Proteas coach Shuki Conrad must be counting the days when Betway SA20 reaches its conclusion with his team facing an injury crisis ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup.
Conrad has only been able to look on as two key members of his 15-player World Cup squad suffered injuries over the past few days that could potentially rule them out.
Paarl Royals captain David Miller did not come out to bat in his team’s defeat to Joburg Super Kings at Boland Park on Monday evening after injuring his groin whilst fielding.
Royals coach Trevor Penney does not believe Miller’s condition to be too serious, although the exact prognosis will only be revealed after the experienced batter has undergone an examination.
“We’re not sure if he tweaked his groin or if it’s a bit stiff. So, he’s in the ice bath, he’s getting treatment. We didn’t want to risk him today because he potentially could have ripped it,” Penney said.
“So hopefully he’s going to be fine for the game in Pretoria. We don’t know. Physio just was very precautionary, and he was a bit worried about it.
“But he’s walking around and hopefully touch wood he’s going to be fine.”
Miller’s progress will be closely monitored after fellow middle-order batter Donovan Ferreira was ruled out of the remainder of SA20 last Saturday evening.
Ferreira injured his shoulder whilst attempting to save a boundary during Joburg Super Kings’ clash against Pretoria Capitals at the Wanderers on Saturday evening.
The allrounder fell awkwardly, which later forced him to retire hurt, after facing just one ball when he came out to bat. It is understood that he has suffered a fracture after undergoing a scan.
While neither player has been ruled of the T20 World Cup as yet, Conrad will no doubt be purveying his replacement options.
The Proteas coach and national convenor of selectors Pat Moroney have come under the spotlight for the exclusion of batters Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs in the original 15-man squad.
Stubbs is, of course, a ready-made replacement for either Ferreira or Miller, having been a regular fixture in the Proteas’ T20 middle-order the past two seasons.
Stubbs was, however, left out of the T20 World Cup squad due to him having lost his explosiveness with the bat, especially at the start of his innings.
The Sunrisers Eastern Cape captain, who has led his team to the top of the SA20 standings, has followed a similar path during the League’s round-robin matches.
Stubbs has been content to bide his team at the start before attempting to explode at the backend of the innings. It has had limited success thus far with Stubbs only managing 103 runs at a strike rate of 119.76 thus far in the competition.
The Proteas face West Indies in a three-match T20I series, starting next Tuesday 27 January, at Boland Park in Paarl ahead of their departure to the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
