Temba Bavuma Backs Rest Periods as Proteas Gear Up for Australia and England Tours

Proteas Test and ODI captain, Temba Bavuma, weighs in on the importance of taking breaks, voluntary or not, to allow for a fresher mindset heading into international matches. 

The skipper also looks ahead to what is a big summer coming up for South Africa, with Australia, Bangladesh, and England set to tour.

Breaks, Voluntary or Not

Over the last few years, the world has seen players in the peak of their careers leave international cricket. 

The likes of Nicholas Pooran, Heinrich Klaasen and even Quinton de Kock, to name a few, come to mind.

The recurring reason is fatigue and an increased desire to spend more time with their growing families.

When De Kock returned from his almost two-year retirement, he reiterated that he was not enjoying playing international cricket before he retired, and that having spent time away from it all, he missed playing with his teammates and representing South Africa again.

And when he returned, he looked the De Kock of old, dominating bowling attacks and doing so with a smile on his face.

Some players go on involuntary breaks due to an injury or a conditioning block, which coaches around the world tend to enforce on players nowadays for workload management.

Marco Jansen is an example, as he ended up missing two series, the tour to the West Indies and Bangladesh in 2024. When he returned during the Sri Lanka series in the same year, he took a seven-for in his first bowling innings and bowled faster as well.

Proteas captain, Temba Bavuma, has also been through similar breaks, mostly due to recurring hamstring and calf niggles. He played the West Indies series, but missed the Bangladesh series despite touring with the team.

He also came back against Sri Lanka at home and put on a Player of the series performance, scoring one century and three fifties in four innings, before dominating Pakistan here at home shortly after.

When South Africa toured Pakistan last year, he also did not play due to an injury, with Markram captaining the team to a series draw.

He returned during the India series, and remarkable technique and mental fortitude to persevere in difficult batting conditions in Kolkata to set the foundation for what was South Africa’s first Test series victory in India in over two decades.

This suggests that there is magic in resting or taking breaks from international cricket, be it voluntary or not.

“Mental fatigue is a thing, especially when you're playing international cricket. I think domestic cricket, yes, it's also a factor. But I think in international cricket, there's just a different dynamic in terms of the pressure, the scrutiny that you're under,” Bavuma told SportsBom.co.za. 

“Think about it from my side, the responsibility of being captain, it kind of doubles up all of that. So, having these opportunities where you're in the thick of things and then you get pulled away, I think that does help in terms of making sure that you come back fresh." 

“It also gives you an opportunity to refine your method of doing things. Sometimes when you're just playing, you don't really have that opportunity to work on your game. So I guess I do benefit from that." 

“From a training point of view, it's just tinkering around that, seeing how I can do things better, how I can extend my career through, how I can improve myself on the training and nutritional point of view." 

“But I think the downside to it is that it does take a little bit longer to get your skill to the level that you need it to be. For you to be attuned to international cricket, you have to be playing international cricket.”

International Pressure

While there is an increasing number of young star players retiring from international cricket, they are continuing to apply their trade in domestic cricket all around the world.

Many, including Klaasen, whose recent form in the IPL has seen many call for his return to international cricket, make it very clear that international cricket presents an amount of pressure that perhaps can not be matched by domestic leagues.

Bavuma knows the pressures of international cricket well, perhaps more than others, and he, too, finds it hard to put into words just how tough international cricket is.

“International cricket, that's the ultimate. The biggest thing with international cricket is that your every move is under scrutiny. There's a certain level of expectation that you have to maintain, sometimes even exceed,” Bavuma added. 

“You're also carrying the pride, but sometimes also the burden of the country in terms of the emotions, their sentiments towards the sports, and how you perform. And those are the type of things that you have to counter." 

"I think of us playing against Australia at Lord's, I prepared as much as I could coming into the game and then we figured on Day One the ball was going sideways, it felt as if there was nothing I could do to actually prepare." 

“It was a case of, in that moment, it's a fight or flight. You throw a couple of punches, and you see where that lands you. That's international cricket, and there’s a certain level of joy and satisfaction that comes with performing at that level.”

Australia, England & T20 Cricket

Bavuma hasn’t played any competitive cricket since the conclusion of domestic cricket almost two months ago. 

The 35-year-old is currently preparing for the EUT20 Belgium set to be staged in Belgium next month, where he will get to dust off his T20 cricket skill set, having not played the format in a while.

 “I’ve had a fair bit of downtime. The last I played was when the season ended, I think, at the end of March or so with the Lions. A lot of the time has been spent in training. I haven't been part of the T20 space for a fair bit, not by any doing on my own. I haven't pulled myself out of T20 cricket; it's just so happened that way. So, I'm looking forward to that (EUT20 Belgium). We'll see what comes out of it. I'm a marquee player for the Ghent Gladiators, so a lot will be expected of me,” Bavuma told SportsBoom.co.za.

After the side quest in Belgium, Bavuma will lead the Proteas in important Test and ODI series’ against Australia, Bangladesh and England here at home later this year.

“Looking ahead, it's a massive season. It's always a massive season, but this one, it just feels as if it's going to be bigger than the others. I think, obviously, our prospects from a WTC point of view, that's going to be important. I think just from a pure competitiveness point of view, us playing against Australia, arguably the best test team that's been going around,” he said.

“So, again, an opportunity for us to test our skills against that quality. But also, we know playing against Australia, there's always fireworks. So, there's that as well to look forward to. Then we have Bangladesh as well, who, as we know, on their day can be very competitive and then England at the end of the year." 

“So, I think for the fans, there's lots to look forward. I think also the prospect of us playing at home the first time since being the World Test Champions, that's something we will be looking forward to as a team." 

“But in terms of what we want to achieve, just make sure we put our best foot forward and do our best to give ourselves the best chance to get closer to the WTC final next year. There's also ODI cricket as well, which is important for next year’s World Cup. All of that will be important in terms of building a team for next year," he concluded.