“Bad luck.” It seemed the decent thing to say to Kyle Verreynne as he trudged within earshot, carrying his batting gear, across the St George’s Park outfield towards the nets on Thursday. He stopped and asked, “For what?”
“For losing the gloves.”
It would have been too harsh to add the greater loss, so that remained unsaid.
The day was dazzlingly bright and – rarely for these parts – all but windless; a perfect day for cricket. Verreynne won’t be playing any in anger over the next few days, even though the second Test between South Africa and Australia starts on Sunday.
Ryan Rickelton was the designated wicketkeeper for the match in the squad that CSA announced earlier on Thursday. Verreynne is South Africa’s best gloveman by some distance. So the decision was surely made on his batting form: he has not reached 50 in his last 13 completed first-class innings. That includes the 13 and 1 he made in the first Test at Kingsmead, where Australia won by 214 runs on Tuesday.
No doubt Verreynne’s apparent glumness was caused by his axing. “All good,” he said and resumed his journey.
Even as Verreynne trod, in a net erected on a middle practice pitch, Rickelton was remembering what it’s like to keep wicket. Or was he?
“Always,” Kruger van Wyk told reporters when he was asked if Rickelton travelled with his wicketkeeping kit. “Ricks always comes along on the early bus [to training]. Even when he isn’t keeping in matches he still does his work. In the white-ball stuff as well.
“He’s diligent. It’s not like he has to dust off [his gloves] and start over again.”
Van Wyk knows what he’s on about. Now South Africa’s fielding coach, he was New Zealand’s wicketkeeper in nine Tests from March to November 2012. Then came BJ Watling and everything changed. So Van Wyk has a good idea how the other man in the saga might feel.
“Credit to Kyle; he’s been outstanding about this,” Van Wyk said. “It’s always hard and it’s never nice [to be dropped]. But he fronted up at training today. He was the first man to help out. We feel for people who miss out, but he’s dealt with it like a real team man.”
Verreynne is South Africa’s best gloveman but hasn’t reached 50 in his last 13 completed innings. ©Getty
Rickelton has kept in 37 of his 72 first-class matches, and in 183 of his 269 white-ball games. That includes 11 ODIs and 12 T20Is. But not in any of his 16 Tests. The most recent time he was behind the stumps in whites was for Gauteng against Boland at the Wanderers last month. The time before that was more than two-and-a-half years ago. Did Van Wyk think Rickelton was up to the task?
“I’m confident we’ll see a Ricks who is confident behind the stumps. He’s been exposed to high-pressure situations in games. This is nothing new for him. His keeping has grown so much in the last two years. He’s worked on it endlessly.
“I think it’s going to be really good for Ricks to have the gloves. It will engage him in the game more, and that’s what he needs. He’s someone who thrives on extra responsibility. It’s going to be good for his game overall.”
Even if most of his keeping has been in white-ball cricket?
“It’s still a ball coming at you,” Van Wyk said. “It’s still cricket. The movements are the same. The way you glove the ball is exactly the same.”
Even if his first Test as a keeper is on the country’s slowest pitch, where spin – which demands more of stumpers because they’re standing up to the stumps – could be a major factor?
“He’s not going to get tested as much in South African spinning conditions. The real test is in the subcontinent. In South Africa the ball bounces more than it spins.”
And, with rain forecast for the first two days of the match, spin might not play as big a role as it would ordinarily.
That, of course, is only half of what’s required. Rickelton has opened the batting in the most recent 13 of his 29 Test innings. He has batted at No. 5 nine times, at No. 4 twice, at No. 3 four times, and once at No. 6. He made his career-best 259, against Pakistan at Newlands in January 2025 as an opener. But in 11 completed trips to the crease since then he has reached 50 just once. Where he will bat this time hasn’t been disclosed, although Matthew Breetzke – who was called up for Tristan Stubbs on Thursday in the only personnel change in the squad – seems set to open.
But Rickelton will need to be prepared wherever he bats, especially now that his job description has been tweaked.
“It does change things [compared to opening],” Van Wyk said. “You’ll probably face an older ball, and you’ll face more spin at the start of your innings.
“But guys switch between formats and positions so often these days. They’ve become a lot more versatile. To make little adjustments is not as difficult as it was for players 15 years ago.”
By then Rickelton had spent an hour-and-45-minutes of the training session working on his keeping. Then he batted for around 40 minutes.
As Van Wyk said, “Ricks is incredibly obsessed with cricket … ”
With that Van Wyk paused his sentence. A low whistle had intruded on the conversation. The sound came from 20 metres behind, near another of the practice pitches. There, in his keeping gear, stood Rickelton, whistling for his coach to help him prepare still more. Before he left the huddle Van Wyk completed what he had been saying: “… in a healthy manner.”
Then he reported for another half-an-hour of duty, this time with Rickelton standing up to the stumps and a batter in place.
That done, Rickelton made for the stairs to the dressing room. “Good luck.” It seemed the decent thing to say as he passed within earshot. He didn’t stop as he loped, but replied with a smile and a dazzlingly bright, “Thanks!”
