His is purely a selection of convenience. It might be argued that had the regulars been match fit he would not have even touched the much coveted Proteas’ jersey.
1,448 days and 30 tests since a black African was last part of the Proteas, understandably, Temba Bavuma sticks like a sore thumb; the 24 year old 1.6 m lad will face sterner tests off the pitch than on it. Conveniently, he will become a poster boy of transformation of the “white” sport, under intense pressure to deliver as soon as he dons the Protea colours.
Nonetheless, there should be no doubts that Bavuma has earned his call-up on merit.
His performance at franchise level for the Lions has been impressive. Sixty-eight first class matches – eight centuries averaging 39.95 – is impressive. Now that has to be translated into test cricket.
However, one has to be mindful of false dawns of prospects touted ‘cricket’s next black big thing’ that failed to live to the hype. Of course, Lonwabo Tsotsobe comes to mind.
Definitely, Bavuma has a thing or two to learn from Makhaya Ntini.
In an interview with a popular weekend broadsheet, Ntini advised black African test cricket prospect to let their cricket do their talking and steer away from transformation politics
Roped in during the early years of the country’s transition to democracy, the East Cape born fast bowler proved that that he was no token inclusion, by smashing records, getting his name in cricket’s folkore. It is said that in his heyday he was one of South Africa’s most popular personalities in India, besides Nelson Mandela.