The Proteas will be in action on Thursday when they face the West Indies in the first T20 International in Jamaica.

It will be important for South Africa to hit the ground running and start building momentum heading into the ICC T20 World Cup.

The Proteas haven’t played in the white-ball format in 2024 and it’s vital to have a good tour, especially taking into account that some of their big names as Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen are still in the Indian Premier League.

‘It will be a challenge not having some key players available’

The Proteas aren’t at full strength for the tour, while the same can be said for the Windies.

The Proteas captain for the series, Rassie van der Dussen, said it will be a challenge not having some key players available, but all the players are there on merit and it’s a good opportunity for the new members of the squad.

“That’s the challenge we’ve been dealt,” said Van der Dussen. “Ideally, yes, you want to have the whole squad together and play some matches, but we know the guys are at the IPL and they’re doing what they need to do there.

‘If those new guys can get in a few performances, that would be great’

“The positive from that point of view is that they’re playing cricket, they’re in good touch, actually all of them, so they won’t be undercooked coming into this.

“We, as the wider squad, have been playing together for a few years now, so it’s not a case of guys coming in and not exactly knowing what the team dynamic is about and the team philosophy and the soul of what we want to try and achieve.

“From that point of view, it’s not a big problem. The opportunity here is for the guys, those types of guys who haven’t been here before, to get a feel for what’s going on, and they will trust players in their own right, obviously, but for them, if those new guys can get in a few performances, that would be great.”

Thursday’s game between the Windies and South Africa at Sabina Park gets underway at 21:00.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek mvh