The problem with the frenetic, nonstop world of cricket is that FOMO (fear of missing out) can set in when you’re not involved.
When the Proteas men or women are playing international cricket, or when the SA20 was in full swing, those involved in SA cricket had, at least, a share of the spotlight.
The irony is not missed on the players that they can be surrounded by talk of “rest” when they are playing, quickly followed by anxiety to organise more cricket when they are not. But the administrative legs of Cricket SA have been paddling hard below the winter surface.
For those who may have missed the news last week the Proteas will be entertaining their counterparts from New Zealand for three ODIs and five T20Is from September 24 to October 15, shortly after the departure of the Australian men’s team which will also play eight matches between August 30 and September 17.
The SA A team returned last week from Australia where they won the ODI series 2-1 but lost the two-match, four-day series 1-0. The SA Under-19 squad leaves for a tough tour of Bangladesh on Sunday (Bangladesh are notoriously strong at that level) while the Proteas white ball specialists gathered in Durban on Monday for a 10-day “skills” camp.
While new “skills” will no doubt be practised and basic ones honed, the big advancements with out-of-season gatherings are the relationships forged and strengthened between the players. Somehow, it can matter in match situations when you know your teammate cares for the elderly in his spare time or enjoys banana on his pizza.
Elsewhere in the world there is much to be entertained by. The World Cup qualifiers in Harare and Bulawayo have produced a couple of headline stories with more, surely, to come as the tournament starts its Super Six stage. Zimbabwe have produced cricket of bewildering quality and confidence for a team which spent almost two decades without much of either.
Their 35-run victory against the West Indies has left the Caribbean region praying for a miracle to reach the World Cup in India later this year. They will need to win all three games, including against the rampant Sri Lankans, and do so convincingly to reach the final on net run rate. A World Cup without the twice champions could be catastrophic for the West Indies.
But for every sporting nightmare, a dream is born. The inaugural season of Major League Cricket (MLC), which starts in the US next month, could benefit from an influx of players from the Caribbean, happy to sign long-term contracts in the belief that their ability to earn a living at home will be fatally compromised without the ICC revenue from the World Cup.
Zimbabwe, on the other hand, have not just matched the heights the team reached in the 1990s, they have surpassed them. Whereas a handful of unusually talented cricketers supported by willing “clubbies” produced the occasional upset, there are now more quality cricketers in the country, enjoying more support than was imagined possible.
Meanwhile, debate rages among English followers about the appropriateness of the “Bazball” approach to playing the Ashes. The super-aggressive approach and willingness to “gamble”, the readiness to risk defeat in pursuit of victory has been likened to a “cult” in which the leaders are never questioned and the mantra followed with religious zeal.
Others have pointed out, sensibly, that England have won 11 out of 14 Tests since Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullen took over as captain and coach after a period in which they won just one Test out of 17. They also point out that, had England caught their catches and effected their stumpings, they would have won by 200 runs with a day to spare.
“Ben has changed the game of Test cricket to such an extent that it will never be the same again,” said former England captain Andrew Strauss last week, happily declaring himself a supporter of the new approach. It may be true that England’s approach to Test cricket has been changed forever, but what about the rest of the world?
I was reminded of what Jason Holder said before the two-Test series between SA and the West Indies earlier this year: “Only three teams can afford to play cricket like that,” said the former captain. It was a reference not only to the financial wealth of England, Australia and India but to the glut of Test cricket they have compared to all the other nations.
Holder’s point was that when teams like his, and SA, have so few Test matches, they need to be cherished.
The next few years will confirm it one way or another, but I suspect that only those teams outside the “big three” which do follow England’s lead will be playing any Test cricket in the future.
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