Bavuma is ready for the Aussie heat, believes Maketa

WITH the World Test Championship (WTC) final fast approaching, Independent Media has engaged with many former Proteas players — and their message to the current South Africa Test team has been unanimous.

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From Fanie de Villiers and Alviro Petersen to Andrew Hudson, it has been made quite clear that facing Australia, especially in a final, is an unimaginably tough challenge — one that captain Temba Bavuma and his team will face next month at Lord's.

To gain even greater insight into what it’s like to take on the Australians, Independent Media spoke with former Proteas assistant coach Malibongwe Maketa, who worked alongside then-head coach Ottis Gibson during the infamous 2018 ‘Sandpaper Gate’ Test series. Maketa also served as interim head coach in 2022, the last time the Proteas played a Test series against Australia — one which marked South Africa’s first series defeat in Australia in over a decade.

Now 44 and coaching the South Africa Emerging side in Bangladesh, Maketa admitted that Bavuma will experience a very different kind of pressure, as he captains the Proteas in Tests against Australia for the first time. Nonetheless, he believes Bavuma is well prepared.