Ken Borland

Graeme Smith may have only been 22 years old when he was appointed as national captain in 2003, but democracy in this country was only nine years old then and the Proteas were a bit of a mess, so in many ways he was the big, older brother South African cricket desperately needed.

As a brash young man still trying to make his way in international cricket, Smith was probably only fully aware of the culture problems within the team after a few years. After the disappointment of the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean, Smith set about fixing the Proteas, alongside manager Mohammed Moosajee, who was appointed in 2008, and the input of life coaches like Paddy Upton and Jeremy Snape.

Protea Fire and a far more inclusive culture were born, one which acknowledged that they were representing a country which had a divided past. Honesty and Ubuntu were required, they were playing for more than just themselves.

The result was a much happier team and it showed in performance as they became the No.1 side in the world.

When Smith retired in 2014 he hoped the Protea Fire legacy would live on. How sad it must have been for him that, just five years later, the Proteas were in rack and ruin. Typical of the leader he is, Smith agreed to try and restore South African cricket to former glories by becoming Director of Cricket at the end of 2019.

But worse was to follow as the very people who had pushed Cricket South Africa to the precipice then spearheaded a campaign against Smith. It culminated in the Social Justice and Nation-Building hearings, where it seemed as many vile untruths were spoken as there were painful reminders of a shameful past.

The totally inadequate work of Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza was finally undone this week when Smith was cleared of all charges of racism by an independent arbitration hearing. CSA gave notice of their defeat – with costs – at 9pm on a Sunday night and board chairman Lawson Naidoo issued a statement that said it was now “appropriate to recognise the extraordinary contribution that Graeme has made to South African cricket”. It was almost as if the history we know we lived through as Proteas fans was now officially approved.

Unfortunately, there is lasting damage – one only has to see on social media the bitter divisionists refusing to accept the arbitrators’ findings – and Naidoo’s closing comment – “we very much hope that he will still work in the cricket world in appropriate capacities going forward” – hints at the fact that Smith’s expertise as the most experienced captain in Test history is now probably lost to South African cricket and will be snapped up by some other country.

If it’s not bad enough losing so much talent and I.P. to overseas teams thanks to the exchange rate, we are also actively chasing away people who could contribute so much good to our sport.

Head coach Mark Boucher’s disciplinary hearing is still to come and the outcome of Smith’s arbitration suggests there is still hope that the ‘tentative’ and unproven but damning allegations made by the SJN will receive the proper, unbiased and legally sound treatment they deserve.

A new Director of Cricket is also still to be appointed, with Enoch Nkwe probably still the favourite to succeed Smith.

Having to appoint a new head coach for tough tours of India, England and Australia as his first task would not make his life any easier, but then again the good of the Proteas, who bring in 80% of CSA’s income, is way down the list of priorities of those who have grudges to settle.

The Proteas may have spent the last couple of days off the field in reflection, but Test vice-captain Temba Bavuma said there was no shelter from the honest, harsh discussions they needed to have in the wake of their humiliating innings-and-276-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the first Test in Christchurch.

With the second Test against the reigning world champions starting at the same venue at midnight on Thursday evening South African time, the Proteas need to produce a drastically improved showing after their awful batting, bowling and fielding in the first match.

“We had conversations as a team and they were mostly around honesty surrounding our performance,” Bavuma said on Tuesday. “Losing like that in practically a two-day Test match is not good enough.

“We did not produce the standards we pride ourselves on in all three disciplines. We are all very disappointed and we know we have to improve.

“Yes, our energies were down in the first Test, but that’s no excuse. We have to make sure we’re in a better mental and physical state to compete this week.

“And it starts with being honest. The performance was simply not good enough,” Bavuma said.

Although it may seem like the Proteas are buried under an avalanche of soft dismissals, poor deliveries and dropped catches, Bavuma is still confident they can dig themselves out of their predicament and still level the two-match series, maintaining their proud record of having never lost a series to New Zealand.

