Coach says Proteas in New Zealand are like Burnley going to Anfield

Proteas coach Shukri Conrad has admitted that his team were not up to the challenge in their first Test loss.

Coach says Proteas are like Burnley

Conrad compared the Proteas to English Premier League strugglers Burnley going to Anfield.

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“It’s not okay. It’s tough for everyone here. It’s like Burnley going to Anfield every week,” Conrad said.

“If it was a T20, you know one performance can win the game. [In Tests] it’s five days of relentless effort and pressure. You’ve got to be on top of your game all the time against a quality side like New Zealand.”

He feels that the heavy first Test defeat will serve as a wakeup call to the squad.

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“A few of them would have taken a knock in terms of the harsh realities that Test cricket brings, and possibly how far away they still are. Many feel that they’re closer to the Test side than they currently are,” he said. “You go through a few days like they have been through, and that’s a jolt and a wake-up call.”

Pressure on

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Conrad added that there was no way to simulate the pressure of a Test match in New Zealand.

“Pressure does a hell of a lot of things to you,” he said. 

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“Often guys come to this level and feel silver bullets need to be landing from all over. In fact all you do is simplify matters. It’s easy to say go out and back yourself but when your every move is magnified and your technique is being cut to shreds on TV and elsewhere, that’s what the harsh reality of Test cricket is. This is what players are going to have to deal with.

“Every time you play in a Test there’s an expectation that, even though maybe you can’t do all the swimming strokes, perhaps you can doggy paddle for a reasonable time and not drown,” Conrad said. “Yes, they’ve been thrown in the deep end. But it’s a great opportunity for the players to put their hands up and, as a group, to go back to the first-class system and spread the gospel in terms of what the requirements are and what their experiences were. Hopefully in that way we can uplift the standard and not create expectation at every turn when someone gets a five-wicket haul or scores a hundred at domestic level. But, yes, it is a sink or swim situation.”