Poor leadership now reflecting in Proteas’ performance
It was a day of firsts. I was pleased to score my first half-century for SA but also disappointed not to be able to capitalise on the opportunity,” said Zubayr Hamza after the Proteas had lost 16 wickets in the day to stagger to the close of day three on 132/8 in their follow-on innings in Ranchi, India, on Monday.
“But it was also the first time I’ve ever been dismissed twice on the same day.”
It was a humiliation shared by six other Protea batsmen on one of the bleakest days in the team’s post-isolation history. They are now just two wickets away from suffering back-toback innings defeats for the first time since the infamously weak team of the mid-1930s.
“It’s been a tough day for the guys,” said 24-year-old Hamza.
“To have been almost bowled out twice in less than two days of batting is pretty poor from our side.
“It’s been tough ... we’ve failed to build partnerships and their bowlers have been relentless and disciplined,”a forthright Hamza admitted.
The good news is that the only way from here is up. Surely the bottom has been reached?
The bad news is that there is very little time to change anything before the first Test match against England in Centurion on Boxing Day.
There is one round of fourday franchise matches when they return. In November everybody will be donning pom-poms and party whistles for the Mzansi Super League which ends on December 16, leaving just one more round of franchise matches for players to return to first-class mode.
After a dismal series, there are now far more questions than answers about the composition of the Test team to face England, but some ruthless decisions have to be taken now.
The absence of an allrounder in India means Wiaan Mulder must start against England and bat at No 6. The hardest questions, however, will concern the attitude and desire of the current Test team.
Losing to this Indian team is no disgrace, but doing so while displaying so few, if any, of the traditional qualities of SA teams is inexcusable. The most obvious place to look for reasons to explain the often listless lethargy which has characterised performances in the three Test matches is the leaders, on and off the field.
Faf du Plessis has the qualities to be one of the country’s great captains but recently his decision-making has been deeply questionable. He adopted a low-key approach to the World Cup in an effort to shield his players from the paralysis of expectation which had affected previous teams, but they played like men whose preparation had taken place on a lounge chair.
In an effort to change his luck at the toss in Ranchi, Du Plessis took vice-captain Temba Bavuma with him as a lucky mascot. An incandescent Graeme Smith described it as “pathetic” from the commentary box. It was certainly clear evidence of a man suffering from muddled thinking — to say nothing of why the team management would have allowed such folly.
Former Protea batsman Jacques Rudolph was one of many former players to say publicly in recent days and weeks that the team’s performance and results originate from the breakdown in relations between the players and their employer.
“I genuinely feel gutted for the Proteas players at the moment, however, in time, a fish rots from the head down,” Rudolph said on social media on Monday.
“Cricket SA should take full responsibility for where we are as a cricketing nation now, as seen at the Cricket World Cup and in India currently.”
The current national players have still not forgotten, never mind forgiven, Cricket SA for their broken promise to withdraw Kagiso Rabada, Quinton de Kock and Du Plessis early from the Indian Premier League (IPL) to rest and prepare adequately for the World Cup.
There was more bad news yesterday. After three months of litigation and refusing to have meaningful dialogue with the SA Cricketers’ Association, their case against Cricket SA in the high court continues. As does the acrimony. As does the Western Province Cricket Association’s high court case against Cricket SA.
The appointment of a fulltime director of cricket, as laid out two months ago in Cricket SA’s “exciting new structure”, has now become critically important. The national players and team director (coach) Enoch Nkwe desperately need stability, direction and some long-term planning.
If there is somebody on Cricket SA’s radar, they have kept the news extremely quiet — and the cricket grapevine is never quiet. It may require a cup of coffee and a chat with Faf to clear the air, if he is to remain captain, but Cricket SA could do a great deal worse than enticing Smith out of the commentary box and into the director’s role.
That doesn’t mean doing the accounts or becoming “corporate” (there’s a board for that), it means providing a big-picture plan and implementing it. Leading. Where it really matters.