{"id":20048,"date":"2013-05-29T21:03:23","date_gmt":"2013-05-29T19:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/proteas-have-edge-for-champions-trophy\/"},"modified":"2013-05-29T21:03:23","modified_gmt":"2013-05-29T19:03:23","slug":"proteas-have-edge-for-champions-trophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/proteas-have-edge-for-champions-trophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Proteas have \u2018edge\u2019 for Champions Trophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t \"Dale<\/a><\/p>\n

Dale Steyn at a training session at the Adelaide Oval (Photo credit: Wikipedia)<\/p>\n

Dale Steyn<\/a> believes the pre-tour camp in Amsterdam will give the Proteas an \u201cextra edge\u201d ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy<\/a> in England and Wales next week.<\/p>\n

Steyn was speaking after the Proteas\u2019 first practice in Amstelveen, the venue for the one-off ODI against the Netherlands on Friday.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s lengthy training session at the quality facilities of the VRA Cricket ground was a key outing, especially for half of the squad members who haven\u2019t had match practice in nearly two months.<\/p>\n

South Africa\u2019s only other warm-up match will be against Pakistan at the Oval on Monday before their opening match against India in Cardiff on June 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players who haven\u2019t had match time because of the winter off-season have a few days to catch up with their skills and their strength,\u201d said Steyn.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the players that have been at the IPL (Indian Premier League), it will be about finding the best way to maintain your rhythm and fitness. We are all professionals and everybody in the side knows what to do before our first game in the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steyn says it will be important to make the mental and tactical adjustments when making the shift from 20 to 50-over cricket.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole format changes, even your mental approach changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow aggressive you are, the fields that your set as a bowler, it\u2019s sometimes easy to fall into defensive mode because of the format that allows you extra time.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a batter you don\u2019t have to be too aggressive upfront because you have a lot of time, so the players have to find their game as quickly as possible before the competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, the squad spent the day with explorer extraordinaire Mike Horn<\/a>, and were put through intense activities which included a challenging bicycle ride around Amsterdam, canoeing down the world-famous canals and a journey up the tallest building in the capital city.<\/p>\n

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