As usual in a World Cup year, the collective focus and attention of the cricket fraternity is on what will happen in several months’ time rather than today or even next week. The tournament, which South Africa has never won, occupies the thoughts and minds of the players just as much as it does their supporters.
So Friday’s final match against Zimbabwe is more about what will happen in the series against India in January and the starting XI against the West Indies in Delhi on February 24. South Africa’s inability to crush the Zimbabweans thus far has given some critics all the ammunition they need to predict looming disaster — once again.
But even the Romans knew they couldn’t expect a perfect kill every time they went along to watch the gladiators at the Colosseum — and sometimes there wasn’t a kill at all. The Proteas’ bowling attack has looked limp, but so would most on the pitches in Bloemfontein, Kimberley and Potchefstroom. And besides, the Zimbabweans are becoming doughty fighters, disinclined to give up when the going gets tough.
There are many questions to be answered, however. Is Charl Langeveldt a bit long in the tooth? Is Wayne Parnell a “luxury” whose wickets are too expensive? Is Robin Peterson the best second spinner behind Johan Botha? (What’s happened to Roelof van der Merwe?)
The bowlers will resemble far more of an “attack” than a “defence” as soon as Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel are fit, of course, but nobody seems any the wiser about Albie Morkel’s ability to play more than a part-time role with the ball.
It should not just be the World Cup that commands our attention, however. Australia’s startling drop to a Test ranking of fifth has left India and South Africa comfortably clear at the top of the standings and the winner of the three-match series either side of Christmas can justifiably claim to be the best team in the world. Englishmen may disagree, but let’s see how they fare during the Ashes before judging Andrew Strauss’s team.
Fascinating subplot
There may also be a fascinating subplot to this summer’s action, both at home and on the subcontinent. The excellent Corrie van Zyl has already confirmed that he will be stepping down as national coach after the World Cup but speculation about his successor has barely started — must be something to do with the Currie Cup. With the greatest of respect to the six franchise coaches and, indeed, to Vinnie Barnes, who has been with the national team for eight years in a supporting role, there is one candidate who stands head and shoulders above all others.
As coach of India, he will be in the country soon enough. It might sound outrageous for South Africa to contemplate making a move for Gary Kirsten and it might even feel a little peculiar for a coach to move straight from one national team to another, but that sort of thinking is for prudes. Kirsten has not signed an extension to his contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) beyond the World Cup and there would seem to be no reason why he couldn’t change teams in the same way that football managers do. That’s if he wants the job, of course.
The truth is that, provided certain basic criteria are met and conditions agreed upon, Kirsten would probably find it very hard to say no. His confidence and self-belief must be at an all-time high having taken India from consistent mediocrity to the best in the world and, having seen the mistakes South African teams routinely make both from inside the changing room and now from afar, the temptation to get them playing to their potential would probably be irresistible.
It could all make for a very awkward summer, of course, with every conversation Kirsten has with virtually anybody in South Africa fuelling conspiracy theories. If anybody can handle that, however, it will be Kirsten with his natural aversion to the spotlight and determination to do things “right”.
Before all that, we still have the results of the Cricket South Africa (CSA) internal inquiry to look forward to. Whether or not there has been any wrongdoing, the unanswered questions are doing the reputation of CSA no good. And judging by the inquiries coming out of India in the fallout from Lalit Modi’s expulsion from the Indian Premier League (IPL), it’s not just people in South Africa who want answers.