Even the most ardent and enthusiastic South African cricket would’ve surely hanged his head in shame this past week after the Proteas’ poor start to the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. Losses against England and Bangladesh was a combination of poor tactics, tired displays and a general sub-par performance. Injuries and lack of form in the Proteas camp are also a big concern. Some fans has even called for the Proteas to book their flight immediately and to watch the rest of the tournament on their own TV’s. A bit harsh, but hey, our sport loving public demands the best.
With the current SA versus India World Cup match underway today, I walked past a big screen showcasing the live match in England. With the score at 26/2 a couple of guys took a quick peek at the big screen only to shake their head in dissapointment – alreay expecting the worst. Why is it that out cricket team just seems to underperform at a World Cup? Well, there are a few obvious reasons this time around in 2019. And it’s not the dreaded C-word.
- Injuries are the Proteas crutch
One thing that has truly hampered the Proteas has been the numerous injuries especially in the bowling department. Dale Steyn is now out of the World Cup after another flare-up of his shoulder injury, whilst another frontline seamer, Lungi Ngidi is out for two games with a hamstring niggle. Furthremore, Anrich Nortje, missed the trip with a finger injury. Losing three of your top bowlers is a big worry and it will be really difficult to fill their boots. The problem is that a lot of the players played IPL cricket before the World Cup – a risky situation especially before such a massive tournament. The questions is, should countries stop players from playing IPL before a big World Cup? Looking at SA’s injury-laden squad, then the answer should be yes. It would have been better if SA had a three match ODI series against Zimbabwe to keep them fresh just before the World Cup – almost like England did in their recent bilateral series against Pakistan.
2. Tactical tomfoolery
The tactical decision making from the Proteas has been really poor thus far in the tournament. A wrong call at the toss against Bangladesh opened up the door for the Tigers to smash their largest ODI score. Poor bowling and inconsistent lengths gave the edge to Bangladesh. The constant short pitched bowling, trying to bomb a side out, was the wrong game plan. Tactically, there also only seems to be one game plan. Plan B, C or D just does not exist at this moment. Proteas captain, Faf du Plessis is a smart cricketer, but he has not inspired as he should. Poor decision making with the bat against England, also cost the Proteas big time as wickets fell at regular intervals. A different, more aggressive approach is needed fot the rest of the World Cup.
3. A Jenga balancing act
We all know that game called “Jenga” where the aim is to balance wooden sticks on top of each other woithout the Jenga building crumbling down. At the moment the Proteas line-up is like a game of Jenga – one bad move seems to destroy all the past few years’ buiding. The Proteas do not have the right balance in their side at the moment. With only six batsman and two bowling all-rounders, there are not enough depth in the battign line-up. Especially at a World Cup where a long batting line-up will be a key factor. One SA lose their top batsman, then the rest of the lower order seems to caputulate. There is no fight or enough skill in our bowler’s battign ability. Rabanda, Tahir, Shamsi and Ngidi are not good enough to smash a quick 30 or 40. That is where the problem lies – once the Proteas are six down, it could theoretically mean all out.
Are the Proteas all out of luck, out of fitness, out of passion or dare I say soon to be out of the tournament?
