Proteas: Is this our golden generation?

What a great time to be a Protea fan. No, I’m not referring to the flower, although I suppose this would also be a good time as spring is almost upon us. I am, of course, referring to the Proteas, our national cricketers.

The last time I was this excited about South African cricket, Hansie Cronje was being coerced by the devil and making some extra pocket money on the side. The game has hopefully been cleaned up considerably since then, which makes my heightened optimism all the greater. After resounding victories in the second and third Tests, the Proteas have gone on to achieve a historic series win in England. This coming after dispatching the West Indies at home and Bangladesh away, and earning a share of the spoils in India.

Graeme Smith may forever kick himself at the unforgivable loss of Minki, and his anti-fan club may be as large as his alleged ego, but he has developed into a fine captain nonetheless and has been instrumental in the molding of a fiercely competitive side. Our top order, traditionally about as strong and dependable as a Baker’s Tennis Biscuit, is suddenly piling on the runs, our fielding is up to the standard last seen during the Jonty Rhodes era and we have arguably one of the strongest seam-bowling attacks in the world today.

Watch out Australia, here we come? South African fans certainly have grounds to believe so.

Smith and Neil McKenzie have quickly developed into a formidable opening pair, with McKenzie grabbing what was potentially his last crack at international cricket with both hands and feet. Hashim Amla has grown in stature since his nervy introduction to Test cricket and, armed with an impressive beard to boot, looks set to become a stalwart in the side for many years to come.

Jacques Kallis is arguably the greatest South African batsman of the modern era and will be a vital to the team’s success in Australia, both with the bat and the ball. In Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers, we have the combination of steely grit from the Gary Kirsten school of cricket, together with flashy and aggressive stroke play.

Boucher is as dependable as ever behind the stumps, as well as being the ideal go-to-guy when the chips are down, as he proved in the third Test with his match-winning partnership with Smith.

With a quartet of Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Monde Zondeki, we have a battery of fast-bowlers capable of destroying any batting line-up, and then of course there’s also Andre Nel if need be.

Our one potential weakness remains our lack of a world-class spinner, a perennial problem that has dogged our cricket. Paul Harris has a bit of a “stop gap” air about him, and the sooner we unearth a slow bowler who can actually turn the ball, the better. (The Western Province rugby team tried importing a few Fijians recently; perhaps their cricket counterparts should consider inviting a few Sri Lankan youngsters to Cape Town?)

Nevertheless, the Australian series promises to be a cracker and, were I a betting man, I would certainly fancy a wager on the Proteas pulling off a series win. Whatever happens, cricket fans can be prepared for one hell of a summer.