Graeme Smith’s team’s mission statement at the start of their tour of England was to play positive cricket and make South African’s proud of their commitment and style in victory.
Even allowing for a highly unlikely defeat in the fifth Test at the Oval this weekend, the ‘New Proteas” have successfully blossomed into a winning unit, impressing many during this intriguing campaign.
To buy into new structures, ethics and a new captain is one thing, but the style with which the team has succeeded has been extraordinary. The side has been inspirationally led by Smith on the field and by calm, experienced heads off it.
The turnaround has been dramatic and one can now say not altogether unplanned. The much-criticised appointment of Smith as captain evoked many emotive outbursts from legendary personalities in the game. To hear them now sing the praises of Smith and the United Cricket Board is quite galling.
The same can be said for the indecision regarding Gary Kirsten’s value to the team.
The challenge facing Smith and Eric Simons was to defeat England on their home soil, the first South African team to do so since the legends of 1965. Even a drawn series will have captured the public’s attention.
It seems that Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United has his scouts on the look out for our boys — you don’t attract invitations to Manchester United’s directors’ suite for nothing. Maybe we can look forward to Vodafone SA Proteas!
The overhauling of England’s ascendancy at the start of the series has been fascinating. Duncan Fletcher’s apparent over-confidence and Nasser Hussain’s arrogance and dithering concerning the leadership is in stark contrast to the energy and direction displayed by Simons and Smith.
It is noteworthy that Michael Vaughan has struggled to rally his resources, his own form suffering in the process. His passive body language poses an interesting comparison with the ‘in your face” style of youngster Smith. To be fair to the England skipper, though, his bowling attack has shown woeful application and no killer instinct in three of the first four Tests.
The current crop of batsmen have displayed a mental feebleness and tactical naivety, Marcus Trescothick and Mark Butcher being major culprits in not wanting to consolidate their blossoming partnership at Headingly. By such narrow margins are Test series won or lost.
Transforming a team into a productive unit on and off the field requires a large amount of mental and physical energy. A Houdini act does not just happen, and we certainly needed one after the disappointing World Cup.
It appears that subtle changes, such as the introduction of fitness trainer Adrian le Roux (who helped India to the World Cup final), have reaped benefits. The players have responded to his recipe.
Psychological input and regular assessments on a difficult tour have been implemented by Mike Finnegan, another new introduction to Smithy’s troops.
It is clear that this South African team, under stress, have responded to each other and the wishes of their supporters.
Are you paying attention, SA Rugby?