Ken Borland

A dismal year of batting has come to an end for the Proteas, in which they reached previous lows achieved before only by the Bangladesh team as it first made its way in Test cricket, and Cricket South Africa urgently needs to implement some crisis planning that includes current players and coaches, and those who have recently retired.

South Africa were bowled out for less than 200 in seven successive Test innings, that dismal run only coming to an end in the second innings in Melbourne as a last-wicket stand of 27 between Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje saw them stagger to 204 all out.

Only one team has had worse runs: Bangladesh with 12 scores of less than 200 in a row in 2001/02, just a year after they played their first Test, and eight in a row in 2018.

There were other unwanted statistics: South Africa’s batting average of 24.1 runs-per-wicket in the calendar year is the fourth-worst ever and scoring just two centuries and 19 fifties in 2022 is also amongst the top-three of meagre returns.*

The declining quality of domestic cricket has been fingered by many as being to blame for the poor quality of the Proteas batting, but the only people who will really know if this is true or not are those intimately involved with the local game. Coaches like Robin Peterson and Vinnie Barnes, current players like Dean Elgar, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma and Aiden Markram, former greats like Faf du Plessis, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers, even a youngster like Kyle Verreynne who has just come through the domestic system, should all be in the room and canvassed for their opinions.

It is with reluctance that I say the bean counters at CSA will also have to be involved because financial constraints have undoubtedly caused some of the problems.

We also need to have an urgent look at the standard of our pitches. Surfaces that favour pace bowlers have been pretty stock-standard in South African cricket for a long time and traditionally the country has produced some great fast bowlers.

But our depth is not as good as many believe – the pickings are fairly slim once you go past the fabulous foursome currently playing for the Proteas. One of the reasons for this is that our domestic pitches offer too much assistance – whether through excessive seam movement or inconsistent bounce – and our bowlers don’t learn the skills and game-plans required to do well on the better batting surfaces generally found at international level.

Australia have probably the deepest stocks of quality pace bowlers because they grow up learning their trade on good batting wickets, with pace and bounce that reward good bowling.

And that helps their batsmen, because they are always facing quality attacks at home as they come through the system.

The lack of depth in quality in our domestic attacks also affects the development of our batsmen – they are not tested for long enough periods and dodgy technique is not exposed and punished as it should be. Being able to build an innings and withstand pressure bowling from both ends for long periods are weaknesses we are currently seeing at Test level.

Unfortunately, when it comes to systemic issues, there are no quick fixes. The kneejerk reaction of getting an entirely new top six in is unlikely to work because that removes what little experience there is and the Proteas will start at zero again.

Unless CSA really look after, nurture and prioritise the level below the Proteas, then these unusually low batting returns, which are happening in all three international formats, will become the norm.

It is also going to require CSA undoing some of the policy decisions made in recent years that have weakened the domestic game.

*Stats courtesy of Sampath Bandarupalli of CricInfo

While no-one dares to think about what’s next in South African cricket’s batting aisle, at least we know there is some bowling depth and left-arm paceman Marco Jansen has to be one of the most exciting prospects in world cricket.

The 22-year-old Jansen has taken 40 wickets in just eight Tests, at the great average of only 18.00. He has taken four wickets in an innings four times already. Add to that the promise he has shown with the bat – already averaging 18.36 – and he is clearly a superb package as a cricketer.

Which is why his Proteas team-mate Kagiso Rabada, already established as one of the great fast bowlers of the era, rates him so highly.

“Marco has that x-factor, he’s just a natural bowler, it looks like you could wake him up at 3am and he can do what he’s been doing,” Rabada said.

“He’s naturally gifted – he has pace and height, he can swing it, nip it and get bounce, and he’s a leftie. What more do you want?

“He’s also got the mindset for fast bowling. Not a lot of people really possess that, but he’s got it. Marco is a pretty rare, exciting prospect,” Rabada said.

Jansen possibly only played in the first Test against Australia in Brisbane because the Proteas were willing to sacrifice a batsman, and he certainly made the most of his guest starring appearance with three for 32.

On the opening day he claimed the wicket of the world’s number one ranked batsman, Marnus Labuschagne, caught in the slips off his first delivery; on the second morning he had both top-scorer Travis Head and the dangerous Cameron Green caught behind the wicket in the space of three deliveries just when the Proteas had handed control back to Australia with a messy start.

But Jansen could miss out on the second Test starting on Boxing Day in Melbourne simply because of the pressure that is on the tourists to strengthen their truant batting line-up. Rabada called for patience when it came to the Proteas batting.

“Our batting line-up is quite inexperienced, our whole team is if you look around at other teams in the world. Dean Elgar [80 caps] is the most experienced, followed by myself [56] and Temba Bavuma [52], everyone else does not have much experience,” Rabada pointed out.

“It can be frustrating as a team, but we need to understand that this is what happens in a rebuilding phase. When I debuted, I played with an outstanding line-up, greats of the game, which doesn’t happen that frequently.

“Our batsmen have the ability, they just need to get used to international cricket. There’s an element of patience that is needed, but I am not advocating bad performances. But we are still quite positive.

“It looked quite bad for the batsmen at the Gabba, the ball was doing absolute heaps. But we will never go down without a fight,” Rabada said.

When Thriston Lawrence arrived at Randpark Golf Club on Thursday, November 25, 2021, he did not bargain on it being the weekend that would change his life, and in some of the most chaotic circumstances ever.

It was the co-sanctioned Joburg Open, the first tournament after the European Tour had rebranded itself as the DP World Tour, and Lawrence’s first round was interrupted by an untimely thunderstorm when he was playing his final hole and was tied for the lead.

