Newlands' adopted son Ryan Rickelon ready for his new Proteas role in crucial third Test

Proteas wicket-keeper batter Ryan Rickelton

While that may sound odd coming from someone who grew up on the Highveld, attended the prestigious St Stithians College in Sandton and played all his domestic cricket for the Lions, Ryan Rickelton has developed a deep affection for Newlands.

While Table Mountain, towering over the Railway Stand, has a special allure, and the tradition of the grand old dame can be intoxicating, Rickelton’s love is purely self-serving.

It was here that Rickelton spent 10 hours in the New Year sun compiling a career-best 259, and he has scored a bucketful of runs for MI Cape Town over the past four seasons in the Betway SA20. Furthermore in three first-class matches at Newlands, Rickelton has never walked off the hallowed with anything less than a century to his name.

“I walked out here and I said to Kruger (van Wyk, Proteas fielding coach), ‘It’s good to be home,’” Rickelton told reporters on Sunday ahead of the third Test, starting on Tuesday.

“I think a lot of batters know their venues where they do well, and whether that’s through domestic or international cricket.

“To come back to a ground where I’m very familiar with both red-ball and white-ball cricket, and where I’ve had some good success, is quite comforting for me.

“You kind of bank that up, no matter how well you’re playing at the moment or where you are, where you find yourself. But to come back to a place of familiarity, a place of success, recent success, past success as well, is something I think batters and players have a lot of confidence in and can draw from that.”

Rickelton will certainly draw on these fond memories as he adjusts to his new role within the Proteas side. Having opened the batting for two years, Rickelton was shifted to the middle order for the last Test at St George’s Park after taking over the wicketkeeping duties from Kyle Verreynne.

The 30-year-old feels that some of the pressure has been lifted, but realises that he still has a responsibility to knuckle down, as he did in Gqeberha, where he partnered skipper Temba Bavuma to keep a rampant Australian attack at bay after the Proteas had been reduced to 40/4.

“Opening the batting in Test cricket sucks. It’s hard!” he chirped. “It’s really hard. And having batted in the middle a lot and then moved to opening, I have a lot of respect for the guys who have carried their bat through and through their careers opening the batting.

“Yeah, it’s tricky, and I watch guys like Aiden (Markram), who’s quite a free-flowing player, rein himself in quite a lot.

“He’s still one of those guys who looks to score, but his ability to hold himself back is what it comes down to. In South Africa, it’s maybe a lot easier in the middle order. As the ball gets older, the bowlers get a little bit tired.

“Obviously, you can be a little bit more expressive in the way that you want to go about it. But I think, for myself, having jumped around, I think I’ve batted from one to six for this side and experienced all the roles.

“Opening is definitely the hardest, and I think being able to hold yourself back, myself included, has sometimes been a bit challenging for me.

“But now, finding myself in the middle order, I don’t think it’s a place where you can just kind of let it go, especially against an attack like this.”

With Rickelton expected to keep his place behind the stumps, the Proteas are likely to make only one enforced change, with either Dane Paterson or Gerald Coetzee replacing the injured Anrich Nortje in the playing XI.

Both bowlers delivered extended spells at training on Sunday, while Corbin Bosch was relegated to working on Rickelton’s wicketkeeping drills with Van Wyk.