After their ongoing tour in Namibia, the SA squad will play home tours against Australia, Bangladesh and England.
While they have a packed international schedule ahead over the next few months, head coach Shukri Conrad says he’s not concerned about the potential toll it might take, with the Proteas playing all their games on home soil and selectors utilising the country’s depth by rotating the national squad.
After winning the T20 International tri-series against Zimbabwe and Namibia last week, a second-string SA team were set to face Namibia in a three-match ODI series in Windhoek starting tomorrow.
They were then set to be boosted by the inclusion of first-choice stars for home tours against Australia, Bangladesh and England before the end of the year.
“I think it was great coming out here to Namibia just to get used to how things work again. We (the SA squad) have been off for a few months and it takes a while to get used to how things work and just to get back into the swing of things,” Conrad said on Monday.
“So I think from that front, on a personal level, Namibia has been great, and when we hit Australia then we obviously hit the ground running, so it’s going to be an exciting few months.
“From a personal point of view it’s not as if we’re going to be needing flights out in excess of two hours, and if we need family around or we’re a little bit homesick, I don’t think that will come into the equation because all of South Africa is home.
“We’re just excited and I don’t even think it’s something to consider, the toll it might take.”
A 16-man Proteas squad was announced on Monday for the one-day international (ODI) series against Australia starting in Durban on 24 September, with fast bowler Gerald Coetzee receiving his first call-up in the 50-over format in nearly three years.
And while some players had been omitted from the squad, including big-hitting batter Dewald Brevis, Conrad said Brevis and other players would turn out against Bangladesh in November and December, ahead of the home tour against England, as the Proteas looked to finalise their squad for the World Cup to be held in SA next year.
