Getting your wires crossed is never a good idea. Almost never: it’s an advantage in a certain cricket sense. The Test series between South Africa and Bangladesh that starts at the Wanderers on Sunday offers a case study.
CSA said on Wednesday that Charl Langeveldt had joined the team’s support staff as a consultant in the absence — for personal reasons — of bowling coach Piet Botha. Langeveldt spent more than four months in 2019 as Bangladesh’s bowling coach, a position he left to take up the same role with South Africa.
Last month Malibongwe Maketa — a former South Africa assistant coach and interim head coach — was appointed Bangladesh’s assistant coach. Dale Benkenstein, also once an assistant coach with South Africa, joined the Tigers’ ranks as a batting specialist on Monday.
That’s a lot of crossed wires. Or, if you like, plenty of intel incestuousness going back and forth. Shukri Conrad understands its value.
“While Piet has a bit of a break we thought Charl would be the ideal person, and he’s fitted in really well,” Conrad told a press conference on Wednesday. “We’re excited we have someone of his calibre for this tour in particular.”
Langeveldt is a fine coach who seems to add to the skills of every attack he encounters. But that’s not the only reason he was tapped for this role.
“He’ll give us some really good insights as to what to expect from [Bangladesh’s] various bowlers,” Conrad said. “He won’t just be in the bowlers’ meetings; he’ll definitely be in the batters’ meetings as well sharing a lot of his ideas. When you have guys like him it would be foolish not to call on them. I think he’s going to be a massive influence for us.”
Doubtless Phil Simmons would say something similar about having Maketa and Benkenstein around. It’s one thing to do your homework on the opposition and the conditions, quite another to be able to lean on people who don’t have to Google what they’re talking about because they’ve been there, done that, and got the tracksuit to prove it.
But Conrad didn’t need anyone to tell him what he could see for himself — that Bangladesh’s squad, unlike previously, bristle with quality quicks like Hasan Mahmud and Taskin Ahmed.
“They’ve got a fast bowling attack now,” Conrad said. “Whereas in years gone by they’d come here with, with respect, a pop-gun attack. Now they’ve got guys who can mix it, especially up on the Highveld, where we expect conditions to favour fast bowling.”
Conrad had also taken notice of Towhid Hridoy, who scored an undefeated 350 for Bangladesh A against their South Africa counterparts in Potchefstroom in September and 242 not out in a Test against West Indies in Sylhet last week.
“He’s due to fail now, hey,” Conrad quipped. But seriously: “He’s a hell of a player. If that game in Potch was still going on he’d probably still be batting.”
Who might bat at No. 3 for South Africa? Conrad has deployed David Bedingham, Tony de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder and Ryan Rickelton in the pivotal position. Bedingham, the most recent incumbent, was dropped after scoring 156 runs in five innings against Australia last month. Stubbs is also not in the current squad. But the other three are in the mix. As is Zubayr Hamza.
“The last thing I want to do is create what would look like from the outside like a revolving door situation with No. 3,” Conrad said. “Against Australia I felt that, especially in the top of the order, we required a certain character against the short-ball plan. I’m expecting that to continue throughout the summer with Bangladesh and England [who will tour in December and January] playing on the Highveld.”
So who’s it going to be on Sunday? De Zorzi or Hamza, it seems.
“We’ve still got a couple of days so I’m not going to pick one yet. But Tony is coming back from injury and Zubi is in really good form this year and a natural No. 3.”
De Zorzi has returned after falling victim to the hamdemic and Hamza has scored 437 runs at 54.63 in 11 first-class innings in 2026.
“We’ll see how the next couple of days pan out, but one of the two of them will bat a three and the other one won’t play.”
Conrad also offered something like certainty on the batting front: “I’d be very surprised if the top seven changes between now and the end of the English tour.”
He also all but ruled out Anrich Nortje — who bowled only 21 deliveries in the second Test against the Aussies at St George’s Park before limping off with a groin problem — until the second Test in Centurion, which starts on November 23: “He’s building up his loads as we speak and he should be good to go by the second Test.”
On top of that, Conrad quashed thoughts of an all-pace attack, arguing that Wiaan Mulder covered the fifth seamer’s base: “He gives you the luxury of playing a specialist spinner, although you might ask how big a role is spin going to play up here?
“A fifth seamer, for me, is a bit of a waste because if four aren’t going to bowl a side out the fifth one’s not going to do that. So there’ll be no temptation to play five seamers.”
All good. Except that much of the above shouldn’t be taken as the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Not because Conrad is dishonest. He isn’t, but he also isn’t above purposefully crossing a few wires to keep opponents guessing about what he might do. That goes for everybody, even South Africans in the visitors’ dressing room.
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