‘Spin-shy South Africa headed for another World Cup failure’

I don’t think they’ll ever win the World Cup. Teams winning the World Cup have had quality spinners and have been able to play spin well.

FANIE DE VILLIERS, On South Africa

team’s top wicket-taker with 17. In 2007 too, Australia’s Chinaman Brad Hogg featured high on the list while Yuvraj Singh’s golden arm played a role in India’s win in 2011.

And all of these teams, including Australia of 2003 and 2015 who didn’t rely much on spinners, had shown the ability to play spinners well. In fact, the Aussies beat the subcontinental teams quite convincingly in all the editions they won.

South Africa’s bane in World Cups, in contrast, has been spin.

“It has been that way. In the 1996 quarter-finals, they were cruising but crashed against spin,” says De Villiers referring to the match where SA folded for 245 against West Indies after being 186/3 to lose by 19 runs. They lost eight wickets to spinners. Off-break bowler Roger Harper took four but part-time spinners Keith Arthurton and Jimmy Adams shared four wickets.

In the 1999 semi-finals, legspinner Shane Warne ran through them picking four as they struggled to chase 213 while in the 2003 Cup game against Sri Lanka where they messed up on D/L method to crash out, spinners shared five out of their six wickets to fall.

One reason why the Proteas are struggling to find players who can put pressure on established stars is because a lot of talent has moved out. Players like Rilee Roussow – part of 2015 World Cup team, Stiaan Van Zyl, the children of former cricketers Ray Jennings and Kepler Wessels, Colin Ingram, Richard Levi, Hardus Viljoen and Kyle Abbott have all moved abroad. There are others like Colin Munro and Grant Elliott who moved to New Zealand.