There was a time when England cricket could only look on helplessly when other countries had an embarrassment of riches to pick from.
That particular shoe is now firmly in SA’s foot and it’s causing plenty of blisters and corns.
Every country goes through a rebuilding cycle, but SA’s tendency of wanting to go back before they go forward has often held them back.
There’s also the lack of patience, trusting the system and using the players available to take the team forward, before a crop of new superstars emerge.
There’s no AB de Villiers or Dale Steyn clone that’s going to emerge from some cricket-crazy DNA scientist.
This is what is available and it has to be manoeuvred delicately until something excellent comes along.
The quicker SA cricket realises that there isn’t a quick fix for the current ills, the better.
There is also the need to look after important elements of a team to build a future around.
The quicker SA cricket realises that there isn’t a quick fix for the current ills, the better.
England again becomes the perfect example. They retained five of the 15 players from the disastrous 2015 Cricket World Cup expedition that also missed Ben Stokes.
Trevor Bayliss came in and harnessed what he had, and turned them into the most aggressive 50-over side since the inception of ODI cricket in 1971. Some of that squad like Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and Jonny Bairstow had played for England before the 2015 World Cup, but without the role clarity that allowed them to excel under Bayliss.
Importantly, talents like Jofra Archer were infused into the system with a high degree of success. The players were there and they had a coach who could pull them together in the same direction.
Can the same be said of Mark Boucher? That remains to be seen. He’s about to complete a year in the job. There have been some highs and some sickening lows, but the jury remains out on whether he’s the kind of mentor who can build a team instead of winning with one that’s in front of him.
He had immense success with the Titans before moving to the Proteas, but the sense of him excelling with the platforms Matt Maynard and Rob Walter built didn’t seem to go away.
There is also the fact that while you can guide a team as best as you can, they still need to deliver the goods on the field.
That has been done intermittently by Boucher’s charges in 50-over cricket, but things have been tricky in the 20-over department.
There’s a necessity to get things cooking in the shortest format as quickly as possible because the World Cup is on the horizon.
The Australia T20 series earlier this year, the one that SA did badly in, was evidence of the team still being a serious work in progress from a tactical and personnel perspective.
Before panic stations are hit, SA are definitely not as bad as England were in the late 1990s and early 2000s. There’s a clear plan to trust specialists, while the all-rounders find their feet.
Whether there is the requisite patience to trust the players in the system is another story. There is also the mooted availability of players who were on Kolpak contracts, but whether the SA system will be able to pay the exorbitant salaries they earned in the UK is subject matter for another Konundrum.
The crawling to walk stage is the hardest and the falls are as painful. In true cricket style, the SA system will just have to grit things out before the conditions ease up.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.