Mother Nature had an even bigger shock up her sleeve as the discovery of the Omicron variant of Covid by South African experts led to Britain making the drastic decision of imposing a ban on flights from South Africa, shortly followed later that night by many other European nations.

With several golfers withdrawing from the tournament in order to scramble home on the last few flights available, and the organisers cutting the event to three rounds, there was more rain and lightning on the second day, but Lawrence managed to complete his first round and get the full 18 holes in for his second round too, posting 65-65 for a four-shot lead.

So, on the third and now final day, many golfers still needed to finish their second rounds and with thundershowers returning around midday, no-one managed to finish their third round. And so Lawrence was awarded his maiden DP World Tour title.

It was just the second time he had won on the Sunshine Tour, and now he had full European playing privileges and a spot in the 2022 Open Championship at St Andrew’s. Lawrence’s Joburg Open triumph set in motion a staggering year that saw him also win the European Masters in August, as well as finishing tied-42^nd in his Major debut.

He became the first South African to win the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year, replicating the feat of such luminaries as Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia, Colin Montgomerie and Nick Faldo.

The 26-year-old Lawrence has made a tremendous start to the new DP World Tour season as well, last weekend winning the South African Open at Blair Atholl to go top of the order of merit.

“Everything I could’ve dreamed of happened this last year, my life changed and that motivates me to achieve even more in my career,” Lawrence said. “To play my first major at St Andrews, the Home of Golf, was incredible. Whatever I could’ve imagined it would be, it was triple that when I experienced it. I had my family with me and it was just incredible.

“Driving into Houghton Golf Club for the Joburg Open this year and seeing the signage with my photo and the trophy, you dream about those things when you’re a young golfer.

“Not much more than a year ago I never thought this would happen, and there’s a lot less pressure with that first win. And then you dream of moments like coming down the stretch at the SA Open, it’s what you strive for, in front of an amazing crowd. Those dreams have come true too, but it’s obviously not all the dreams I want to achieve, but it’s the start.

“It really motivates you because if you do that once you want to be there again. I just try to stay very calm in these situations [when contending]. But of course you do still get nerves and that gets the adrenaline flowing,” Lawrence said.

Born in Nelspruit on December 3, 1996, Lawrence is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to many golfer’s penchant for constantly tinkering with their swing and their game-plan – it sometimes seems like no sooner has a player found consistency with their swing than they bin it and try something new to try and get even better results.

Lawrence is a firm believer in ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’.

“It’s been a great year and hopefully there are many more wins to come. I think the key has been keeping everything the same, including the way I practise and my routine.

“I’ve just kept on doing what I do, sticking to my game-plan. I’m a big believer in not changing what is working. Lots of people do make changes, but this is a game you can’t perfect.”

Constantly seeking perfection can lead to some pretty dysfunctional behaviour and perhaps Lawrence’s greatest asset is his calm demeanour and his ability to take the rough with the smooth. His SA Open triumph was witnessed by many friends and family, and it was clear from the celebrations that the two-time SA Amateur champion (2013 & 2014) has several caring relationships in his life.

After his win at Blair Atholl, he had to spend more than an hour on the 18^th green posing for a host of photographs for seemingly every sponsor under the sun and every member of the estate, as well as signing autographs and giving interviews. Lawrence did it all with a gentle smile on his face; no doubt that same patience and fortitude has much to do with his success as a golfer.

It all began when Lawrence was but five years old and his grandfather, who had retired to the Umdoni Park Golf Estate on the South Coast of KZN and had become a keen golfer, gave him a Little Tiger golf set. Lawrence remembers the set was red, colour-coded for the five-to-seven age-group.

Within a handful of years he was competing in junior tournaments – including at Leopard Creek where he is doing well right now in the Alfred Dunhill Championship – and he turned pro in 2014.

Having taken a couple of years to develop his winning nerve, he now has a collection of three DP World Titles, and it is a safe bet that that tally will increase.

Director of rugby Neil Powell is not usually a results-focused coach, but as the Sharks swop URC action this week for the Champions Cup, he admitted some relief that his embattled team had beaten the Ospreys, however ugly the performance.

The Sharks beat a depleted Ospreys side 25-10 last weekend, but that winning margin was bumped up by them scoring 14 points in the last three minutes. For those expecting a magic wand to suddenly put everything right after the departure of former coach Sean Everitt, it was a reality check.

“For me, it’s never just about the result, it’s about the effort, how the players execute their individual roles and responsibilities. But maybe this one was just about the result,” Powell said after the error-filled win.

“It was a much-needed result and it gives us a bit of a breather. It was not an easy week and the game was also not easy, plus it was such a short week playing on Sunday and then Friday.

“We can definitely step up on our execution, we will look at the things that can be a lot better. It was a stop-start game, we made too many mistakes.

“But we had good dominance, especially in the scrums and in the collisions, where our defence was really good. It’s a pity to be so on top and not get more rewards,” Powell said.

The former Springbok Sevens coach put the high error-rate down to a lack of confidence, but he is hopeful that the way the Sharks dug their way out of a pit of trouble will banish some of the self-doubt ahead of their debut Champions Cup clash with top English side Harlequins at Kings Park on Saturday.

“The basic errors are maybe because the players are looking for confidence, confidence has a lot to do with it. Hopefully we can build on the bit of confidence and momentum we got in the last 10 minutes against Ospreys,” Powell said.

“You score one or two tries and you start to get that confidence back, and I think then you’ll be a lot more accurate. There were definitely encouraging things we can build on.

“We made a lot of changes to the team so we did not have the synergy we would have liked, but hopefully we can keep changes to a minimum now for the match against Harlequins.

“The Champions Cup is a difficult competition, almost between the level of the URC and Test rugby, and Quins are a good side playing a good brand of rugby. We definitely need to step up,” Powell said.