Proteas reflect and prepare for England

Cricket season is officially over and with it comes time for reflection. A new coaching team was drafted in, a new captain was appointed for the ODI and T20 teams, and the complexion of the team has changed with the infusion of some fresh (if not new) blood.

Australia began the season with an all-too-brief tour (two Tests instead of three) with Vernon Philander and Imran Tahir making their Test debuts. Those who were skeptical of what the Cobras seamer would bring to the Test side received the surprise of their life, as Philander was easily the find of the season, starting remarkably against Australia and continuing his astonishing form through the Sri Lanka and New Zealand series. With 51 wickets from seven Tests, the Ravensmead wonder has the opportunity to become the fastest man to 100 Test wickets ever.

Tahir’s form has been mixed, providing the odd spark and bucketloads of enthusiam, but with the seamers cleaning up from both ends, the Pakistani-turned-South African didn’t have too much opportunity to show what he is made of. An indifferent first class season included, Tahir must be looking for brighter days ahead. Still very much new to international cricket, he needs to be pursued with.

Another introduction of sorts (after a five-year break) was that of Jacques Rudolph who forced his way back into the team to partner Graeme Smith at the top of the Test order. Perhaps Alviro Peterson was hard done by, but Rudolph didn’t take his chance, not looking entirely settled which prompted a move down the order at the expense of Ashwell Prince, whose Test career looks finished. A hundred against New Zealand was a sweet end to his re-introduction, but considering the promise, it’s a pity he has to do it from no. 6.

Peterson, to his credit, returned to the Lions and just kept scoring runs until the selectors couldn’t say no anymore. That hundred against Sri Lanka in his first Test back was ballsy stuff, and hopefully the selectors will show him a little more faith then they did in his first stint with the national team.

The drawn series with Australia was an opportunity missed as South Africa had the chance to win the Wanderers Test after that memorable match at Newlands. 20-odd for 9 was something to see, but what was more concerning was how ill prepared many of the batsman were on a pitch which offered a bit, but wasn’t completely unplayable. Smith and Hashim Amla proved as much by hitting centuries in the second innings to win the game. Still, 1-1 was a fair reflection of how the Australians scrapped and never backed off. They remain South Africa’s toughest opponents for mental reasons.

The Sri Lanka series provided Jacques Kallis’s critics with reason enough to not think he was anywhere finished at Test level, as some absurdly thought after his poor Australian series. With cricket fundis and the media finally cottoning on to the fact that South Africa’s greatest ever player isn’t going to be around for that much longer, it was still typical of the relationship Kallis has had with the fickle South African cricket fan that he required a double century on his home ground to make his point.

South Africa managed to lose again at Kingsmead, which is becoming a real hoodoo ground for the Proteas. They finished the series strongly, but a team of this quality should be winning series at home convincingly. That switching off syndrome is something Gary Kirsten and co are working on moving forward.

New Zealand were dispatched easily enough, with that improbable victory in the third T20 game being the most crucial result of the tour since it was a game they should’ve lost. South Africa went from strength to strength, while New Zealand failed to cope with the fire power of the South African attack. If the weather and dropped catches hadn’t played a role, the Proteas would’ve won the Test series 3-0.

England is up next and that is the series to look forward to. Both sides will be vying for the No. 1 rank on the ICC’s Test ladder, while the individual contests offer something for everyone. The teams are evenly matched in the seam bowling and batting departments. Graeme Swann tilts the scales in England’s favour, but only just.

It could also be Mark Boucher’s last series, and with the Proteas touring Australia before beginning the summer season at home, this could be Graeme Smith’s last chance to etch his name in South Africa’s cricketing history. With De Villiers now his natural successor, Smith’s legacy is now at stake.