Proteas captaincy not yet on the agenda for De Zorzi

For now, Tony de Zorzi’s focus is purely on playing the next Test for the Proteas, with thoughts about captaining the national side in the future placed firmly on the back burner. 

The 25-year-old, who made his Test debut last week against the West Indies, scoring 28 and 0, has been framed as a future Proteas captain by the Test side’s head coach Shukri Conrad.

“My first goal is to cement my position, wherever that is, for the team and I can only really do that by weight of runs. If you are going to be a good leader you're going to have to lead from the front with runs,” said the left-hand batter.

De Zorzi captained the South Africa under-19 side at the 2016 junior World Cup in Bangladesh and this season was handed the leadership reins at Western Province.

“For now, [the Proteas captaincy] is not something I’ve thought about, or given much attention to.

“We have a Test series to win, which I’d love to be a part of. I’d love to have some performances that contribute to that.

“If those things happen in the future, you want to grab it with both hands — it will be really exciting. But it is a way away, my focus is purely on the team and putting in good performances.”

De Zorzi showed composure in the first innings in South Africa's 87-run win in the SuperSport Park Test.

Sharing a partnership of 80 for the second wicket with Aiden Markram, De Zorzi ran himself out at a crucial juncture on the first day, which opened the door for the West Indies. His duck in the second innings came amid a late surge from the touring team’s quicks who took advantage of a surface where inconsistent bounce and movement were prevalent, particularly in the final session of each day’s play. 

“The performance in the second innings wasn’t ideal. They did bowl quite well, that’s not an excuse. We will have a hard training session, will have meetings, identify things we can get better at, like wanting to build on partnerships and take care of the new ball a bit better,” he said. 

De Zorzi is among the most in-form players in the country, averaging more than 100 in this season’s four-day competition, scoring three hundreds, one which was a triple century at Newlands. Having that confidence helped during his first taste of Test cricket.

“You’re aware that this is a level up, the intensity increases and you are facing better bowlers. When you come in with a few runs, you can trust that what you have in your repertoire will be good enough. Maybe the doubts don’t creep in as early. It definitely helps and hopefully I can bring that form into this next Test,” he said on Tuesday. 

* Meanwhile, Cricket SA confirmed that fast bowler Anrich Nortjé will miss the second Test starting at the Wanderers on Wednesday because of a groin injury. Nortje took a five-wicket haul in the first innings. 

He’s been released from the squad with the medical officials prescribing a period of rest. No replacement has been named. 

Bowling coach Charl Langeveldt has also been released from the squad due to family reasons, with the first Test subsequently his last as bowling coach.

Proteas Test squad: Temba Bavuma (capt), Gerald Coetzee, Tony de Zorzi, Dean Elgar, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Keegan Petersen, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton