Our cricketers deserve respect

It’s pretty simple for most South Africans to watch cricket from home. Switch the telly on, grab a beer – when we are not in level 3 – and sit back and enjoy the action. However, plenty goes on behind the scenes to make an international series happen in the Covid era. Spare a thought for our cricketers, who need to stay in a biobubble, away from their families before and during a series.

If they are touring, they need to arrive in the country early, quarantine and stay in their hotels when they are not training. Those walls must get small on a monthlong tour. There’s only so much TV you can watch and table tennis you can play in between training sessions.

After defeating Sri Lanka 2- 0 in the home Test series this month, captain Quinton de Kock admitted: “There are a lot of nerves when it comes to the bubble, lots of small things get into your mind, things that you’re not used to.

“Bubbles just make tours longer because of the quarantine period. You stay in your room for a certain amount of time. You get out when we are declared safe. It’s very unsettling. I don’t know how long it can last.”

The Proteas leave for Pakistan on Thursday ahead of the first Test in Karachi on 26 January. Once that tour is completed they play Australia at home, which means more time quarantining.

Add in the Indian Premier League in April and De Kock would have had to quarantine six times in seven months, having played in the Indian Premier League in the United Arab Emirates and hosted England late last year.

Yes, many will say this is our cricketers’ job. They are blessed to be playing sport for a living and must suck it up. But it can’t be easy. Perhaps we will take into account the sacrifices they have made and give them a little more respect the next time we see them in action.