Proteas help bat away the gloom
After the drubbing the national men’s cricket team, the Proteas, received at the hands of the Australians last Friday, the collective mood of cricket lovers across the country was very low indeed. Coming as it did upon losing a tight T20 series to the English after a thrashing by them in the Tests, did not help matters. As one supporter said after being challenged on how serious the situation was, “it is not life and death, it is more important than that”.
The all-time favourite T-shirt of many a Proteas fan has as its inscription “I support any team that is playing against Australia”. Indeed, matches between SA and the Aussies carry a special type of tension and are normally ultracompetitive. While it is not the Holy Grail of Test cricket, the recent spate of T20 internationals have been vastly entertaining and, thankfully, have prompted spectators to return to the stadiums in droves.
It must also be said that the crowds have been remarkably sporting, if not downright forgiving, in their attitude to this Australian team. It must be remembered that the two most prominent members of the team are former captain Steve Smith and top batsman David Warner, both of whom were involved in that scandalous ball-tampering incident during a Test match in Cape Town about two years ago.
Most teams fiddle with the ball in one way or another, from using sweat and even spit (after chewing sticky sweets), but to send a player onto the field with a piece of sandpaper really was beyond the pale and both men deserved a bit of “sledging” from the crowd. But apparently this has not happened. Had the roles been reversed, an SA team would have been savaged by a Sydney crowd, no doubt.
Sunday’s match was astonishing. SA batted first and, in spite of Quinton de Kock’s heroics, made a very modest 147. On paper the Aussies should have made this score easily, particularly if the Proteas were to have bowled as badly as they had in the first game. The collective anxiety of cricket lovers was palpable at the halfway stage, but Lungi Ngidi and Kagiso Rabada excelled to let the Aussies fall 12 runs short. Great stuff. It’s early days, but the brand-new management team at Cricket SA must be feeling a tad relieved.
Now for the deciding third match of the series at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday. Hopefully the fractious Cape spectators won’t be too rude to Smith and Warner and there will be another really close game.
It should also be noted that the Proteas women’s team won a historic game in the World Cup tournament being played in Australia, where they beat England for the first time in their history. The English are one of the powerhouses in the game and the win should stand our women in good stead for the rest of the tournament. This victory, as in the men’s game, was all about steely resolve and character under pressure.
The steadfastness of Mignon du Preez, who hit a six and a four in the last over to win the game, was exceptional. Now for their second game of the tournament on Friday, against Thailand. Imagine the women Proteas adding a T20 World Cup to the Rugby World Cup we already have. Tremendous if it happens.
Of course, it begs the question as to why this is important. After all, it is only a game. The gloom of the floundering economy and all the other major issues facing the country are in danger of becoming a source of incurable national depression. While not nearly as significant as becoming the rugby world champions, just as with SA’s amazing victory in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final, these two cricket matches represent bright spots on the horizon and an opportunity to enjoy being South African again.
They come before the dark clouds of the national budget, the almost inevitable downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service and the next round of load-shedding take the shine off and return us all to the new “normal”.
TWO MATCHES REPRESENT AN OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY BEING SOUTH AFRICAN AGAIN