SUNFOIL SERIES, 2017-18

Batsmen dominated Sunfoil Series leaves more questions than answers

by Daniel Gallan • Last updated on

Beuran Hendricks of the Lions was the only seam bowler to pick up more than one five-wicket haul. © Getty

First-class cricket serves many purposes but its primary function is to act as a finishing school for players on the verge of taking the gigantic leap into the Test arena. For national selectors, a country's first-class competition must help answer the following two questions:

- Are there enough batsmen coming through the ranks with the ability to score hundreds against the best attacks in the world?

- Are there enough bowlers capable of making a significant contribution in the quest to take 20 wickets?

If your job description includes selecting the Proteas Test squad, the recently concluded 2017-18 Sunfoil Series will hardly help at all.

Mark Boucher's Titans lifted the title on Sunday (March 25), after beating last season's champions the Knights by four wickets in Centurion. It was only their second win of the campaign and was enough to edge past the Warriors by just 1.52 points after ten rounds of fixtures.

That's not a typo. The supposed best team in South African red-ball cricket won only two of their ten games alongside one defeat and seven draws. The Warriors also won two, lost one and drew seven. The Cape Cobras and Dolphins each won one, lost one and drew eight and the Lions propped up the table with one win, two losses and seven draws. The Knights did not win a single game all season but still finished fourth courtesy of their nine high scoring draws.

For those not counting that is a total of just seven results across 30 matches. Since eleven provinces were squeezed into six franchises at the start of the 2004-05 tournament, no first-class season in South Africa has seen a lower number of results. In fact, the second lowest came in the 2010-11 rendition with 14 wins across the board.

Many theories have been put forward to explain the draw-fest but for Vincent Barnes, Cricket South Africa's high performance manager, exhibit 'A' can be found right under the players' feet.

"There have been far too many flat tracks in domestic cricket this season," Barnes told Cricbuzz. "The bowlers have struggled to find penetration and the bat has dominated the ball."

A record 67 hundreds were scored this season with only 24 five-wicket hauls secured. That is a difference of 43 in favour of the bat. While this equation may not be the perfect method for determining the fairness of the contest between bat and ball, it is noticeable that this season's differential dwarfs those found in the previous thirteen.

Season 04 05 05 06 06 07 07 08 08 09 09 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 Results 17 19 18 15 16 19 14 20 21 20 22 23 18 7 100s 52 44 37 35 44 50 48 55 25 44 49 40 40 67 5 fors 20 43 32 34 29 24 34 32 33 31 27 42 32 24 Diff 32 1 5 1 15 26 14 23 -8 13 22 -2 8 43

"The numbers tell the story of batsmen cashing in on flat wickets against bowlers who have found it tough to take the 20 wickets needed for a result," Barnes says. "But I'm not going to blame the groundsmen. This drought has impacted the whole country and has made their job extremely difficult."

Further compounding the groundsmen's woes was the fact that the season was brought forward to accommodate the T20 Global League that never took off and saw games contested on grass-less roads across the country. In October we predicted that the pitches would come to life and yield more results and indeed they did, soaring from one solitary win in 2017 to six this year. But taken in isolation this second half's win ration of 40 per cent would still be the lowest in the competition's history.

For Beuran Hendricks of the Lions, the only seam bowler to pick up more than one five-wicket haul, it would be too easy to explain away the numbers by scapegoating the pitches.

"Of course the surfaces haven't helped but the bowlers, especially the seam bowlers, have been too impatient," says Hendricks, who finished with 20 wickets at 29.05, one of just six quicks with an average below 30. "In previous seasons we could just turn up, land the ball on a length and get reward. It was a hard task this season but that's no excuse."

Barnes is in agreement and bemoans the impact that white-ball cricket has had on some of the less experienced strike bowlers in the country. "These young guys want quick results and go in search of sexy wickets. They aren't satisfied bowling maidens and aren't willing to bore the batsman to death. These youngsters need to embrace the challenge of what red-ball cricket means."

One bowler has stood out. Warriors finger-spinner Simon Harmer topped the charts with 47 scalps at 21.85. After helping Essex claim their first County Championship since 1992 by taking 72 wickets in 26 innings, Harmer's control and resilience almost ended a similar drought for the Eastern Cape franchise.

Batting friendly surfaces will invariably see spinners provide the lion's share of overs and it is no surprise to see spin dominate the wicket takers' list. The three most successful bowlers are all spinners as are six of the top-ten.

But even in previous seasons where spin has dominated, such as the one won by the Cape Cobras in 2013-14 where the tweakers contributed four of the top-five wicket takers, seam has played a part. That has not been the case this time around. Is that cause for concern?

"If you look at the Test side there are enough quality young quicks in the reserves," Barnes says. "Apart from Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi we have Duanne Olivier and Chris Morris. But we need to do more to strengthen the depth."

Shortly after Ottis Gibson was appointed as head coach of the national side, an Elite Fast Bowler's Group was established to do just that. Headed by Barnes and assisted by SA A coach Russell Domingo and former fast bowler Charl Langeveldt, the group monitors the loads and performances of the young tearaways around the country and intervenes with technical or fitness assistance where necessary.

"It's easy to look at the amount of draws and be critical of domestic cricket in the country," Barnes says. "But I know we have some quality young fast bowlers who will benefit from battling away this season. We have about ten to twelve guys who will soon be ready to make the step up if Ottis [Gibson] calls on them."

Apart from those already mentioned, the Warriors possess two exciting talents in Tladi Bokako and Anrich Nortje while the Cape Cobras have Lizaad Williams. All three prospects are under 25.

Hendricks, who has already represented South Africa in seven T20 internationals, is 27 and picked up 5-83 against Australia in the recent tour match in Benoni.

Both Barnes and Hendricks are confident that that this season will be remembered as an anomaly where an amalgamation of flat tracks, an early start in the year, inexperienced bowlers and quality batsmen combined for an unprecedented glut of runs.

National selectors will hope they're right. The achievements and failures of players across the season will forever be accompanied by an asterisk suggesting we can't take these statistics at face value.

For those whose job it is to map out the future of the side post AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Faf du Plessis, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, that will leave more questions than answers.

© Cricbuzz