The Irish Tour that was...

28 August 2012, saw the team head back to SA; a week earlier than expected. The decision to leave Ireland was made purely on the unpredictable nature of the weather. The Irish Times, was quoted as saying this period has been the wettest in a 100 years.  

I personally saw the tour as an anti-climax. We basically prepared for the tour way back in June, with the series against  Sri Lanka A and the Triangular A series in Zimbabwe.  This tour was planned to con inside with the Proteas tour to England and provide them with players should there be injuries.  

Which we did with great results.  The A team, handed over the Proteas  4 One Day players. Wayne Parnell whom performed  exceeding well in the Tests with his first two 5 wicket hauls in first class cricket.  Dean Elgar whom was the domestic one day player of the year.  Justin Ontong, the captain of the Test team and a player who has earned his position in the team with a good record over the past few seasons in domestic cricket.  Ryan McLaren, the allrounder from the Knights whom has tasted Protea success in the past.

 

With them leaving after the Test series, they were replaced by the one day and T20 players.  Kyle Abbott (fast bowler from the Dolphins), Roelof Van Der Merwe (International one day and T20 star for from the Titans), the Yorkshire T20 hero and Dolphin batsman David "Funky" Miller and the up and coming left arm fast bowler from the Titans, Rowan Richards.  Not forgetting the big hitting Richard Levi.

The tour was however cut short, after the first T20 was washed out, with 3 remaining.  The powers that be, rationally put their heads together and decided that the facilities would not allow the Protea World Cup T20 players in squad to practice and prepare for the T20 matches against the English.

They would therefore head back to SA and prepare for the English as well as the WCT20 tournament in Sri Lanka.

So that's the end of my tour with SA A Team.  A journey that began way at the HPC, Pretoria in June.  South African cricket is extremely blessed to have the abundance of talent available.  Any member of the current A Team could easily fit into the Protea team.  The professionalism and dedication shown by individuals proves their desire to play at the highest level.

From an injury point of view, there were no injuries during the Ireland Tour due to the lack of cricket, as compared to the injuries sustained during the Sri Lanka A series and the Triangular A series in Zimbabwe.

I now head back to reunite with the Highveld Lions and prepare for the long season ahead.  The team has been preparing since June and will be boosted by the national and county players returning.   We will begin the season with 2 Sunfoil First Class games and then begin the much anticipated T20 Champions League Tournament, hosted in South Africa.