“Four seamers probably hoping to play in the first Test,” said Proteas bowling coach, Charl Langeveldt, as he described conditions in St. Lucia to be “like England, but more humid.” 

Apart from playing a Test series in the Caribbean for the first time since 2010, rainy weather has presented the Proteas with new challenges.

“I’ve never seen rain in the Caribbean, three days where it has rained and been overcast.” Back in Langeveldt’s playing days, they played on “warmer, drier surfaces.”

Additionally, back in the day, Tests in the Caribbean were played with the Kookaburra ball. This series will be played with the Duke ball. From the warmup game, Langeveldt found conditions to be conducive to seam bowling, with a “lot of movement off the wicket.” 

Langeveldt also gave insight into newly-appointed captain, Dean Elgar’s captaincy approach. “He demands professionalism from the players, discipline, team ethos, which is a good thing. He has asked a lot of senior players to speak to youngsters. He brings something different, but his big thing is discipline and being professional.” 

With a large South African squad consisting of numerous young and inexperienced players, Langeveldt chats with them frequently and emphasizes the importance of “playing boring cricket for long.”

“I’ll sit down with them and tell them that you need to have this discipline and do the same thing for longer periods,” said Langeveldt.