Ryan Rickelton usually bats at five, but he came out when South Africa lost their first wicket in the first innings of the Gqeberha Test against Sri Lanka.
For the Gqeberha Test match, South Africa made two changes to their playing XI from the side that had beaten Sri Lanka by 233 runs at Durban. Both were forced changes, for Wiaan Mulder and Gerald Coetzee both picked up injuries. They replaced them with seamer Dane Paterson and drafted in an extra batter, in Rickelton.
A popular T20 player in franchise leagues, Rickelton strikes at 138 in T20 cricket, but is yet to cement his place in either format. He averages only 22.40 in Test cricket, where he is yet to hit a fifty across seven Tests and 12 innings. However, he averages 49.10 in first-class cricket – very impressive numbers by South African domestic cricket standards.
Rickelton was part of the South African XIs at both Mirpur and Chattogram, where South Africa swept Bangladesh 2-0. However, he had little role to play, with scores of 27, 1 not out, and 12.
However, when South Africa lost opener Tony di Zorzi off the seventh ball of the Test match, Rickelton – usually a No.5 who has never batted at one-drop in Test cricket – strode out to join Aiden Markram.
Match 2nd Test, South Africa vs Sri Lanka
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Why was Rickelton promoted?
There can be several answers to this. Perhaps South Africa wanted to pair the left-handed Rickelton with the right-handed Markram when the left-handed di Zorzi fell.
Or perhaps because it was because Rickelton opens in limited-overs cricket. His only first-class double hundred – 202 not out for Central Gauteng against Free State in 2019-20 – had come as an opener: on that occasion, he batted for 498 minutes in an innings of 423-8 declared, then kept wicket for nearly 11 hours as Central Gauteng won by an innings.
It could also have been to accommodate Tristan Stubbs at No.4. Stubbs had batted at four (and failed) in each innings on a forgettable debut, where he achieved the dubious distinction of getting out twice on his first day in Test cricket. Since then, he had always batted at three, a position where his average (44.71) is roughly the same as his career average (43.90).
However, Stubbs does bat four in domestic cricket. His most famous first-class innings – 302 not out for Eastern Province against KwaZulu-Natal Inland earlier this year – also came from two-down. When South Africa promoted Mulder to three at Durban, Stubbs hit 122 from four.
Perhaps South Africa want Stubbs at four in the long run. That will also allow Temba Bavuma to bat at five, where his average of 46.12 is significantly higher than his career average of 36.50.
By lunch on day one, South Africa's score read 82-3, with Rickelton (29 off 74) batting alongside Bavuma (27 off 35).
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