South Africa seek to beat fifty-over funk

The overriding feeling floating around the South African camp following the tour of Bangladesh should have been frustration but it ended up being something else. The monsoon, accompanied by a cyclone, rained on their favourite format - Test cricket - and forced them to spend more time indoors than out, but they seemed to take that in their stride.

They learnt to juggle courtesy Dean Elgar, helped Hashim Amla improve his bowling in the dressing room, and bonded as a team in transition. Amla routinely and patiently explained how the team "could do nothing" about the wet weather. They could, however, have done something about their performance.

On the squad's return home, the assessment of the Bangladesh tour is that it could have gone better. "I don't think we are playing our best cricket in either format," Amla said, referring to ODIs and Tests.

It was difficult to properly assess South Africa in the longest format, because of the time lost in both matches, but the ODIs were worrying because of the way it changed the complexion of South Africa's visit. Their energy ran out exactly when complacency may have kicked in - they won the first three internationals on the tour before the tide turned - which opened the debate on whether they were suffering from a World Cup hangover.

The 50-over format is where South Africa's wounds run deepest. The trauma of their semi-final defeat to New Zealand had long-running ramifications caused by the selection controversy that followed. Although only fleetingly, Amla made reference to the difficulties of getting past that, before blaming the series defeat on poor judgment, not broken hearts.

"The disappointment of the World Cup will stay with most South Africans until the next World Cup but the team has tried their best to move on," he said. "Losing to Bangladesh was very disappointing but I think the biggest thing was in batting first in conditions that probably would have suited batting second. These types of slow starts happen in Test and one-day cricket. Let's hope we can start better in India."

Later this year, South Africa will embark on their longest tour to India - 72 days - and will, once again, have to start off a low base. They have no cricket scheduled for September, which will again leave them without any match-time preparation, so they will have to make the most of the sprinkling of limited-overs series in August.

They have given themselves the best chance of doing it, by including all of the first-choice players available to them despite it being a bilateral rubber of little consequence that would ordinarily result in some being rested. AB de Villiers is back to bolster a batting line-up that looks brittle without him, even though Domingo wants that to change. "We had two bad innings in the second and third ODIs in Bangladesh but it's important to play games without AB and Hashim, because we can't be relying on them to always win matches for us," Domingo said. South Africa have not managed that yet.

Neither have they managed to settle on a second-tier pace pack, so Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander are both back in the ODI outfit - Morne Morkel is on paternity leave - although at opposite ends of the spectrum. Philander struggled for scalps on unresponsive Bangladesh decks which has brought into question whether he should be saved for surfaces with something in them but Domingo does not think so. "Vernon bowled really well in Bangladesh. His control was impeccable. He hasn't picked up a lot of wickets but he has done a good job in controlling the game. He will be a handful with the white ball against New Zealand."

Steyn had more success, especially as he came into his own after initially appearing disparaging about Bangladesh when he said he did not want to "waste" deliveries playing in an ODI series against them. He was given time off to recharge and it paid off when Steyn arrived for the Tests. "When he got in, it was like he was making his debut; he was so fired up," Domingo said. Now Steyn will have to see if he can transfer that to the shorter formats.

But mostly, South Africa will want to use the next few weeks to get over their fifty-over funk and they won't lack motivation. Their opposition is New Zealand - who caused all the World Cup pain - and even though Domingo said there were no hard feelings, there might be some unfinished business. "There's a lot of respect between the two sides. The players get on well. Dale Steyn was surfing with Kane Williamson at the IPL," Domingo said. "And New Zealand have also had a few setbacks like losing to Zimbabwe on Sunday and to England. They will want to start going in the right direction after the highs of the World Cup." So will South Africa, and they have to start soon.