South African cricket is enjoying its golden era

The Proteas men have had better players, they’ve had players who reached greater heights and arguably there have been better teams. But right now, South African cricket is in its most successful era.

At the T20 World Cup in Australia at the end of 2022, the Proteas lost to the Netherlands by 13 runs. The defeat meant they were knocked out of the tournament, as they failed to make the semifinals. South African cricket seemed to be at a critical point at that stage, with the Fundudzi report two years before this outlining a complete failure of upper management at Cricket South Africa (CSA).

CSA was staring down the barrel of continued on-field and off-field embarrassment. But three years later, the Proteas men are World Test Championship (WTC) winners, they’ve reached the final of the same tournament they exited during the group stage and, most recently, the Test side overcame India in India for the first time in 25 years.

It’s a level of success even the most optimistic of clairvoyants would not have predicted in 2022. CSA’s house is in order and it’s reaping rewards on the field. Pholetsi Moseki, the chief executive officer of CSA, has been instrumental in balancing the financial scales, which were in tatters prior to his appointment, as outlined by the Fundudzi report.

Moseki was first appointed on an interim basis in 2020 but has held the position permanently since then. He’s not a man from a cricketing background like Thabang Moroe before him – who oversaw some of CSA’s darkest days – but instead Moseki is a chartered accountant with a business background.

There have been some on-field sacrifices during his tenure in an attempt to balance the books. Since Moseki’s permanent appointment, South Africa have played no Test series longer than two matches at home. This is because of the cost of hosting Test cricket. Outside of playing against India and to a lesser degree England and Australia, South Africa lose money hosting Test matches.

CSA has also prioritised white-ball matches against India to bump up the financial revenue from broadcast rights sales.

This summer, South Africa is not hosting any home Test matches for the first time post-isolation. Although fans of the sport naturally bemoan the decision, it was made with an eye on the financial rewards.

The Proteas are currently touring India, and England and Australia are facing off in the Ashes. New Zealand and West Indies are currently facing off in a three-match Test series. That leaves only the subcontinent sides of Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as viable opponents. But Pakistan and Sri Lanka toured last summer and Bangladesh will be on their way next summer.

It also provided South Africa with a window to repair the stadium lights at Newlands Cricket Ground, Kingsmead Cricket Stadium, SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium and Wanderers Stadium.

CSA also essentially sacrificed a Test tour to New Zealand to ensure the second season of the SA20 was a success. But the sacrifice seems to have paid off, with the SA20 growing into one of the leading franchise tournaments in the world. The national team also picked themselves up from that defeat to the Black Caps to win seven of their next eight Test matches and win the WTC final in the same WTC cycle.

Matching success

The Proteas’ WTC triumph over Australia at Lord’s Cricket Ground in June is the pinnacle of their recent achievements. South Africa have held the Test mace before, with the team having won it under the leadership of captain Graeme Smith in 2009, and in 2012 and 2014 (under Hashim Amla) when it was known as the Test Championship.

During that time, the Proteas had a star-studded line-up, with players competing for the number one spot on the International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings. In the batting department it was Amla, AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis, and the bowlers boasted a red-hot Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander.

A decade later, the calibre of individual stars is absent from the Proteas dressing room, outside of Kagiso Rabada, but the unit has reached comparable heights. Between 2004 and 2016 South Africa played 11 Test matches in India, winning only one. The current side has already surpassed this with its recent 2-0 series win.

Those achievements extend to the white-ball formats as well. Since the calamitous showing in 2022, South Africa reached the semifinal of the 2023 Cricket World Cup in India and the final of the T20 World Cup last year in the Caribbean and US.

All-round excellence

The Proteas Women, despite having not been able to leap over the final hurdle, are in a golden era of success as well. Since 2023, they’ve reached the final of every major global tournament they’ve participated in. This is despite the retirements of stalwarts in Shabnim Ismail, Dané van Niekerk (who has now returned), Lizelle Lee and Trisha Chetty, who all formed part of the spine of the side before.

In 2023, they broke the barrier for South Africa by becoming the first senior side to reach an ICC World Cup final after finishing as runners-up to Australia at the T20 World Cup hosted in South Africa.

Last year the side made the final of the T20 World Cup again in the United Arab Emirates before losing to New Zealand. This year it was the Cricket World Cup in India, where SA battled all the way to the final but fell short again, this time to the hosts.

Although SA’s trophy cabinet is only filled with the WTC mace, both South Africa’s senior sides are closer than they’ve ever been to all-format success.

There have been various coaches at the helm as well. For the Proteas Women, Hilton Moreeng, Dillon du Preez and Mandla Mashimbyi have led them to the three finals. For the men, it’s been Rob Walter in the white-ball format and Shukri Conrad in Tests. The man behind the scenes is Enoch Nkwe, formerly the director of cricket and now the director of national teams and high performance.

South Africa’s next objective is to claim a white-ball trophy, with the main focus being on the 2027 men’s World Cup being hosted in the country. A victory then will solidify an already successful era as unarguably the greatest of all time. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.