Arthur Turner

The Proteas next assignment will be the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa in September. This will once again raise the question whether the Proteas are up to winning an ICC event.

It is interesting to see the different expectations that exist for the national teams in the country. Bafana Bafana have been widely congratulated for losing in the semi-finals of the Confederations Cup, while the Proteas have been lambasted for their exit in the semi-finals in the ICC World Twenty20. I suppose this is the price a successful team must pay for performing on a consistent basis.

I discussed with Mickey Arthur the Proteas' continued failure to win ICC events after dominating the tournament in the initial stages. He acknowledged that there is a problem and gave the assurance that the management and the players are doing everything in their power to address this problem. Arthur said it was not a situation that they feared, but one that they knew needed to be rectified in national interests, the team’s image and importantly for their supporters.
 
It is important to remember that Arthur is not the only South African coach who has had to face this problem. Other South African coaches like Mike Procter and the late Bob Woolmer also faced similar woes. It is a legacy that Arthur and Graeme Smith have inherited, however, their legacy has to be to rectify the problem.

The challenge the Proteas face is no different to that of the All Blacks. Both teams play international series’ well but when it comes to global events for whatever reasons they fail to go all the way. There is a big difference between series’ and global tournaments because of the sudden death element of global events. Both these teams need to come to terms with the difference.

The easy route is to write the Proteas and All Blacks off as chokers, but this is too simplistic and negative. The problem needs to be solved from within the team with the support of the cricket fans.

Luckily the Proteas have great support from South African public and this was once again highlighted by a vote that Sport24 ran on the Proteas' defeat in England. Only 15% of the participants wrote them off as chokers while the rest had a more realistic approach and believed they were beaten on the day by a better team or that 20-over cricket is a lottery.

The ICC Champions trophy provides the Proteas with the ideal opportunity to get this monkey off their shoulder once and for all. They will have home ground advantage and also this tournament will be conventional One Day International matches played over 50-overs per innings. The tournament is being played at only two venues - the Wanderers and SuperSport Park - and South Africa historically have a good record at both these grounds. They also enjoy fantastic support on the highveld.

These factors will ensure that it will be much easier for the Proteas to control their own destiny.

South Africa have built a strong team over recent years and there is absolutely no reason why they should not win an ICC event - and soon. Winning is a habit as the Australians have shown in recent years. Once the Proteas reach this stage of their development, South Africa will have a team that will win ICC trophies on a regular basis.

Arthur is a former cricket administrator and current player agent.

Disclaimer: Sport24 encourages freedom of speech and the expression of diverse views. The views of columnists published on Sport24 are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Sport24.