The Proteas, having observed a weekend of calm and Eid festivities, are back to work this morning as they look to rediscover their touch in time for tomorrow’s opening Test against Bangladesh in Chittagong.
A key part of the Proteas’ gameplan will be based around being patient on tracks that will offer precious little for the famed trio of pacemen. Dale Steyn, Morné Morkel and Vernon Philander have taken wickets the world over, but they are usually at their best on pitches with a tinge of green.
They won’t find any of that nonsense in Chittagong, but the increasingly wily Steyn will be looking to his third and fourth spells as perhaps more important than his new ball stints on the sub-continent.
Over the last few years, Steyn has developed a potent ability to reverse swing the ball late, often bowling with greater pace as the ball jags back perilously.
The last time Steyn was in these parts, he made hay. His last outing at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdury Stadium, way back in 2008, will be remembered firstly for the pile of runs that Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie rattled up in their world record opening stand of 415.
Indeed, such is the benign nature of the pitch, Smith and McKenzie may still be batting if these were still the days of timeless encounters. But, once they had filled their boots, Steyn helped himself to seven wickets in that contest, mixing pace with that eternal ingredient on slow pitches; patience.
Now, at 32, he is no longer obsessed with bowling faster than the speed of light, and has instead honed himself into a predator who thrives on opportunity. The cheetah has become a crafty leopard, stalking his prey, and then striking suddenly, but with those crazy eyes still on show.
Significantly, Steyn is just four victims away from the exclusive 400 club in Test cricket, a sure sign of both longevity and an enduring standard of excellence. Tellingly, only Shaun Pollock has passed that mark for South Africa.
Not Steyn’s inspiration from youth, Allan Donald. He could ‘only’ get up to 330 scalps. Not the Duracell of all South African bowlers, Makhaya Ntini. Despite his boundless energy, he fell eight shy of the magic mark. Though Steyn insists that numbers and records mean little to him when stacked up against the team’s fortunes, every bowler knows his numbers.
It’s the least that he deserves, having carried the torch for his pace pack for the last decade. Of course, Steyn may well have preferred to do it a little closer to home. But, if he stands in the middle of the Zahur Ahmed Chowdury Stadium at some point this week, with the ball aloft, you can be sure he would have gone a long way to lifting his country to another win. - The Star