There are good tours and there are bad tours, and this was one of the bad ones.
That was the opinion of United Cricket Board (UCB) CEO Gerald Majola, after the South African cricket team returned home on Wednesday from a disastrous tour of Sri Lanka, in which they drew one Test, lost the other and then were defeated in all five one-day internationals.
Majola said no changes to the management of the national team are planned in the immediate future, despite the disappointment of the tour. He said he believes the team are capable of turning things round and doing well in the ICC Champions Trophy in the United Kingdom, and gave the team the assurance that the UCB is still firmly behind them.
Team coach Eric Simons denied that he is thinking of resigning if the team do not do well in the Champions Trophy.
”After the disappointment of the second Test [which South Africa lost by 313 runs] the team sat down to discuss issues they thought were important,” he said.
”Collectively we came to a position where we understood that things had to improve, and the UCB would demand that if things didn’t improve, there would be changes.
”I gave an interview afterwards and basically said that I recognised that I am the person accountable and responsible, and that changes could take place regards the coach.
”So it wasn’t a case of me talking about resigning, but me talking about accepting responsibility,” said Simons.
‘We expect to perform better’
Graeme Smith, captain of the national team, said the players have four days off before they leave for Britain and they will all take a long, hard look at themselves during this short break.
”I demand a lot of myself, and I demand a lot of the team, so it’s not only the public that have high expectations.
”We demand results. We expect to perform better than we did in Sri Lanka, and it is going to be a challenge to turn it around,” he said. ”We’ve hit rock bottom, and this gives us an opportunity to strategise and come up with game plans going forward.”
Smith said conditions in the UK better suit South Africa than the conditions in Sri Lanka.
”The practice games and the warm-up are going to be crucial. We’ve got to play good cricket.
”We got the basics wrong — we dropped catches, we missed run-outs,” he said. ”We just weren’t ruthless enough in some of the games. The 260 we scored in the first game was a defendable score — we didn’t bowl well enough.
”In the next game we bowled them out for 213, and then we batted badly. So we’ve really got to get 100 overs together. We’ve got to get the confidence up in both areas of the game.
”Obviously when we get over there, we’ve got to regroup. We’re going to take a hard look at ourselves and when we arrive in England, we’re going to come up with some fresh ideas, fresh strategies and move forward through that series.”
No rifts in team
Smith and Simons both rejected claims of rifts in the team and a lack of support for the captain from some of the senior players.
”We had a really tough tour,” said Simons, ”and one thing that we came back with is that the team stuck together as a unit.
”I don’t want a happy team that loses. But the team really stuck together through some seriously tough times. There were some hard discussions but there were never rifts. I can tell you, those boys are really hurting because they’re a proud bunch.”
Smith said that as a squad, the team are very strong.
”There were definitely harsh words said behind closed doors — we expect things from each other and results from each other and we expect each other to stand up and be counted when we play for our country.
”And as much as the public demand results of us, we demand results from each other. We’re a team, and we want to be a winning team.” — Sapa