Boje also ready to attack
2006-03-14 21:30
Cape Town - Nicky Boje will be used as an attacking bowler and not just to curtail the run rate.
South African cricket coach Mickey Arthur says it is perhaps high time that his spinner forget about maiden overs for the time being and concentrate on getting wickets.
"You need 20 wickets to win a Test," Arthur said.
He said in the past the South African spinners main task was to limit the opponents runs while the faster men were asked to take the wickets.
The coach said he expected the Newlands pitch to help the spinners and that the SA spinner would also have to play a role.
This has been a tremendous about turn in Boje's career, who was left out of the squad three months ago. After the Proteas defeat against the Aussies in the Christmas Test at Melbourne, he was left out of the squad and it was spelt out clearly that Johan Botha was the spinner of the future.
Boje also lost his national contract earlier this year.
However, the Bloemfontein spinner did not take this lying down and took 24 wickets for the Eagles in the last three SuperSport matches to make the selectors sit up and take notice.
"It's always a good feeling to take seven and eight wickets in an innings. It gives you confidence in your game. I have good control at the moment."
Depends on match situation
Although the Australian spinners recently criticised the negative utilisation of spinners by South African captain Graeme Smith, Boje did not agree.
"I don't think we were in match situations in Australia where you could attack with the ball.
"We did attack when England were here last year because the circumstances allowed it.
Arthur said he also had a talk with Boje about the way in which he was excluded from the team towards the end of last year.
"I contacted him after the Australian tour. I also asked Corrie van Zyl (provincial coach) to manage him properly. We never told Nicky that he was out of the picture.
I'm happy with the way he has played to prove his point." Arthur said.
Shaun Pollock will train with the squad for the first time on Wednesday since he injured his lower back last week. He will have to pass a fitness test before he will be allowed to play on Thursday morning.
Arthur is also worried about Andre Nel who is still having problems with a foot injury.
"It is very difficult to establish the extent of his injury. He will definitely have to pass a fitness test. He'll probably be able to bowl 10 overs without any problems. But will he be able to bowl 20 overs a day. You can't really test how long he will be able to carry on. You will gamble if you choose him," the coach explained.