Temba Bavuma is relishing South Africa hosting international cricket’s “big” teams towards the end of the year as the Proteas begin the defence of their World Test Championship (WTC) title .
Australia are due in South Africa in October, followed by Bangladesh (November) and England.
“We are playing the big teams. It was not that long ago, everyone was saying we did not play the big teams,” Bavuma said at a function in Alexandra celebrating the 10th birthday of the Temba Bavuma Foundation.
“Well, we have Australia and England, and even Bangladesh are playing good cricket. They have a good bowling lineup, so they will be a challenge in our bowler-friendly conditions.
“Obviously, in our WTC journey we would like to see ourselves at Lords’ again having a crack at defending that Championship,” the 36-year-old said. “As we have done in the past, to get there we will take it game by game, series by series, and come up with ways to overcome the inevitable challenges.
“With Australia, there are always fireworks,” he smiled. “It is for the older guys who have been there to make the others aware of what’s coming, but playing against Australia, our best always come out. We tend to always play well against them, and that will give us confidence.”
Bavuma says he can’t wait for the three-Test series against England.
“England is a summer tour we all look forward to. My favourite days in the calendar are the Boxing Day and New Year's Tests. I look forward to hearing the Barmy Army sing.
“All these games coming up are an opportunity for us to strengthen our status as the current champions,” Bavuma said. “We have set standards for ourselves, and we want to keep pushing those standards higher.
“I am very excited,” he added. “I have not seen the guys for a while, since I was commentating at the T20 World Cup. We have our awards function coming up in late July, and it will be nice to interact with the boys.”
Bavuma has only been back in the country for a few days after playing a T20 tournament in Belgium.
“I feel good. I have just got back from the EUT20 league in Belgium. That was fun to be a part of, and it was interesting to see the interest in cricket in Belgium. The team that I captained, the Ghent Gladiators, won the tournament. It was nice to be part of something new and help grow the game in a different part of the world.”
Bavuma was hardly the only South African in Belgium — he team from Brussels was captained by Rilee Rossouw and coached by Mark Boucher; the side from Bruges was skipped by Wayne Parnell, and the Liege Red Lions were led by Faf du Plessis and coached by Herschelle Gibbs.
“From a mental point of view, I feel motivated, refreshed and good to go. Physically, my hammy issue has been with me since I started playing professional cricket, so I continue to manage it.”
Bavuma was in Belgium when Bafana Bafana played their opening game of the World Cup.
“I enjoy football and watched with the locals. I also watched Belgium’s opening game.
“It was good that Bafana came away with a point against Czechia. They will have seen on social media the passion and joy the fans took from that performance. It will be a big morale boost. They must capture that imagery going into the Korea game, and use it as fuel.”
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