Australia series next big step for confident Proteas

Bjorn Fortuin believes the Proteas can carry valuable confidence from their dominant white-ball tour of Namibia into a far sterner examination against Australia later in September.

Fortuin, who captained the Proteas throughout the T20 and ODI assignments in Namibia, finished the tour on a high after producing a man-of-the-match performance in Sunday’s series-clinching ODI victory .

The left-arm spinner admitted he needed a reminder from coach Shukri Conrad to sharpen up during his spell, but was pleased with the form and confidence he had built ahead of the three-match ODI series against six-time world champions Australia.

“It’s nice to have some form and some confidence going into a big series.

“It’s nice to have things to work on, and I felt like I made some improvements on that, so that’s another positive,” Fortuin said.

The Namibia series was an opportunity for Conrad to assess his squad depth, with a number of fringe players given extended opportunities while several senior campaigners were rested.

Five members of that group will now continue with the Proteas into the Australia series, with Fortuin joined by Corbin Bosch, Tony de Zorzi, Kwena Maphaka and Duan Jansen.

We’ve got a lot of young bowlers here bowling in unfamiliar conditions, bowling at batters that play these conditions well, and the same can be said for our batters

Jansen is the most notable beneficiary after making his ODI debut in Namibia and strengthening his case with a four-wicket haul in the second match.

He was subsequently called into the Australia squad as a replacement for the injured Ottneil Baartman.

Jordan Hermann, who smashed 150 on ODI debut , and Lhuan-dre Pretorius also made strong impressions in the T20 Internationals, while Fortuin, Maphaka, Bosch and De Zorzi gave the selectors plenty to consider as the Proteas build towards the 2027 World Cup.

For Fortuin, one of the biggest positives was seeing the younger players pushed outside their comfort zones.

“We’ve got a lot of young bowlers here bowling in unfamiliar conditions, bowling at batters that play these conditions well, and the same can be said for our batters,” he said.

“Having them step outside their comfort zone, thinking outside the box and applying a new layer to their game was the most pleasing thing to see, how well they adapted to game situations, game pressure, international standards.”