We've all played enough cricket to switch from T20 to Tests, says Ryan Rickelton

Going into the World Test Championship final at Lord’s next week, Proteas opening batter Ryan Rickelton believes they have enough experience to adapt to red-ball cricket, despite last playing a Test in the New Year’s fixture at Newlands six months ago.

There were concerns around the Proteas’ Test team preparations ahead of the showpiece event, as key players had been focused on T20 cricket in the IPL, while others were in their off-season at home over the past few weeks.

However, Rickelton told the media, before the team's departure to England last week, that every player in the squad possesses the necessary experience to make the required mental and technical shift back to Test cricket.

The 28-year-old highlighted that leaving the IPL early was crucial, as it allowed time to prepare in South Africa before heading to England for the final phase of preparations.

“It was important to come home and not finish the IPL. I think if we’d managed to finish the IPL, it would have been very tight to try and prepare accordingly,” said Rickelton.

“We have enough time. We’ve all played enough cricket; we know when we’re hitting the ball well or when we’re ahead of ourselves, and so on and so forth.

“There’s a lot of work that the guys put in behind the scenes. So, we’ll be hitting hundreds and thousands of balls over the next few weeks to ensure we get back to our basics and adjust as best we can to the conditions.”

Rickelton pointed out that both teams — South Africa and Australia — are in a similar situation regarding preparation quality, as many Australian players were also involved in the IPL.

“I think for both teams, everyone was in the same boat,” said Rickelton.

"The majority of their players were in India, and the majority of our players were in India as well. There were guys who had time to prepare at home, both in South Africa and Australia. It gives us a clean slate."

“So, it’s a pretty neutral playing field at the moment. It helps that one of their bowlers is still in India, plugging away in T20 cricket. None of us has played Test cricket in the last six or five months.

“So it really does start from zero. I think whichever team can have a good week and execute their skills best during that week will have a greater chance of succeeding,” he concluded.

The Proteas have a warm-up fixture against Zimbabwe, a four-day match scheduled to get underway on Tuesday in Arundel, but which has been delayed on teh day due to inclement weather.