The run-out on 97 was disappointing but on his debut, Aiden Markram showed the qualities that are important for success in international cricket
Firdose Moonda in Potchefstroom 28-Sep-2017This was going to be a story that asked what more Aiden Markram could have wanted from today, because he seemed to have it all.He made his Test debut on one of the most placid pitches around, in front of his family and against a Bangladesh side that bafflingly chose to bowl first. He had his franchise opening partner, friend and battle-hardened international Dean Elgar at the other end. He had the freedom of knowing this was the start of what is set to be a long run to establish himself in the Test XI.In all honesty, it might have been more difficult playing for his franchise team, Titans, down the road at SuperSport Park. His predecessor in the South Africa XI, Heino Kuhn, was doing that and managed 73 against an attack that included Beuran Hendricks, Dwaine Pretorius, Wiaan Mulder, Craig Alexander and Aaron Phangiso, effectively a second-string South African pack who know how to make the ball talk. Markram did not have to bother with any of that because the Bangladesh bowling attack was all but mute. The first ball Markram faced just about rolled to the wicketkeeper, that’s how quiet it was.By lunch, he had (mostly) cover-driven himself to 43. Even though the news that Cricket South Africa no longer has a CEO had taken the focus completely off the opening day of the international season, things were still going pretty well for Markram.After the lunch break, they went even better. The Markram-Elgar stand reached 100, the first time a South African opening pair have managed that many in 18 innings. Markram got to fifty with one of those of those gorgeous drives. He hit offspinner Mehidy Hasan – the captain of Bangladesh’s Under-19 World Cup side in 2014, the same year Markram led South Africa to victory – over his head for four and then to the midwicket boundary for four more to scoot past Elgar, and displayed the aggression he is known for. The pair played a cat-and-mouse game and entered the 70s, then the 80s, then the 90s together. Along the way they put on the second most successful opening stand by South Africa after being asked to bat first, after Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs’ 301 against West Indies in Centurion in January 2004.Overall, proceedings could barely be described as engaging but watching the openers approach their centuries together had its charm. There was Elgar, a grinder who makes brutalist architecture look pretty, fighting his way through, even though there was nothing to fight over. And then there was Markram, young, supremely talented, the perfect combination of force and finesse, crafting his way to the milestone.No one seemed to want Markram to get there more than Elgar. It was big-brother-little-brother stuff. Not only does Elgar have a good relationship with Markram from their domestic days together, but he is desperate for an opening partner who does not leave all the pressure on him. Elgar has been through four who were thought to be long-term options – Alviro Petersen, Stiaan van Zyl, Stephen Cook and Kuhn – and none of them have stuck. Despite that, he has done his bit and more, with four hundreds this year, but he needs someone to stay at the other end, and the early signs are that Markram can do that.Then at two minutes to tea, we found out what more Markram could have wanted from the day. He wanted not to have been so hasty to complete the single that would take Elgar to a ninth international century. What was the rush? He wanted to have been sent back a milli-second earlier. Maybe he even wanted Elgar to try and run towards the danger end, if only because his batting partner had already experienced the feeling of raising his bat eight times before and he was about to do it for the first time.Elgar also wanted Markram’s centry, though maybe not at the expense of sacrificing himself. He sunk to his knees, furious with himself for depriving his mate of the chance to make a little bit of history. He celebrated his own hundred, which came up two balls later, with a little less gusto than usual. Elgar also became Test cricket’s highest run-scorer this year. He did well, though maybe for that one moment, when he played a part in Markram’s run-out, he could have done better.Of course, Markram will have many, many, many more chances. At least nine more matches this summer alone. He is seen as the real deal. Even in relatively simple circumstances, he showed some important qualities every international needs: he was not overawed by the occasion, he treated deliveries that demanded respect with exactly that, he was wary against variable bounce, which may become a challenge later on, and he recognised an opportunity to cash in and almost did in a big way.But there was something more he wanted from what would have been an otherwise perfect first day as an international. And there may be something else he may want a little later: Elgar and Markram drove from Pretoria to Potchefstroom together; Markram may want a good soundtrack on the way back.
