What’s wrong with the Proteas?

NO VISION: CRICKET SA SHOULD HAVE HAD A PLAN

Proteas captain Faf du Plessis said yesterday, in the wake of their disastrous 3-0 hammering in India, that South African cricket’s structures are not strong enough and there is too great a gap between domestic cricket and international level.

South Africa were beaten by 203 runs; an innings and 137 runs; and an innings and 202 runs – the first time they have lost by an innings in successive Tests since 1936 when Australia did it three times in a row at home.

While several key players have retired since they were last in India, the most alarming feature of the tour was that cricketers who are dominant at franchise level failed to make an impact.

Du Plessis said: “I found this tour to be very tough because when I look in the dressing room I’m seeing a lot of guys who have played less than 10 Tests.

“So there’s been a lot of responsibility on my shoulders.

“It’s unfortunately just the time and place we find ourselves in. That shows our structures are not where they need to be.

“That gap between domestic cricket and the Proteas needs to be addressed better.

“When we look back three or four years, it would have been great if someone could have had the vision to say there’s the possibility a lot of senior players are going to retire at once, so what do we do to be ready for that?

“We’re all guilty of not having a plan in place. We’ve had to replace four or five of our best players and we could have been smarter about phasing out the greats.”

Former Proteas all-rounder Ryan McLaren, who knows about domestic structures having played 154 first-class and 396 white-ball games in SA, England and India, said while success at national level was cyclical, and there is plenty of local talent, he is concerned about how well franchise cricket is preparing players for international cricket.

“We’ll just have to be patient. Our first-class cricket is a very far step away from international level,” he said.