Proteas batting consultant Justin Sammons avoided the urge to take a dig at umpires Marais Erasmus and Adrian Holdstock for their suspect performances in the first Test against Bangladesh at Kingsmead.
When stumps was called on day four, where SA needed seven wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, the vastly experienced Erasmus and Holdstock had no less than eight of their combined decisions overturned by the decision review system (DRS).
Asked to reflect on the performance of the SA duo, Sammons said “everyone is human”.
“Everybody is human and everybody in the change room respects them. It is not an easy job,” he said.
“We have to get on with our business. We have to control what is in our hands, or our controllables, and block out any uncontrollables. It is important we focus on what we can control and our job at hand.”
There has been a reversal of roles in this Test match, with Bangladesh relying more on their fast bowlers and the Proteas getting more success from their spinners.
Proteas avoid urge to criticise umpires for indifferent performance in Durban
Image: MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images
Proteas batting consultant Justin Sammons avoided the urge to take a dig at umpires Marais Erasmus and Adrian Holdstock for their suspect performances in the first Test against Bangladesh at Kingsmead.
When stumps was called on day four, where SA needed seven wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series, the vastly experienced Erasmus and Holdstock had no less than eight of their combined decisions overturned by the decision review system (DRS).
Asked to reflect on the performance of the SA duo, Sammons said “everyone is human”.
“Everybody is human and everybody in the change room respects them. It is not an easy job,” he said.
“We have to get on with our business. We have to control what is in our hands, or our controllables, and block out any uncontrollables. It is important we focus on what we can control and our job at hand.”
There has been a reversal of roles in this Test match, with Bangladesh relying more on their fast bowlers and the Proteas getting more success from their spinners.
Proteas fast bowler Lizaad Williams reflects on his first Test wicket
“It is interesting because you would think it would the other way around. From our perspective, the guys are putting in a lot of work and upskilling themselves against spin,” Sammons said.
“We do back ourselves in turning conditions. I think over the last period they have shown that but in terms of us facing their seam, they hit good lengths and made it tough for us from a scoring point of view.”
“The ball is gripping a bit now and it has gradually turned more as the game has gone on, and obviously there is difficulty in that. In Durban it is tough to up the scoring rate when they are hitting those lengths because by hitting straight down the ground there is not much reward in terms of the pace.
“I think from a scoring point of view it was going to be difficult and obviously there is a bit of the tail towards the end of our innings as well where the ball reversing made it quite tricky.”
The match will resume on day five on Monday with Bangladesh stuttering on 11/3 and a deficit of 263 runs to chase after the demise top order batters Shadman Islam, Mahmudul Hasan and Mominul Haque.
Bangladesh will resume with Najmul Hossain Shanto on 5 and the vastly experienced Mushfiqur Rahim having not scored.
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