Do our bowlers have what it takes?

In my last blog I said that the Proteas' bowling attack is its problem in One Day Internationals (ODIs). If South Africa are to do well in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, I believe that our bowling will need to be much better than it has been in recent months. In Tests we are great, but in ODIs our bowling is mediocre. Our death bowling is especially poor, with bowlers carelessly giving runs away in the final overs of an innings. We bowl too wide, too many half volleys, and not enough yorkers.

Morne Morkel is not the bowler he used to be. Photo from www.cricketcountry.com

Imran Tahir is not the world's best spinner. But I like him. He is always trying to take a wicket, and his passion is contagious. Our backup spinner, Aaron Phangiso, has his moments but is usually average. With the hard pitches in Australia and New Zealand, it would have been better to leave him out the squad and let JP Duminy play the role of backup spinner.

Our biggest problem is the fast bowling department. Dale Steyn is always difficult to score off, with pace, away swing and reverse swing. Vernon Philander is accurate and moves the ball well. These two do not bowl many yorkers but they take wickets and keep the runs down. The rest, not so much. Morne Morkel began his career as a positive, tall fast bowler with lots of potential. He was good at first. Now he gives lots of runs away and takes few wickets.

I thought that Kyle Abbott would be better in the international ring, but he has been very expensive. Wayne Parnell is not a good all-rounder. He does not bowl well and he does not bat well. Between him and Morne Morkel, I do not know who bowls more wides and gives more runs away.

To answer the question this blog post is headlined, I think that our bowling will have to improve for us to have a chance at taking this year's World Cup. In fact, they will have to be about 40 per cent better than they currently are.