With the Proteas Cricket World Cup preparations left to hinge on their series against Australia, a poor start has left many fearing the worst ahead of a Cricket World Cup.
Going batty! (Pic – Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix)
In 2019, South Africa arrived at the World Cup out of sorts and remained so as they were eliminated from the running far too early but fears of a repeat might not be founded.
South Africa need to find match-winning form soon, that is true but a series loss to a very good Australian team shouldn’t spark too much panic.
The 15 men who have been picked for the Cricket World Cup should be backed all the way, with a good squad selected. The particularly long off-season for many national team players hasn’t helped this team prepare and they risk heading into the tournament underdone.
However, as tempting as it is to twist when things are going tough the Proteas need to stick to their guns and trust the process to lean heavily on the sporting cliché. By the end of the Cricket World Cup round-robin phase we could be talking about a South African team peaking at the right moment but only if management can stay the course with their chosen group.
They are going to need to be a team that is ready for the scrap if they are to match the best in the world in the ODI format. The players now need to know that they are being backed by those who matter in the setup to make a real charge at the Cricket World Cup.
All the Proteas dream of finally bringing home the Cricket World Cup and shaking off that dreaded chokers tag that still haunts them.
