In June, South Africa reached the T20 World Cup final without a bilateral series win in four attempts under Walter and with the entire team reunited just two days before the event began, with players traveling from the IPL. And last November, South Africa reached the semi-final of the ODI World Cup, with limited ODI playing time under their belt. They drew a series against the West Indies in March 2023 and then came back from 2-0 down to beat Australia 3-2 in September, just before the tournament.
“The reality is that the run-up to the Champions Trophy will be nothing like the run-up to the World Cup. That’s the reality of the way the calendar is organised. But at the end of the day, we just have to trust the quality of the players,” he said. “Obviously the code switch will potentially pose a bit of a challenge for us. But again, it’s not like the boys haven’t played 50-something cricket. So I’m confident that when the time comes, we’ll be there.”
Mentality and sense of occasion aside, South Africa also have personnel questions as they deal with a host of injured bowlers. Seven of their closers (Lungi Ngidi, Gerald Coetzee, Wiaan Mulder, Anrich Nortje, Ottneil Baartman, Nandre Burger and Lizaad Williams are currently injured) and while all but Burger, who has stress fractures in his lower back, are expected to return This season, there are It is not known how many will reach the Champions Trophy. The problem is compounded by an issue with Keshav Maharaj, who missed the recent ODI series after suffering a groin strain before the first game, but could return for the Tests. For Walter, the number of unavailable players also means he was hamstrung in selection, which may alleviate criticism of his results.
But there is no softener in the batting department, where South Africa have struggled to find someone to fill Quinton de Kock’s role at the top of the order, and collectively underperformed. Heinrich Klaasen was the only batsman to score a half-century in the series, and he did so three times, but no one else scored more than 100 runs in the three matches or had an individual score above 40, which Walter acknowledged as a concern. .
“As a batting unit we’ve talked about someone who prides himself on going in and getting a big hundred and to be fair we just haven’t been able to convert anything into really substantial knocks or partnerships in this series,” he said. . “It’s not that we’re not aware. Some of it is due to batting error and some of it is due to the quality of the bowling and we have to recognize that as well.”
By then, Walter is hopeful there will be enough good memories, vibes and form to take the ODI team through to the Champions Trophy, where they are grouped with Afghanistan, Australia and England. “As a Proteas family, we will focus on these Test matches and getting to the final of the World Test Championship. “And then obviously all the boys will be involved in the SA20, which will be highly competitive cricket, albeit in a different way. format,” he said. “I am optimistic and believe that when the time comes, we will work together.”
