The Proteas have themselves to blame.

The Proteas' failure to make hay while sun shined.

A couple of days ago, CSA announced that the One Day series against Australia would be cancelled and that pending the ICC’s approval, Australia would get all 30 Super League Points. The decision to cancel the series was because the series would clash with the T20 tournament that CSA is planning. This is one of those decisions that cannot be taken from face value which is what most Proteas fans are guilty of. The announcement left a lot of people incredibly angry and disappointed. The truth is that very few people still believe in CSA and that anything good can come out of CSA. Maybe this is why a lot of people went crazy the minute they heard or read that the series would be cancelled. As I mentioned above, the decision taken by CSA is not one to be taken by face value. One needs to understand the ratiocination behind the decision and factors that led to the decision being taken.

 A lot of people were and or are angry because of the decision’s implications on the Proteas’ hopes of qualifying directly for the world cup. However, the CEO emphasised that CSA would never cancel a series if cancelling that series would not benefit South African cricket. “CSA is always keen on honouring its bilateral commitments. While CSA is committed to honouring its fixtures in respect of the Future Tours Programme (FTP), there will sometimes be unforeseen circumstances that would negate this resolve,” said CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki. The other point that many people may have missed is that, attempts to still have the series played were made but Cricket Australia had no interest in any of that. We may never really know why CA refused all the 4 proposed dates by CSA, but the 30 free points will surely improve their chances of staying in the top 8 as they are currently number 8. I understand why everyone is disappointed, but I feel some of the anger is misdirected and misguided. Yes, CSA messes up from time to time but if the team was winning, things would be much different.

I have been sitting, observing, and reading a lot of comments from many different people from all   corners of the cricket fraternity. Many varying opinions and an element of finger pointing. Some feel CSA could have sent another team, some feel CSA is choosing money over the world Cup and so on. However, my issue is the fact that the team is in the position that it is in. Why are the Proteas 11th on the Super League? I had been wondering why nobody at CSA seemed to express any sort of concern, but the CEO’s statement answered all my questions. The CEO was quoted saying, ““While we are saddened at losing the crucial points, we are confident our in-form Proteas team will garner the requisite points through the remaining games to secure automatic qualification to the showpiece event in India next year.” I am not sure which Proteas form the CEO was referring to but if the Proteas are to qualify for the world cup, a lot of work needs to be done and this includes beating India 3-0 at home.

The Proteas have lost 7 out of the 11 matches that they have managed to play in the super League. In case you are wondering why the team is where it is. The CEO may speak of form that many of us know nothing about, but the Proteas have not played good cricket in the super league and the results are full proof of that. The Proteas have made the job difficult for themselves even before the series cancellation. Waiting until we are on the back foot to start performing has been something that has become synonymous of the team now and may very well cost an automatic world cup qualification. In the T20 world cup, we could not progress to the next stage because we are a side that is forever reluctant to dominate. It almost looks like the team plays not to lose as opposed to playing to win and dominating opposition. Defeats to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ireland surely did not do the team any favours and in comparison, to teams like England, India and Australia, the matches the team lost are matches that one would have expected them to win. We may argue that the cancelled series means that the chances of an automatic qualification have been lowered but, having the series did not guarantee that the Proteas would get any points because a series cancellation has the same effect as a 3-0 series defeat.

If the two warm up matches in England just recently are anything to go by, winning 6 out of the 8 remaining matches might prove much tougher than we think. However, the team knows what needs to be done and one can only hope that the team can justify the faith shown in them by the CEO. The Proteas certainly have themselves to blame for leaving things late and not winning matches early in the super league. This is reminiscent of a batter who likes to play himself in regardless of the match situation, facing 40 balls, not rotating strike, and not scoring off decent balls with the hope that once his eye is in, he will cash in. What happens if the 46th ball he faces is the one with his name on it?