Publications
Partners
A couple of months back, when it emerged that Proteas paceman Dale Steyn wanted nothing to do with the Bangladesh tour the team is currently on, I treated his decision with a certain disdain – similar to that which can be heard in the cheap seats of the Wanderers when Wayne “Parnyboy” Parnell has the ball in hand.
Reports at the time quoted Steyn as saying that he felt some of the precious last few thousand balls of his career would be wasted on a relatively unimposing opposition. My disdain was seemingly qualified a few weeks later when Bangladesh went on to beat a full-strength India in a three-match ODI series.
This apparent rise and rise of Bangladesh cricket left me asking what right Steyn had to underestimate any opposition, regardless of the pedigree he bestows on himself.
Isn’t it the mark of a true champion to test himself whenever the opportunity presents itself?
But the way things are turning out for the Proteas, it seems the Phalaborwa Express was somewhat justified in his decision, albeit that the manner in which he went about explaining it came off as rather undignified.
Perhaps it was part of Steyn’s brief all along to take a “breather” post-World Cup and in light of the ignominious rejection he faced – having been upstaged by current bowling It boy Trent Boult in the Sunrisers Hyderabad set-up – during the Indian Premier League.
Earlier this week, while his team-mates sweated out the last of their bodily fluids in the debilitating Bangladeshi summer, the Steyn Remover tweeted: “What a epic day! Bowled this morning, went fishing at lunch and surfed this afternoon! Seriously, life couldn’t get better!”
So, in light of the Bangladesh tour so far, perhaps there really is no need for Steyn to waste his energy against such lowly opposition. We had a big T20 series win this week, with Kyle Abbott in form and Eddie Leie showing some promise. Then Kagiso Rabada took a stunning six-fer, including a superb hat-trick on debut in the first ODI on Friday.
In fact, if this new batch of Proteas bowlers, perhaps with the exception of Parnyboy, have proved they can work together, is there really a need for Steyn and his precious balls at all?
By the way, 20-year-old Rabada’s 6/16 on Friday handed him the title of best figures on debut ever in an ODI.
Of course it’s too soon to say the South African bowling unit will do quite all right without Steyn, but there’s enough evidence to suggest that the new generation is more than capable, and hungry enough, to assume the role seamlessly.
Besides, wasn’t that what the administration and new panel of selectors wanted to get out of this tour going forward? With two more ODIs to go in the series, let’s hope we see more of the new members.
As life in general “couldn’t get better” for Steyn, it would appear that life in cricket is getting better for those who finally have the space to prove something in his absence.
And that’s not such a bad thing for all concerned, including my qualified disdain.
@Longbottom_69 is an armchair cricket critic. He’s fond of birds and isn’t averse to bush