“We’ve had to remind the guys that over the last while we have overcome a lot and this is not a foreign situation. We know how to come back when our backs are against the wall,” Bavuma said.

“We do have the character and we can take confidence from how we have performed over the last while, as a team we can take a lot of positives from how we have fought before.

“Last week is now gone and it’s important how we come back. We are preparing as best we can to put our best foot forward.

“The sun has come out and the Hagley Oval pitch should be a bit more pleasant to bat on. We expect conditions to be a bit different,” Bavuma said.

Sharks hooker Bongi Mbonambi said not allowing outside influences to affect the inside of the team, and pulling together to make sure there were consistent energy levels between the forwards and backs, were the main things they needed to improve on from their loss to the Stormers if they are to beat the Bulls in their United Rugby Championship match in Pretoria on Saturday.

But are there any other things the Sharks need to do to make sure they do the business against the Bulls?

1. They need to start much better.

Especially playing away from home, as they were last weekend and will be at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday, they cannot afford to allow the home team to settle and dictate the run of play. But the Sharks seemed somehow distracted and not fully focused on the task at hand against a fired-up Stormers side. The Sharks lacked energy and intensity in the opening exchanges, which perhaps contributed to several handling errors. It meant they struggled to gain any momentum.

2. They need secure, more consistent set-pieces.

Solid set-piece displays were a feature of the Sharks’ impressive win in Johannesburg a fortnight ago and their scrummaging was outstanding against the Stormers in Durban, although they still allowed their opponents to sneak the draw. But in Cape Town, they gave away crucial scrum penalties and were untidy at key moments in the lineouts. Their woes in Pretoria recently have started up front and they cannot afford to give the Bulls an advantage in the set-pieces.

3. They need to fix their breakdown work.

You can tell the opposition have enjoyed a field day at the rucks when their openside flank gets man of the match as Deon Fourie did in Cape Town. The Sharks conceded turnovers and penalties at the breakdown at vital moments, which needs to be rectified. Their lack of organisation and/or accuracy at the breakdown is also having a telling effect on their attacking efforts because they are not securing enough quick ball.

4. They need to sort out their personnel at flyhalf and inside centre.

Although he is a quality player, moving Lukhanyo Am to inside centre seems to have adulterated their backline, with his defensive organisation sorely missed at outside centre. Bringing Marius Louw back into the No.12 jersey would allow Am to have his usual impact at No.13, but flyhalf is also a troubling position for the Sharks. What Tito Bonilla brought on attack was undone by his defensive lapses.

The KZN Dolphins needed just two runs off the last over to beat the Northerns Titans by four wickets with three balls remaining in their CSA T20 Knockout semi-final in Kimberley on Thursday, but the win was achieved with misleading ease.

The Dolphins ultimately won thanks to a sensational blitz by Khaya Zondo in the penultimate over, as he hit fast bowler Okuhle Cele for two fours and a six in an over that cost 16 and settled the contest.

Zondo finished with a classy 58 not out off 45 balls to take KZN to their target of 139. They were cruising on 92 for two in the 13^th over, but then Dayyaan Galiem struck twice in successive overs, starting with the wicket of Sarel Erwee, caught behind for 33, to start a wobble.

Galiem finished with two for 24 in three overs, while paceman Corbin Bosch was impressive up front with two for 18 in four overs which included a maiden.

Northerns had elected to bat first, but were soon 38 for four as seamer Ottneil Baartman, who was in the Proteas Test squad at the start of the year without making his debut, pushed his claims for higher honours with outstanding figures of four for 18.

The Titans relied heavily on opener Gihahn Cloete’s 62 off 49 balls to get to 138 all out in the 20^th over, with Donovan Ferreira (26) and Corbin Bosch, who lashed 21 off 11 deliveries at the death, the only batsmen to offer much support.

Baartman was well-supported by fellow pacemen Thando Ntini (4-0-26-2) and Ruan de Swardt (3-0-22-2).