Will The Proteas One Day Side, Swing or Sink
The Proteas have their work cut out for them if they are to qualify directly for the world cup.
On the 27th of June 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) launched the inaugural ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League in a bid to bring some context into One Day Cricket. This move is one that would have not worried South African supporters because the Proteas have had a great reputation when it comes to bilateral series. The Proteas are known to be good at winning bilateral series, so they are one of the teams most people would have expected to be among the top 8 direct qualifying teams. Maybe not anymore, considering where the Proteas are in the log. It will take some doing for the team to qualify directly but it is certainly possible.
The Proteas have struggled in the Super league. Maybe we expected a lot from a side that just lost players like, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir and Morne’ Morkel. All these players played a crucial role in the success of the Proteas across formats. It does seem that Super League has indeed given One Day Cricket some context because who thought one day, we would be talking about the possibilities of the Proteas not qualifying directly for the world cup?
The Proteas’ woes could be a mystery to many when looking at individual averages and strike rates. Our top 6/7 batters seem to have good averages and strike rates in the period of the Super league. However, the results have just not been there, and it has mainly been because of our batting or lack thereof. Our batters having high averages and strike rates, yet the team is doing badly is only proof that a team’s success never rests on person. With series losses to Bangladesh (2-1), Sri Lanka (2-1), Pakistan (2-1) and a drawn Series against Ireland, the Proteas find themselves in a spot of bother and in danger of not qualifying directly for the World Cup.
The Proteas’ issues are in the batting department but do not end there. This team is a product of a system of cricket and playing style that has the fear of failure imbedded in it. Players like Hashim, AB and co were ahead of time when looking at SA cricket and how white ball and cricket in general is being approached by the Proteas. This is a coaching matter from the lowest level of coaching and will take a while to fix but for now, the Proteas have nowhere to hide. While one can, in their defence highlight that there are matches that were abandoned, one can also not afford to be oblivious to the fact that they may have lost those matches too. They are yet to win a series in the Super League and have scored 300+ only twice, once against Pakistan and once against Ireland. The team has struggled to chase down even some of the lowest totals in the Super League.
There is only one way for the Proteas now and that is to win series, win matches. This is the decisive moment for the team. The upcoming Super League matches will be a sink or swim situation and many of us would hope the team swims. It will require a lot of work from the batters as they would need to start playing positive cricket, score big match winning runs as opposed to good looking, fast paced half centuries that have extraordinarily little influence on the match. With all due respect to the nations that play qualifiers, it would be sad and embarrassing to see the Proteas play qualifiers.