For no apparent reason South Africa’s achievement in winning the 1998 Champions Trophy appears to have been systematically removed from the collective memories of both players and fans alike.
Graeme Smith was still at school, a year away from matric, in fact, so it’s fair enough that he has been heard to say on several occasions that the Proteas have ”never won” a major ICC trophy. But they now have two chances within the space of four months with the Champions Trophy in South Africa in September.
Oddly, however, even men such as Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis – man of the match in the final – seem to have forgotten about winning the inaugural tournament in Dhaka 11 years ago.
But it is the World Twenty20 that is currently occupying the team’s minds and they are perfectly comfortable with being rated among the favourites. In case anyone is in doubt about how seriously the players are taking it, Dale Steyn revealed this week that his ”stomach has been turning as much as it was before the tour of Australia”.
Having never played in an ICC tournament before, Steyn’s excitement is understandable. Twelve international teams in a city such as London — which is sharing the matches with Trent Bridge in Nottingham — make for a logistical operation of daunting magnitude and simmering expectation.
The opening match between England and the Netherlands on Friday follows a week of warm-up matches that were spectacularly successful events in themselves. The Proteas’ dismantling of Pakistan at Trent Bridge on Monday was watched by almost 10 000 people, while the India-Pakistan ”friendly” at The Oval on Wednesday drew a capacity crowd of 23 000.
”It’s flattering that people think we can win it,” said AB de Villiers after another comfortable victory over Sri Lanka on Wednesday. ”And they’re right, too. We can win it – we are good enough. We certainly have the talent — as long as we get the mental side of things right.”
Smith’s team have looked a relaxed and confident group for some time now, but there is no doubt that the good humour on display so far in England has something to do with the format.
”All the players enjoy 20-over cricket. It has become much more serious now, obviously, and this is like a mini World Cup, but it still has the fun element that it had when it started,” De Villiers said.
Coach Mickey Arthur suggested on arrival that the squad would be more flexible than ever before in their approach, able to think on their feet and change tactics at a moment’s notice with both bat and ball. An exciting but very un-South African approach.
”Personally I like to know where I’m batting and what my role will be,” admitted De Villiers, ”but that doesn’t mean to say it’s a bad idea to throw Roelof [van der Merwe] up the order to number three. He scores so quickly that it makes no difference to my role if I bat at four or five.”
Another contender for the pinch-hitting role, should South Africa use one, is Wayne Parnell. The 19-year-old is a certain starter with the new ball but, given cricket’s historical reliance on batting ”pecking orders” based on age and experience rather than potential, he is highly unlikely to feature higher than number 10 — which is like waiting until the 16th over to introduce Steyn into the bowling attack.
”I’d love to have a go up the order but there are a few others who would too, so I’m not getting greedy. I’m just excited about the possibility of being in the starting XI and bowling with Dale,” Parnell said.
Opinion is divided on whether India should be rated among the favourites based on their squad’s IPL experience. While 12 of the 15 Proteas had at least some IPL experience (Morne Morkel and Johan Botha played only two games each) the entire India squad played extensively.
”That can work both ways,” said De Villiers, who played almost every game for the Delhi Daredevils. ”They are a very experienced team, for sure, but maybe they are also a bit tired. We know we have a really decent break after this tournament so we can give it everything with the incentive of a holiday afterwards.”