reasons. He delivered. I’m thrilled for him.”
Ngidi’s nine-over spell started after tea on the second day and there were many commentators and viewers stunned by the decision, especially after his poor showing in the first innings.
“’KG’ [Rabada] was buggered, so someone had to bowl. He wasn’t comfortable bowling from the Pavilion End we needed to swap him to the Nursery End. It was a case of telling him: ‘Lungs, now’s the time, you need to step up here, we need you.’ He delivered. That’s the great thing about this team, there is someone who always steps up.”
The other controversial selection was Wiaan Mulder, who batted at No 3 and bowled 19 overs. After struggling in tricky conditions for over an hour in the first innings to make 6, Mulder, who also picked up the vital wicket of Travis Head in Australia’s second innings, made 27 when he batted again, sharing a crucial partnership worth 61 runs with Markram.
“You cannot make light of even the 27 from Wiaan, because that settled the changeroom. They could easily have gone ‘bang bang’ and then our backs are really against the wall. This isn’t me trying to justify my selection, it’s purely a case that every single guy in this side wants to play his part and deliver.”
Bavuma admitted that when it comes to selection he and Conrad differ often. “But what I appreciate is the conviction behind the decisions he makes. There is always a method to his madness,” said the Proteas captain.
That eccentric streak is becoming Conrad’s forte. And so is his humanity. “Shuks wants to play tough, but he’s quite soft at heart,” said Bavuma.
“If you [talk to him] one-on- one you can get to the person behind the tough exterior. He’s been there for a lot of us. He’s been there for me, cared about me as a person. He’s taken a lot off my shoulders and I can attribute a lot of my success with the bat to that.”
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