South Africa’s victory over the West Indies puts the Proteas within reach of greatness
Peter Robinson
Just over two years ago South Africa beat the West Indies 5-0 in a home series, only the fourth five-Test clean sweep in Test history. Rather than acclaim for a considerable achievement, however, the triumph was dogged by incessant bickering.
There was a row about the all-white team that won the first Test. There was a row about the off-the-cuff coda added by then United Cricket Board president Ray White when he read out the UCB’s “Transformation Pledge” during the fourth Test at Newlands. There was a row between Hansie Cronje and Ali Bacher at the conclusion of the fifth Test at Centurion Park, a row that led to Cronje briefly quitting the captaincy.
It was all very untidy and niggly and it left the South African team believing that their efforts had been undersold. Of course, all teams think that they don’t receive enough praise when they win and get too much criticism when they lose, but the class of 98/99 had a point.
A couple of years on and South Africa have again beaten the West Indies, this time in the Caribbean, and while the current West Indian side hardly squares up with the great teams of the 1980s, the current success may yet prove to be even more significant than the 1999 victory.
Winning abroad requires the touring team to overcome both the conditions and the opposition. In this respect Shaun Pollock and his team have been quite magnificent. There was hardly a moment during the first four Test matches when the West Indians could have contemplated pushing on to victory. On the few occasions when the home team has threatened (usually on the first morning), the South Africans have ridden out the storm.
It would be stretching a point to argue that this has been a team performance without flaws. Victory has been achieved with at least a couple of players in every Test struggling to make a contribution. The most notable example of this has been the batting of Lance Klusener, although since the first Test both Mark Boucher and Gary Kirsten have battled while Jacques Kallis has scored fewer runs than he might have wished for.
The important point, though, is whenever South Africa have wobbled, someone has put his hand up. Neil McKenzie has grown as a Test player as the series has worn on; Daryll Cullinan’s contributions to the second and third Tests were vital; Kallis, substantially, and Klusener have bowled well; Herschelle Gibbs has shown alarming signs of maturity.
Above all else, though, has been Pollock who has had a magnificent series. He may not have taken as many wickets as expected, but he has bowled tightly on unresponsive pitches. If and when he gets a bit more grass, the wickets will return.
It is as captain and with the bat, however, that Pollock has capered through the Caribbean. At the crease he simply doesn’t look like getting out an impression reinforced by the fact that before the last Test he had lost his wicket only twice in seven innings. For a long time Pollock frustrated with the bat, but since taking over the captaincy his hobby has become a second day job.
Pollock took over the side at the most difficult point in the history of South African cricket. He was given charge of a team that might well have splintered into different groups and factions in the wake of Hansiegate, but by example and force of personality he has pulled the strings back together again.
From purely the point of view of the captaincy, Hansiegate may well have done South African cricket a favour. Pollock is a more instinctive, more natural cricketer than his predecessor and these qualities have started to come through in his leadership. He has a lighter touch than Cronje, but the basic disciplines of the side most notably among the bowlers are all still in evidence.
Perhaps the most significant and exciting aspect of the Caribbean venture is that South Africa can almost certainly get better. They are still a side in development, a team that will get better. And with the highest level of the game opening up following England’s successes in Pakistan and Sri Lanka and India’s triumph against Australia, South Africa are perfectly poised to make a bid for the top of the tree. Peter Robinson is the editor of CricInfo South Africa (www.cricket.co.za)