Can South Africa Stop Choking At Cricket World Cups?

“Reputation is like fine china: once broken, it’s very hard to repair,” said Abraham Lincoln. The 16^th President of the United States wasn’t thinking about South Africa’s cricket team, but the theory behind that famous quote applies to the Proteas throughout the last three decades of white-ball tournaments. The ‘chokers’ tag will not leave their necks until they rip off their badges of dishonor and replace them with gold medals.

South Africa have found some incredible ways of losing matches in the palm of their hands. In the 1999 World Cup semi-final against Australia, they only needed a single off four balls when Lance Klusener decided to run on a miscue. He took off with a desperation to get over the line, but his partner, Allan Donald, didn’t back up and was run out agonisingly in a sea of panic and scrambled minds. “I guess in hindsight, it was a combination of miscommunication and nerves,” Klusener told Firstpost two decades later. Hopefully, it didn’t take the all-rounder that long to get over it.

Miscommunication and nerves are exactly what happen when sporting minds are blurred by the pressure of the occasion. They have tripped South Africa up when clinical thinking was needed. England’s World Cup-winning rugby coach, Sir Clive Woodward, used to call the latter TCUP, an acronym for Thinking Correctly Under Pressure. Former captain Graeme Smith famously snapped at a reporter during the 2011 World Cup when every other question was about how his side would cope under stress. “So you have been out in the middle? You understand all that? Every time we walk into a press conference, it’s the question we expect to get,” came the tetchy response from Smith.

The vibes are different in 2023. New coach Rob Walter has spoken of a proud nation, a “cricket-loving” country, in a bid to change the parameters, reaching out to a captive audience that has already witnessed tentative green shoots of recovery. An impressive 3-2 win over Australia in a warm-up series showed resilience after being 2-0 down. One look at the current ODI rankings shows three Proteas batters in the top ten and five in the top 15, the most of any country playing in the World Cup. These are reasons to be cheerful and optimistic. The question remains: do South Africa trust the process when everything is going against them?

There are some definitive changes that Walter has brought to the table. A more aggressive mindset has been noticeable, especially in the way that the side beat current holders England at the beginning of the year and chased down 260 against The West Indies within 30 overs. The magic 400 was reached against Australia.

Heinrich Klaasen has all the attributes of a modern-day ODI hitter, bringing favourable comparisons with AB De Villiers in his range of strokeplay. The monstrous 174 he smashed against the Baggy Greens at Centurion was typical of a new, simplified approach. That mindset change has been key since coming back into the 50-over team and looks to have spread throughout the batting unit.

On the face of it, the top six look very strong with 34-year-old David Miller enjoying an extended period of good form that comes with a new-found freedom. Quinton De Kock is set to quit ODI cricket as his body “tells me I am 40”, so one last Indian summer would be welcome. Rassie van der Dussen is the man with the huge average (57), but hasn’t been in sparkling form. If he saves his runs for the real thing, no one will be complaining.

What may dim the harshest lights on this team is the focus on their colleagues over in France at the Rugby World Cup. The Springboks have a trophy under their belts and exude a certainty, calmness, and collective spirit that their cricket counterparts can take inspiration from. The early matches in the group will be a chance to build up a groundswell of support that can double up on two fronts. Skipper Temba Bavuma is as quietly impressive as Siya Kolisi, and the two have formed a special bond. Winning will create two global ambassadors and unite a country once more under a perfect sporting synchronicity.

Ultimately, the Proteas will need to expunge their worst ICC history and write a new chapter. England went through a similar catharsis in their quest to become the top dogs, and it takes raw courage to stick with the game plan and commit under the weight of negative narratives. “The most important one is to keep playing well with our brand,” said Walter. Supporters will hope that means more than a corporate advert. If the Proteas stick to their own identity, the results will follow without retribution.