-
Cricket ball and bat.
The South African men’s senior cricket test team has received well-wishes and messages of support from the former players and legends such as Jacques Kallis, Vernon Philander and Makhaya Ntini, ahead of its departure for England where it will play Australia in the ICC’s World Test Championship final at Lords.
A heartfelt send-off for our Proteas Men at SAB’s head office today as they prepare to depart for London, where they will compete in the highly anticipated ICC World Test Championship Final 🔥🏏. #WTC25 #WozaNawe #ProteasWTCFinal #BePartOfIt #CastleLager pic.twitter.com/ArF1KqhCiH
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) May 30, 2025
This happened at a send-off event organised for the team by Cricket South Africa in Bryanston, north of Johannesburg.
The South African men’s senior cricket test team will have an opportunity to win a first major international cricket trophy when it plays Australia in the ICC’s World Test Championship final at Lord’s from June 11th.
And if the players in the team didn’t realise how big this will be for the country, they certainly did after the send-off event held before they left for England.
Former players and legends including Jacques Kallis, Vernon Philander, Graeme Smith and Makhaya Ntini shared their fond memories of playing at Lord’s with the Proteas players.
The Proteas Men’s send-off was filled with emotion and pride as former Proteas legends shared words of encouragement and inspiration, reflecting on the journey’s past and rallying behind our current squad 🏏🇿🇦. #WTC25 #WozaNawe #ProteasWTCFinal #BePartOfIt #CastleLager pic.twitter.com/sAuciHQWIp
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) May 30, 2025
And while there were doubters the Proteas would qualify for the final with others feeling they don’t deserve to be in the final, Aiden Markram and captain Temba Bavuma say their focus is on the job at hand, adding they will not dwell much on people’s opinions.
“It’s been pretty mellow before today but yes, we are going there to play to win. It has not been smooth sailing there have been plenty of challenges along the way. But for now we will go there and make sure nothing affects us and we manage it. “When we land hopefully the nerves would have settled then we will do some work. Some of our guys have never played at Lords. Bowlers and batters will get a feel of the land.”
The South African T20 team lost to India by just seven runs in the final of last year at the ICC’s T20 World Cup.
The country had its team losing in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy earlier this year as another ICC trophy eluded them.
Proteas Test team coach, Shukri Conrad, say they will play to win in England.
“Every time there’s a final it’s another chance of winning a medal and we are going to give it our all to make sure we break the duck.”
He says the team will use the next two weeks to prepare for the match against Australia.
Conrad adds, “We flying out tonight then we will have two days of training before our practice match against Zimbabwe to make sure the guys stays on their feet bowlers will be able to bowl spells and batters will be able to get the feel of the wickets.”
The Proteas will play a warm-up match against neighbours, Zimbabwe, at Arundel in Sussex from June 3rd as part of preparations for the final.
