Marco Jansen, Gerald Coetzee expected to be back in action by November

Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee. (Photo Source: Twitter)

South Africa’s pace duo of Marco Jansen and Gerald Coetzee are expected to return to action by November, after being rested for the team’s white-ball tour of the UAE, where they are scheduled to take on Afghanistan and Ireland. The pair are currently undergoing a 12-week conditioning block as part of Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) strategy to manage their workloads and help prevent further injuries.

Neither Jansen nor Coetzee have played for South Africa since June, with Jansen rested from the West Indies Tests and Coetzee sidelined due to an injury just before the matches. Jansen is currently managing a shoulder concern, while Coetzee is dealing with a hip issue.

However, even before these recent niggles, CSA had recognized the need to give the two bowlers a break as part of a broader plan to keep their fast bowlers fit and performing at their best.

“Both of these young players were presenting with chronic physiological and physical things that are predisposed to fast bowling and so we realised that we had to step in. We have to give these guys the best chance of being able to perform. Obviously the workload on young cricketers has gone through the roof, especially guys who bowl fast. In order to ensure that their injuries didn’t put up the stop sign [on their careers], we wanted to put them on a conditioning block,” Rob Walter said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

Also read: South Africa announce squads for Afghanistan and Ireland series

When KG puts on a jersey for South Africa, we want him to be delivering his best: Rob Walter

Similarly, South Africa are also giving their premier quick, Kagiso Rabada, an extended period of rest ahead of a busy Test schedule. The team is currently waiting on a security assessment to confirm their travel to Bangladesh for a two-match Test series, which will be followed by two more Tests each against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, before the SA20, Champions Trophy, and IPL tournaments.

“If you look at what he has in store for him, starting from when the Bangladesh Test series starts, it’s non-stop cricket. When KG puts on a jersey for South Africa, we want him to be delivering his best and we’ve seen that when his pace is up, that’s when he’s most impactful and effective. It’s just not possible to keep expecting him to do that if we don’t provide these rest, recovery and conditioning windows,” he added.

With Rabada unavailable, Anrich Nortje, who opted out of a national contract as he is currently coping with stress fractures, has also been omitted from the selection. Lungi Ngidi and Ottneil Baartman have been given the charge to lead the pace attack in the UAE.