FIRST it was the Springboks and now the Proteas.
After a remarkable comeback by the Proteas to square the recent test series in New Zealand, and a home series win against India before that, our national team are being accused of playing boring cricket.
Sound familiar?
Indeed, we also had that school of thought from certain (jealous?) circles about the Springboks’ style of play after they won the World Cup in 2019 and beat the British & Irish Lions 2-1 at home two years later.
Now certain critics have labelled the Proteas “boring” after they demolished the Kiwis by 198 runs in the second test in Christchurch.
Yes, the innings defeat in the first test was just plain embarrassing but to come back and win the second test so convincingly deserves to be applauded widely.
In fact, it was probably one of their most impressive victories in many years because of a combination of reasons.
Don’t forget that New Zealand and India were the teams that contested the final of the World Test Championship last year.
The Proteas proved, against a background of challenges on and off the field, they can more than hold their own against these top sides.
Boring? No. Full of fighting spirit, gutsy, resilient? O yes, now we are talking.
Just look at the problems this team is faced with. During these matches, there was a lot of noise about all kinds of issues coming out of Cricket South Africa’s boardroom – one of them a charge, following the findings made by the Social Justice and Nation Building ombudsman, against the coach, Mark Boucher.
Then there is the difficult financial situation surrounding the game in South Africa and the ever-present political infighting which makes it very difficult to keep the best eleven players on the field at all times.
To compete against and beat the best in the world in rather chaotic surroundings is actually unthinkable. Oh, then there is also the infectious matter of that dreadful virus and its challenges.
If you cast your eyes away from all this to the playing field, you will find that the current national cricket side is not the most talented bunch you have ever seen.
They probably also don’t have the natural leaders that will one day be called greats of the game. All this makes those victories just that more impressive.
On paper, the playing 11 that destroyed the Kiwis in the last test hardly filled one with optimism when the toss was done in Christchurch.
The “boring” fighting spirit came through from the very first ball of the match though and that filled the Proteas supporters with optimism and pride.
If boring means winning, I guess we all love boring.
