One thing the Proteas have to overcome is their fear of failure
Gut wrenching and humiliating. It was a sad exit from the ICC T20 World Cup for a fine team who have been through fire together.
It is difficult not to let emotions override facts and logic. The Proteas did the hard work and the match against the Netherlands should have led to a straightforward march into the semifinals.
The Netherlands team, however, played confident, disciplined cricket. The final nail in the coffin was a magnificent catch by former Protea and Titans player Roelf van der Merwe to dismiss David Miller. That sealed the game.
Let’s try and unravel some of the factors that led to this ignominious defeat.
All players have a fear of failure, and this mindset has to be radically changed to allow the natural flow of flair and positivity to take over. “Fear of failure” is one of Gary Kirsten’s best presentations. He has experienced first hand, as a Protea player himself and as their coach, the desperateness of World Cup losses, but also the exhilaration of being the coach of India when they won the ODI World Cup in 2011.
Kirsten, as the assistant coach of the Netherlands in this tournament, would have shared that pivotal talk. Its impact would have been reinforced by Jimmy Cook’s son, Ryan, the head coach. The Netherlands team, with four highly effective SA players, never blinked under pressure and executed their plans confidently. It was a triumph of a resolute mindset.
The Proteas by contrast seemed hesitant and tense. Whichever way you cut it the Proteas, for years, have been burdened by successive ICC World Cup failures. It sits heavy on our shoulders. It is ever present and will be until we become ICC World Cup winners. We have not found a way to erase that burden from our cricket DNA.
The form of Temba Bavuma , joining the team after injury, was a deep concern throughout the tournament. He is a fine and much-loved captain, yet not a naturally gifted T20 player. That is not his forte. The top three batters need to be free-scoring players to take advantage of the fielding restrictions. Bavuma, owing to the limited cricket he had played, battled to settle into his opening batter role.
There was a key moment in the tournament when Bavuma could have stepped down or been dropped. That was before the Pakistan match. Such timing would have given the in-form Reeza Hendriks two matches to acclimatise himself before the semifinals, should the Proteas reach them. I respect the deep loyalty the team and coach have for Bavuma. However, hard conversations are what this team is renowned for. This one was missed.
The Proteas played Pakistan and the Netherlands on the Sydney and Adelaide pitches that favour spinners. For the usual two spinners to be selected, Kagiso Rabada or Wayne Parnell would have had to step down for Tabraiz Shamsi. However, selectors are loath to change a winning team.
Dropping Bavuma, our captain, and Rabada, our lead bowler, or Parnell, would alter the traditional balance of the team. While it is easy to hypothesise, one must understand that these decisions consider history, consistency of selection and team balance. We will never know whether these selection issues would have altered the results. They would nevertheless have given a better chance of victory.
To be clear, we were outplayed on the day, however unpalatable that is. Our batters and bowlers were not up to the task. Netherlands fully deserved their victory. Finished and klaar.
Bavuma and Boucher deserved better considering the minefield they had to navigate on the way to the World Cup. They should be celebrated for the team they forged and the strength of character the team showed as they weathered. Issues like racial allegations and the Black Lives Matter movement hovered over them for months. We must acclaim their courage and resilience.
This is not written in defence of the team, captain or coach at the World Cup. It is an appreciation of their commitment through some difficult times, and their open reflections throughout the journey.
It was reported that Cricket SA publicly challenged the Protea women’s team to win the 2023 World Cup in SA. Cricket SA commented that this is based on the effort that Cricket SA have put into women’s cricket since 2013.
Despite Cricket SA’s commendable support, women’s cricket is in its infancy. The building of a strong, broad foundation from school cricket up is in its development phase. The Proteas women’s side have done well and are significant role models. Proteas women are playing in the T20 tournaments globally which is great recognition of their abilities. Yet as we have learnt from men’s cricket, publicly laying down the gauntlet to be World Cup champions merely weighs teams down with expectation, especially on home soil. Home tournaments, as the Australian men’s team has found out this year, affect performance.
Historical lessons keep staring us in the face, yet we seem not to absorb them.*