Temba Bavuma expects South Africa to put the "trauma" of a hammering in Australia behind them when they start a new Test era against West Indies on Tuesday.
Bavuma has replaced Dean Elgar as captain in the longest format after the Proteas were emphatically beaten 2-0 in Australia, where they probably would have been whitewashed but for the weather in Sydney.
The opening Test against the Windies at Supersport Park will also be Shukri Conrad's first as head coach, with Malibongwe Maketa having taken over on a temporary basis following Mark Boucher's departure.
Bavuma says it is time to heal the wounds from a chastening tour of Australia.
The skipper said: "No one died. We went to Australia and got a good beating. With that there were lessons that guys took individually from it. It was quite hard to have a team de-brief on it because the management who were there, some of those guys are not here now.
"From a personal point of view, I went back and looked at areas I could work on.
"Here within the Test team, guys would've dealt with the challenges that they faced. I also think that guys need to be kind to themselves and understand that Australia is another tough place to tour. That's why people respect Australia for the country that they are.
"Another thing is not to hold on for too long to the trauma or that baggage. At some point you have to move on from it and I trust that the guys have done that."
Tony de Zorzi could make his debut and Aiden Markram has been recalled, while fellow batters Keegan Petersen and Ryan Rickelton have recovered from injuries and Neil McKenzie has been appointed as a batting consultant.
Rassie van der Dussen, Kyle Verreynne and Lungi Ngidi were overlooked, but Elgar will hope to thrive at the top of the order without the captaincy.
Batter Alick Athanaze and seamer Akeem Jordan will be hoping to make their debuts for the Windies, who arrived in South Africa with three series wins from four after a 1-0 success in Zimbabwe.
Windies overdue a win over Proteas
You have to go back to December 2007 for the first time the Windies beat South Africa in a Test, with the Proteas winning eight and drawing two of the 10 since then.
Only against Bangladesh (14) do the Proteas have a longer active unbeaten streak in the format.
South Africa have won each of their eight multi-game bilateral Test series against West Indies.
Chanderpaul must build on impressive start
Tagenarine Chanderpaul has looked very much at home in the Test arena since making his Windies debut last year.
The left-hander scored a magnificent unbeaten 207 in the first Test against Zimbabwe this month and averages 69.66 from his seven innings.
West Indies will need Chanderpaul to stand up when they attempt to improve a poor record against South Africa.
Dottin among nominees for ICC Women’s Player of the Month for October
West Indies all-rounder Deandra Dottin has been named among the three nominees for the ICC Women’s Player of the Month award for the month of October.
Dottin made her comeback for the national side at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the UAE, and was a driving force as the islanders reached their first semi-final at the event since 2018.
She was instrumental in victories over Scotland and Bangladesh, but saved her most valuable contributions for the latter stages, where she shone with the bat, ball and in the field in their group stage win over England, before producing a memorable individual display with 33 runs and four wickets in the thrilling semi-final defeat to eventual champions New Zealand.
Dottin will be going up against New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr and South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt for the award.
The nominees for the Men’s award are New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner, Pakistan’s Noman Ali and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada.
Kevin Sinclair replaced by Junior Sinclair in Harpy Eagles Super50 squad after internal report to GCB
All-rounder Kevin Sinclair will take no further part in the Guyana Harpy Eagles CG United Super50 Cup campaign in Trinidad and Tobago. The decision made by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) followed the submission of an internal report by the Harpy Eagles' management team that it was necessary to replace the player.
The GCB, in making the revelation, also announced that Kevin Sinclair will be replaced by Junior Sinclair in the squad at the tournament.
Though the GCB’s statement did not clarify if sub-standard performance is the reason behind Kevin Sinclair’s ejection from the squad, it pointed out that it was a “necessary squad adjustment.”
“Following an internal report from the Guyana Harpy Eagles management, it has been decided that Kevin Sinclair will no longer be participating in this year’s competition,” the statement read.
In the three matches played in the Super50 Cup, Kevin Sinclair tallied 14 runs and snared three wickets.
He made 14 from 16 balls against Windward Volcanoes and took 2-66 from 10 overs in the same match.
However, he did not bat in the rained-out contest against Combined Campuses and Colleges Marooners and was dismissed without a score against Barbados Pride and only took 1-26 from 10 overs in that same match.
The Guyana Harpy Eagles are winless after three matches.
A similar situation arose last year during the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when organisers announced Kevin left the Guyana Amazon Warriors squad for “personal reasons.”
Kevin Sinclair’s departure opens the door for Junior Sinclair to take up a spot in the Harpy Eagles squad ahead of Tuesday’s contest against Leeward Islands Hurricanes at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Guyana Harpy Eagles Squad: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Matthew Nandu, Tevin Imlach (captain), Kevlon Anderson, Kemol Savory, Junior Sinclair, Keemo Paul (vice-captain), Ronaldo Aimohamed, Veerasammy Permaul, Isai Thorne, Ashmead Nedd, Nial Smith, Sylus Tyndall, Rampertab Ramnauth.
Salt confirmed as England wicketkeeper despite Buttler return for West Indies T20Is
Phil Salt will be wicketkeeper in England’s upcoming T20I series against West Indies as white-ball captain Jos Buttler looks to improve his captaincy.
Buttler has been ruled out with a calf strain but will return to England's squad for the five-match T20I series that begins on Saturday.
Until now, Salt has kept in just 13 of his 59 England appearances across all formats but has taken up the mantle for the ongoing ODI series against West Indies.
Buttler, on the other hand, has donned the gloves in 106 of his 108 T20Is.
Salt, though, is enjoying his new role.
"It's not something I've done a lot for England recently, but I enjoy keeping. I feel like that's where I offer most to the side," Salt said, as reported by ESPN.
"We've not had a chat about anything going forward. I'm just glad to be doing it at the moment."
While Salt is not guaranteed the gloves after this series, he will find comfort in Buttler's intent to optimise his captaincy by experimenting with a role in the field.
"I was going to give up the gloves and commit to being at mid-off and see how that felt. If it will help me with my captaincy it is something I am open to," Buttler told Sky Sports in September after being ruled out of the T20 series against Australia.
England are tied 1-1 in their ODI series against the West Indies with the decider to be played on Wednesday.
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