Shukri Conrad and Evan Flint have walked a long road together.
It goes back to a time when Flint arrived at Newlands – and even better yet in Cape Town – from the hills of Pietermaritzburg with the sole claim to fame of being “KP’s mate”, in reference to the controversial former England batter Kevin Pietersen way back in 2008.
Flint soon forged a reputation of his own down in the Cape as the finest curator in the land, claiming the prestigious CSA Groundsman of the Year award for three consecutive seasons, as Newlands regained its reputation for more than just its picturesque Table Mountain backdrop.
It was during this period that Flint came into contact with Conrad, who was the Cape Cobras coach at the time.
The duo’s offices were in the same corridor in the gallows of Newlands, and after affectionately greeting each other every morning with “Aweh Shuks”, which was followed by “Evan Almighty!”, the pair would start their respective days discussing the merits of particularly the first-class game in the country.
Both have since moved on, with Flint initially moving up to the Wanderers before heading back home to KwaZulu-Natal, while Conrad has been elevated to be the Proteas Test coach.
It is under these circumstances that after all these years, their paths will now cross again, with Conrad’s Proteas side set to face Sri Lanka in the all-important first Test at Kingsmead next Wednesday.
Mzansi, brace yourselves for test cricketing action coming to our shores, as the Proteas take on Sri Lanka in an explosive 2-match Test Series 🇿🇦vs🇱🇰!
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) November 21, 2024
The stakes couldn’t be higher, as both nations look to gain ground in the World Test Cricket rankings to make the final next… pic.twitter.com/HUrf8PUcC2
There has been much trepidation about the Proteas facing Sanath Jayasuriya’s team on the east coast – both at Kingsmead and the following week at St George’s Park in Gqeberha – as the visitors won at those venues, claiming the first-ever series win by an Asian team on South African soil, the last time the Sri Lankans visited in 2019.
History does not perturb Conrad, though, especially after consulting his long-time ally Flint.
“I have no qualms in going to Durbs and Gqeberha,” said Conrad. “We have great fan-bases there, and we’re looking forward to playing there.
“I’ve talked to Evan Flint, who’s been a ground consultant at Kingsmead, and the pitch for the Test will be one of the new wickets. Evan’s guaranteed me there will be some pace, though maybe not the bounce there normally is.”
It is, however, hard to ignore the Proteas’ overall record at Kingsmead, which has seen the national side win just twice in their last 10 Tests.
Much of that has to do with how the local team, the Dolphins, have transformed the surface from what once was the quickest pitch in the land to a spin-friendly surface.
Again, Conrad is not concerned by that fact as both Proteas spinners, Keshav Maharaj and Senuran Muthusamy, learnt their craft at Kingsmead.
He is in fact hoping that they will be able play an increasingly bigger role as the Test progresses.
“There are no concerns from my side. I don’t know why sub-continent teams would prefer Durban and PE,” he said.
Red-ball head coach Shukri Conrad has today announced a 14-player squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, which gets underway in Durban later this month.
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) November 19, 2024
Captain Temba Bavuma will lead the side after being cleared for selection following a fitness test on… pic.twitter.com/MuUhVjqb4q
“The (Dolphins) prepare it to spin domestically because of the strength of their bowlers — (Prenelen) Subrayen, Kesh (Maharaj) and (Bryce) Parsons.
“The Dolphins go out deliberately to prepare spinning wickets. It will spin late on day four, which is what you want.
“That’s why we play arguably one of the best spinners in the world in Kesh on our side.
“We believe we have a bowling attack that can perform on any surface.”