The 1st T20 International in Durban today will see the return of several star players following an extensive break after the Men’s T20 World Cup final in Barbados earlier in the year.

The return of Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, and Gerald Coetzee is a major boost for South Africa against the World Champions.

Markram said the rest and conditioning definitely recharge the energy levels. “I think both physically and obviously mentally,” said Markram.

“I think when you play lots of cricket and when you find yourself in all formats, you play lots of matches – mentally it can be quite draining so to be able to get a break from that and then to start fresh after however many weeks, if you had off it is a massive bonus.

“Obviously it really gets the fire in the belly going again and guys get really eager to get back out on the park and then obviously from the physical side the whole idea is to get stronger, get fitter, really zone in on skills and execution of what will be required from them, let's call it for the next 8 to 12 months or however long their plan is.

Marco Jansen. Photo: Cricinfo

“If they get that right and certainly from what I’ve seen from the two guys that are here that have gone through that conditioning block, it’s been exciting to see lots of energy based on the ball hitting the bat really hard. That’s if I’m speaking from a batter that’s faced them. They just look really excited to get back out on the park and I’m sure they'll bring lots of energy and excitement.”

Play at Kingsmead in Durban is scheduled to get underway on Friday afternoon at 17:00.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg