Finding the balance will be key for Proteas

Black Caps- After dominating the world rankings for such a long time being at the helm, a string of poor results has seen the Proteas drop as low as 6^th in the world test rankings.

It was no secret and we all knew when the time came for our world beaters to finally hang their boots and bats that it would be a huge task
to fill in the void they left. But how do you replace Jacques Kallis, the 3 in one run machine? who if need be could run   in for you to bowl at 145kph and also bat at one or two down and no hands were safer at slip. Captain Courageous Graeme Smith, he was as hard as they come, a true leader who always led from the front on and off the field, at just 22 Smith was handed the Proteas captaincy and although there were doubters, he will go down as one of the best leaders to ever wear the Protea jersey. Between them they have a total of 283 test matches that is not the kind of experience you can
just go shopping for, it will also take time to build up from such a loss.

Moving on, it has not been swift as one would have liked, a lot of combinations have been tried and tested, some have proved fruitful, more
that of the opening pair of Dean Elgar and Stephen Cook. Elgar solid opening batsmen who has shown the fire, grit, guts and determination that is expected from those who dorn the Protea jersey. Stephen Cook has proved all those who
were calling for him to be part of the set-up right and had a debut series to remember and the future looks bright.

If anything the top six is a certainty with Faf du Plessis coming in at three after relatively good success in the position, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers at four and five respectively. Temba Bavuma has done little wrong and has done enough to keep his place in the team at number six.

Question marks still remain at the troublesome number seven position as many players have been in and out of that position, it’s still up in the air, do you player two all-rounders? Chris Morris and the returning Vernon Philander who has shown in the past he can hold a bat, but with that option then the top six would have to fire. You could go with JP Duminy and he balances things out with his off spinners but his lack of form in whites could count against him. There is an option of Quinton de Kock, Rilee Rossouw, and now Stiaan van Zyl who played himself into good form versus Zimbabwe