One of the more laborious clichés in professional sport has variations on “taking positives” from painful defeats. SA’s women lost their second consecutive T20 World Cup final on Sunday and it hurt, a lot. But ... there were many positives.
The most emphatic of these was not just the victory against Australia in the semifinal but the manner in which it was achieved featuring skill and discipline with the ball as well as a fearless, ruthless streak with the bat during the run-chase.
When the men’s side won their first Test series in Australia after almost a century of trying, the coach, Mickey Arthur, said the impact would affect generations to come. Sure enough, they won the next two series Down Under. You wait a hundred years for victory and three come along consecutively. Beating the six-times World Champions and the world’s best team so convincingly in such an important match may well prove to be another smashed glass ceiling.
Laura Wolvaardt’s team weren’t at their best in the final but that should not detract from an extraordinary and unlikely victory for New Zealand who were so short of form and confidence after losing 10 consecutive T20 Internationals before the tournament began. It was a turnaround to compare with any in sport.
The SA men’s quest to reach the World Test Championship final meanwhile, was off to a rollicking start in Dhaka on Monday when they dismissed Bangladesh for just 106 but faltered at the end of the day when they slipped to 140/6 and a slender lead of just 34 runs.
“With all the T20 cricket being played these days and scores of over 200, as a bowler this was all right,” said Kagiso Rabada with a wide smile. You want a fair contest between bat and ball. Ideally you want the bowling unit to think they haven’t bowled very well and the batting unit to believe they haven’t batted very well.
Exceptional distinction
“[With] sixteen wickets on day one, you’d say it was in the bowlers’ favour but different pitches cancel each other out over time. In the next Test it might be 450 plays 450 but ... all cricket — not just Test cricket — should offer something to everyone. We bowled well to take 10 wickets but you’ll see that when their batsmen apply themselves they can score runs, too,” Rabada said.
The great fast became the sixth South African and 39th player overall to reach 300 Test wickets but with an exceptional distinction: he bowled fewer deliveries than anyone else to get there. It is an extraordinary record.
“I wasn’t thinking about it at the start of play but it’s a very special achievement and a relief. We all have milestones in the back of our minds and I’m proud to join that list of great players. I didn’t know about the record but that makes it even more special,” Rabada said.
It wasn’t necessarily the smoothest build-up to the Test match for the players, with a highly visible army security presence before and during their practise sessions at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in the suburb of Mirpur but at least they weren’t the target of any violence.
Shakib Al Hasan, arguably Bangladesh's best cricketer, was an MP within Sheikh Hasina's highly unpopular Awami League government when it was overthrown in August and, with about 150 others, was accused of “murder by proxy” during the ensuing unrest. The all-rounder hasn’t been in the country since the fall of the government as a result, and cricket fans have made their thoughts known with graffiti on the walls outside the stadium, most spray-painting “no” or “out” slogans but some expressing support. Sensibly, he was not selected for the Test.
Security has been tight in the capital with the Bangladeshi army conspicuous in numbers outside the ground in the build-up to the Test, their automatic assault rifles incongruously held alongside plastic riot shields. It’s one thing or another, isn’t it? Knife at a gunfight or gun at a knife-fight.
Professional cricketers are often guilty of living their lives “in a bubble”, even at home when light bulbs need changing, plants watering and partners nurturing, but sometimes the selfishness that got them where they are can assist in keeping them there.
As Mike Gatting once said in 1989 when asked about the toy-toying protestations before a Rebel Game: “What protests? I saw some people dancing” — so might today’s cricketers disregard the presence of armed soldiers. But with understandable and proper reason. They should water the pot plants and make time for (often long-suffering) partners, but worrying about Asian politics is not on the priority list. There are security companies to do that.
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