Proteas must be wary of the overtly green surfaces in New Zealand, says bowling coach Charl Langeveldt

Cape Town - Don’t judge a book by its cover. Or as is the case in New Zealand be wary of the overtly green surfaces, says Proteas bowling coach Charl Langeveldt.

Pitches in the land of the long white cloud have become notorious in recent times with many on social media branding it “Welcome to Wimbledon” in reference to it resembling the famously manicured lawns of London’s famous tennis tournament. But Langeveldt believes all this hype is often deceptive and has warned his bowling unit ahead of the first Test against the Black Caps at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Thursday not to get too excited.

“It can be misleading,” Langeveldt said on Monday. “That’s how New Zealand wickets are. It looks green, and probably with the new ball it does swing and seam a bit, but then it gets easier once the ball gets old.

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“We spoke long and hard about it when we got here. The discussion was about getting used to the overcast conditions too. When the sun is out, it is a bit easier. The ball doesn’t swing and nip. The grass colour does change, but we will focus on bowling a bit fuller. We are usually 6-8 metres with the new ball, but here we’ll be about 51/2-6. But then I’ve always said the guys need to adapt. We need to make them play with the new ball. It is all about being adaptable.”

It will certainly be a testing examination for the Proteas’ seam-bowling unit that have precious little experience in New Zealand conditions. Only Kagiso Rabada has played there before with Lungi Ngidi, Duanne Olivier and Marco Jansen all on their first tour.

The Proteas are also customary slow starters, as was witnessed in the first Test against India when the