His catching efficiency has also reduced.
Chasing the record total of 305, Tristan Stubbs laboured his way to 23 off 25 in the second T20 international against England on Friday. Days after suffering the heaviest defeat in ODI history, South Africa endured their biggest loss in T20Is as they fell 146 runs short of the target.
The Proteas bowlers were the main culprits for this disastrous result as none of them could make an impact. Three bowlers leaked 60 or more runs as the team ended up conceding the highest ever T20I total in a full-member clash. But along with bowlers, there was spotlight on Stubbs’ dreadful innings as well.
Openers brought up the team’s fifty in 21 balls before they lost three quick wickets in the next seven balls. Stubbs, who came in at number five, just couldn’t get going and didn’t show much intent.
The Old Trafford T20I wasn’t the first time Tristan Stubbs has found himself with no clarity on how to approach an innings. His problems first appeared in Test cricket, where he was often unsure whether to go safe or play his natural attacking game.
The lack of clarity meant he would often go into a shell and fail to keep the scoreboard ticking before eventually getting dismissed. Since 2024, Stubbs has the lowest strike rate among the South African top seven in Tests. He has struck at only 50.29 and has averaged 30 runs per dismissal.
It didn’t take long for that uncertainty to slip into his ODI game. Since the start of 2024, he has scored 386 runs from 14 innings at an average of 32.16 and strike rate of 85.39. It is the second worst strike rate amongst the 14 Protea players with 100 runs in this period.
Despite his struggles in the other two formats, Stubbs had an excellent 2024 in the shorter format. He piled on over 1200 runs last year at an average of 42 while striking at 150. But his T20 strike rate has dropped to 133 in this year while the average has also gone down below 35.
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What started as a natural difficulty while switching between the three formats has now become a major issue for Stubbs. South Africa batting coach Ashwell Prince recently spoke about the youngster’s struggles.
“When you are dipping in between formats, and you have different approaches, maybe your mindset is not as free as you would like it to be. I think Tristan is probably in that space from a mental point of view at the moment. We are having those conversations trying to encourage him to be a little freer, a little more positive, to be the guy who burst onto the scene in terms of his style of play,” said Prince.
From outside, it does look like Stubbs is in some batting limbo. He has looked out of sorts while building an innings across formats. His regression in T20 cricket is a sign that there could be mental block.
If batting wasn’t telling enough, his fielding has gone down drastically in recent times. Recently, he dropped six catches on the tour of Australia, where they played six white-ball games. He has been one of the best fielders in the world so this recent drop in catch efficiency comes as a shocker.
All things suggest that perhaps the mental block is affecting his overall progress as a player. Stubbs needs to address this aspect of his game sooner than later. Sooner he breaks out of this limbo, the better it is for him and the Proteas.
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