Pieter Malan is set to make his debut for South Africa in the second men’s Test against England at Newlands on Friday (January 3) – a decision that would likely polarise opinion across race lines.
Malan is in the squad as a specialist opener, and would seem to be a shoe-in what with Aiden Markram ruled out of the rest of the four-match series after fracturing a finger in the field during the first Test at Centurion.
But Malan is white, and South Africa’s racial selection policy says six black players – two of them black African – should be included in the XI. There were only four blacks in action at Centurion, and just one of them was black African.
No doubt injuries were a contributing factor in the numbers not adding up, particularly in the case of Temba Bavuma, the black batter who missed the first Test with an injured hip flexor but should be fit in time to play in Cape Town. Bavuma has gone 12 innings without reaching a half-century, though he has batted grittily and contributed important chunks of runs in that time. His white replacement at No. 5 at Centurion, Rassie van der Dussen, took his chance and scored 51 in the second innings.
“It will be tough to leave a guy like Rassie out,” coach Mark Boucher said on Sunday after his team had won by 107 runs with four sessions to spare.
A way to include Bavuma, and thus improve the race equation, would be to give him back his place and promote Van der Dussen to an opening berth, a role he has often filled at first-class level.
But Boucher suggested strongly on Sunday that Malan would crack the nod: “Pieter Malan was selected in the squad. For us to go messing around with the opening position wouldn’t be clever. He has done a lot of good work over a long period of time. It’s his home ground. At the moment, we’re leaning towards a straight swap of opening batsmen.”
Malan, 30, has scored 199 runs at an average of 33.16 in six innings for the Cobras this season. In his 245 innings overall, he averages 45.16 and has made 32 centuries.
But Bavuma, whose disciplined, technically sound batting has earned him respect but not enough runs, would not be discarded.
Sunday’s result was South Africa’s first Test win in the wake of five losses suffered since February. They also lost five of their eight completed games at the World Cup.
Boucher hoped his team had turned a corner: “There’s a sense of belief that we can win Test matches against very good teams. We’ll enjoy this win.”
Boucher’s playing career, which comprised 147 Tests, 295 one-day internationals and 25 T20s, was ended by an eye injury in Taunton in July 2012. The Centurion Test was his first as South Africa’s coach.
“The passion is still there,” he said of his return to the dressing room.
