South Africa have stuck to the ‘experience first’ selection criteria in the first two Tests, but is this old trick applicable or even relevant to this side? asks Ongama Gcwabe.

Proteas Test skipper Dean Elgar has been adamant that his ‘experience first’ selection criteria is the way to go for his side.

He has shown this on two occasions in the ongoing Test series. Firstly, the skipper and the selectors had the option of either going for inexperienced, but specialist middle-order batters, Khaya Zondo and Ryan Rickelton in the first Test but they chose to stick with the experiment of playing experienced opener, Aiden Markram at No 4.

Another instance of this criteria, was when Marco Jansen was left out of the playing XI in Manchester as he was the “least experienced” member of the attack as per the Proteas Test captain, in the wake of that innings defeat. 

It is an understandable approach to team selection but is not new. The Indian Test selectors are doing it with Virat Kohli currently. In the South African case, however, this criterion is misused or it is simply not applicable.

The meaning of experience 

India selects Virat Kohli in their Test XI despite a poor run of form, not only because of his talent and class but because of his experience of being able to turn his form around and swing Test matches in the team’s favour. Rohit Sharma, Rahul Dravid and the whole world have seen Kohli dominate and win Test matches for India on many occasions. 

Moreover, he turned his career around after being dropped from the Test squad in 2011 and came back a complete batter who went on to be a great leader. That’s the meaning of experience. That’s where the belief and confidence, from Virat himself and the Indian Test skipper, stems from. The ‘experience first’ criteria is applicable here and it’s easy to see why. 

In the South African case, however, I would like to know what experience we are referring to. 

Anyone who’s built a successful business will tell you how difficult it is to keep believing and being confident at the early stages of your career. No matter how many successful business people you have in your circle, though it is advantageous because you can hotspot the belief and confidence and even get tips, you still can’t say you’ve built a successful business.

Until you achieve some form of positive results, you’re still inexperienced in producing results hence the lower confidence and belief in your skills.

Cricket is a business too these days and in this cricket business, confidence and belief in your ability to deliver results is earned through actually delivering, on time, when the team needs you most. 

The Proteas have seven batters on tour (and now Wiaan Mulder joined the squad after Rassie van der Dussen’s series-ending injury) but only one of them has Test match experience in England. How is experience, as a selection criteria, relevant to this SA side?

If Test match experience anywhere in the world is what they’re referring to, it still doesn’t explain some of the decisions that have been made specifically in the batting department. 

The type of experience 

From the 2019 Test tour of India, when Faf du Plessis was still skipper and Markram was entrusted with the task of opening the batting for South Africa, international fast bowlers devised a wicket-to-wicket strategy against him and had him in their pockets ever since. 

From that tour, Markram has managed only one Test ton, one in the subcontinent against a potent Pakistani attack. But apart from that defiant knock, life has been tough for Markram. He even lost his place as an opener a few months ago and had a difficult New Zealand tour batting in the middle-order for the first time in Tests.

All this happened literally at the same time. This has been his experience leading up to the ongoing series. I understand the concept of backing a player but how is that kind of experience going to help the young Proteas batting lineup? Can the newer batters draw anything from such an experience? 

On the other hand, there’s a younger batter who’s had a remarkable year in first-class cricket in South Africa, in England and is available for selection.

There’s also an experienced first-class batter and middle-order specialist in Zondo who registered a magnificent 80 in the warm-up match against the England Lions. 

Who’s got the type of experience the Proteas batting department needs at the moment? For me, it’s Zondo and Rickelton.