It has been some time since the South African public has seen a fit Dale Steyn storming in with a red ball in hand, almost as long as for Vernon Philander.
When the first Test match for the Proteas kicks off on Friday morning in Durban, coach Russell Domingo will be able to call on those two stalwarts, as well as rising star Kagiso Rabada, and Kyle Abbott should he be so inclined.
Steyn, long considered the greatest pace bowler in the world, has been fighting with injury, and as such, poor form, missing a large chunk of last summer’s Test action.
The fast bowler admits it has been a frustrating time, but brushed aside talk of his age catching up with him.
“It’s been very frustrating,” Steyn said of the injuries that have been plaguing him of late.
“I never really struggled with injuries, then bang I got a groin injury then as I recovered I broke my shoulder as I got through that.
“To have the extended break wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. A lot of people have pointed that I am on the wrong side of 30 but I feel that is wrong.
“Look at Misbah (Misbah-ul-Haq), he is playing at 42,” he added.
“Age has nothing to do with that, I was unlucky that as I recovered I got another injury, and that was probably because I was going from nought to 100 way too quickly.”
Philander is another one who is coming off a long-term injury, having twisted his ankle in a warm-up game of soccer in India, in November last year.
The pair, Steyn and Philander, were a dominant force in Test match circles, with the likes of Morne Morkel and Kyle Abbott adding the back-up.
However, there is no Morkel this time round, nor usual captain AB de Villiers, both missing through injury as Faf du Plessis takes up the captain’s armband.
It is a fortuitous position for Domingo to be in, having such riches in the bowling attack, as Steyn needs a little time to work his way into bowling consistency.
“If I must be realistic about it, running in and bowling 145km all day when you haven’t done it for a long time is going to be tough,” the paceman admitted.
“Objective No 1 is to get through 18 overs a day as a bowler without dropping in pace but being as effective as possible,” Steyn said thoughtfully.
“I think 140km is good enough, there will be times in the day when I can rev it up to 145km even 150km, and we have someone like KG (Rabada) who can do that now, we have to maintain that.”
While Rabada is no newbie to Test level cricket, he has done some exponential growing since that last test against England eight months ago.
The youngster was lauded with awards at the Cricket South Africa awards and has become the golden boy of South African cricket. – Daily News