Proteas Test captain Temba Bavuma will play in his first competitive cricket match since April this year and in his first five-day match for 2024 when they tackle the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago next week.
Bavuma, 34, missed South Africa’s two-match tour to New Zealand in February because he was involved in the SA20.
Not picked for the Proteas’ T20 team and also not playing in any big T20 leagues, Bavuma’s last match was for the Lions in the T20 Challenge final against the Dolphins.
And with SA’s Test fixtures being spread thin, the captain says elke keer they get together it is like starting anew.
Bavuma says ahead of their two-Test series: “It is a challenge, but it’s not necessarily unique to us. It’s probably something all the ‘smaller’ teams - outside the big three [England, India and Australia] kind of face.
“It feels like we’re starting again and again as a team. We had the [pre-tour] camp, but not all the guys were available.
“You can hear in the talks that there’s a lot of reminding ourselves of our philosophy and how we want to play and basically our blueprint to winning...”
With coach Shukri Conrad at the helm, he adds: “We’ve just got to work with what we have, so there are no excuses. There’s definitely excitement from the guys we have in the camp now putting on our white clothing and chasing after a red ball again.”
South Africa face a Windies Invitation team in a four-day match at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy tomorrow.