Bullish Bavuma happy to step aside

• He says he will step down as skipper and go with whatever the new coach decides

Temba Bavuma wants it known that he has absorbed plenty of proverbial bullets for his teammates as captain, but will respect being axed should that be new coach Rob Walter’s desire. Besides qualification for the 2023 World Cup, Bavuma’s future as the Proteas’ limitedovers captain is the other bit of drama in the background of the three-match series against England.

Temba Bavuma wants it known that he has absorbed plenty of proverbial bullets for teammates as captain, but will respect being axed should that be new coach Rob Walter’s desire.

Besides automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup, Bavuma’s future as the Proteas’ limited-overs captain is the other bit of drama humming in the background of the three-match series against England that starts on Friday. “I’ve said to the guys if they still want me to lead, then I am happy to do it,” he said on Thursday.

Walter and director of cricket Enoch Nkwe have said there will be a different captain for the 2027 World Cup SA will host. But Bavuma’s future in the role is likely to be scrutinised well before then, with a possible change ahead of this year’s World Cup and the qualifying tournament, which SA could play in Zimbabwe in June.

Bavuma said he had talks with the “relevant people”.

“I’ve never made it about me, it’s always been about the team. Whenever the team hasn’t performed well, I’ve always tried to shield the guys, and when the team has done well, I don’t think you’ve ever heard me say it’s about me and I, and all that.

“If the team wants to go a different direction with a different leader, then I am happy to step away. We have a new coach now and ultimately it’s up to him. “The coach will have his vision and will need somebody to drive that vision. At the moment, the coach has entrusted me with that role [as captain] with the 50-over stuff.

“I will continue doing my best. I’m fortunate I have got a bunch of guys who support me through hell and back. For me it’s business as usual, for now.”

Bavuma and Walter have chatted since Walter’s appointment two weeks ago, and Bavuma said he’s excited by the style Walter wants to implement. Some of that will become clear in the next few matches the Proteas will play, including the series with current 50- and 20over World Cup holders.

“There is no better opportunity for us to test our skills and test our new way of wanting to do things.” Large parts of that new way, said Bavuma, have been borrowed from the team they will face in the next week.

“England have been the pioneers in the game, even in redball cricket. It really seems as if cricket is going in that direction. We’ve seen in Test cricket that you don’t get five-day Tests any more. Guys are taking on the game a lot more and England have done that very well in the past couple of years.

“As South Africans we have our way of thinking, we have our way of doing things. There is nothing wrong with us taking a bit from England, putting it together and seeing what comes about. The biggest thing is that with the personnel we have, guys go out and express themselves. If that equates to a SA ‘Bazball’ [what England’s new style is called] way of playing — to use a stupid term — then so be it. If that means we are going to go out there and block the s**t out of the ball, then so be it.”

Bavuma’s body language and tone was a far cry from the anguished figure that addressed local media after the team’s shocking exit from the T20 World Cup in November.

On Thursday he smiled, sat upright, joked and threw in some colourful language.

There has, he said, also been an acceptance from the players about possibly having to go through a qualifying tournament to secure their World Cup spot.

“That’s something everyone is prepared to do, looking at the decision [to cancel the ODI series with Australia] that was made a couple of months ago to make way for the SA20. Those are the cards that are in front of us and we’ll deal with it as best we can.”

As for the tournament from which he was embarrassingly ejected when he failed to be picked up in the SA20 player auction, which left him practising by himself in Bloemfontein this week while teammates travelled from their franchises, Bavuma said he had kept only a cursory eye on it. “In the past two weeks I’ve been taking it really easy, connecting with family, it’s been really relaxing. I’ve watched one or two games of the SA20 — it looks like fun.”