When we were knocked out of the World Cup by New Zealand, I too was very upset and frustrated with our team. They did let us down, and yes the run chase was very poor but please think about what you say or tweet before you slate your own team.

I’m not going to bore you with the details of the game or criticise the selection of the team or squad, but again what I ask is that you remain a supporter and not just a fan.

So much has been written about the ‘chokers’ tag in the media ad nauseam, regular readers of this blog will know I detest the term, and here is why. If you call the Proteas chokers, you are part of the problem within South African cricket, you re-enforce the stereotype and stereotypes are extremely powerful labels.

Dan Ariely a researcher in behavioural economics, in his book Predictably Irrational, defines what a stereotype is and notes what effect it has on people.

“Expectations also shape stereotypes. A stereotype, after all, is a way of categorizing information, in the hope of predicting experiences. The brain cannot start from scratch at every new situation. It must build on what is has seen before. For that reason, stereotypes are not intrinsically malevolent. They provide shortcuts in our never-ending attempt to make sense of complicated surroundings. This is why we have the expectation that an elderly person will need help using a computer or that a student at Harvard will be intelligent. But because a stereotype provides us with specific expectations about members of a group, it can also unfavourably  influence both our perceptions and our behaviour.

Research on stereotypes shows not only that we react differently when we have a stereotype of a certain group of people, but also that stereotyped people themselves react differently when they are aware of the label that they are forced to wear. (in psychological parlance, they are “primed” with this label.)”

Further to this, the Proteas coach, Corrie van Zyl said upon his return from the World Cup; “It’s important that everyone in South Africa sees the extra burden that is put on their team. The opposition see every opportunity to use the word ‘chokers’ on and off the field for one reason: to get at us mentally.

“But when our own fans keep reminding us of the past, it doesn’t provide motivation, it just brings extra pressure. We need to deal with this in a different way as a nation, we need to stick together. “ source.

It’s up to you to help change the perception of our cricket team, some journalists won’t be helping, they will simply add fuel to the fire and keep promoting the ‘chokers’ tag, it helps them sell papers and attract readers to their sites. They thrive on the failure of your team.

Yes the rest of the world will still use the ‘chokers’ tag against us … but it hurts the most when it comes from home. Support your team when they are down, don’t kick dirt in their faces, show some respect but most of all, show your support.

A year ago to the day, Mickey Arthur resigned as coach of the Proteas, how different would his World Cup squad have looked to the one that has been chosen?

Most selections are controversial, many people are asking where Mark Boucher is and why Wayne Parnell has been selected ahead of Rusty Theron …. It’s a lack of process that bothers me more than the selection or omission of any individual player.

I don’t profess to be a business strategy guru, but it’s common knowledge that long term success is built on the principle that you need to develop a process or system that works and then measure an individual’s performance against that system. If there is a problem with one of the steps in your process or system, you then review, change and review it again in a process of continual improvement.

I recently read an article on CricInfo by Firdose Moonda, “South Africa roll the dice”. In the article Firdose says :” Risk and South African cricket have not made a happy couple in the past…”. I agree with Firdose’s analogy that South Africa are rolling the dice, but disagree that they are just taking a ‘risk’; they are gambling.

Had the Board of Cricket South Africa followed a successful process would they have selected a player for a World Cup who hadn’t yet played an ODI? Would they have chosen a player who made his debut on the day the squad was announced? I think not.

Can we really expect Faf du Plessis to perform against India, in front of 40 000 Indian supporters at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground? When last did Faf play in India… has he played on the sub-continent?

The shortcomings of the selectors were further exposed by the addition of Albie Morkel in the ODI squad to play against the touring Indian team, this after he was dropped from the Proteas squad and left out of the World Cup squad. Albie was then removed from the squad two days later. Again that’s a reaction rather than a planned outcome.

It’s simply short-sighted  to hold Tahir back and say that we want to use him as a secret weapon. It’s utter nonsense, he was kept out the team because we were batting poorly and Tahir can’t bat to save his life. I hope we deal with the batting issues, if we don’t Tahir won’t even get a game.

The Board of Cricket South Africa and the selectors have gambled with our team, they are sending our boys to the World Cup with an interim coach, a captain on the way out, inexperienced players and with a political cloud hanging over their heads.

They have gambled, plain and simple… all we can do is hope Graeme Smith can roll a 7.

Titans batsmen Faf du Plessis, and the Dolphins Imran Tahir were included in the ODI squad to play India starting this Thursday at Kingsmead, Durban. Jacques Kallis was not considered due to injury.

Faf du Plessis has had a powerful MTN40 series, he top runs scorer with 567 runs, 128 runs more than the second placed Rossouw. du Plessis scored three centuries in the season with a top score of 120*, with an average of 81 runs at a strike rate of 98.60.

The surprise exclusion from this squad has to be Rusty Theron, Theron has achieved great success bowling at the death. The inclusion of Parnell ahead of Theron doesn’t bode well for his World Cup aspirations.

Another player that will be worried about his international future is Roelof van der Merwe, the recent inclusions of Robin Peterson and Tahir coupled with the fact that he didn’t get an IPL contract must have the Titans bower in a bit of doubt over his future.

The full squad is: Graeme Smith (captain), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Francois (Faf) du Plessis, Colin Ingram, David Millar, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Imran Tahir, Lonwabo Tsotsobe

One of the great Test rivalries is upon us, India are in South Africa to play a three match Castle Test series at Centurion, Durban and Cape Town.

Recent Test series around the world have been played on flat wickets which have resulted in an absolute run fest, but have had a negative impact on the image of Test cricket. It’s with this in mind that the South African curators will go about their work in their preparations for this series – we expect to see wickets that offer bounce and movement for the seamers, which are conducive to a contest between bat and ball, while lasting the five days.

Much has been said in the media that South Africa lack the ability to bowl India out twice in an innings. I personally feel those statements are unfounded, if you look at the recent Test matches played, India, New ZeaLand, West Indies and Sri Lanka have all struggled to bowl out the opposition. To say that the Proteas’ bowling attack lack the ability to strike at home is unwarranted.

I do however feel that Paul Harris has a significant role to play as he recently did against England. Harris took 6 wickets against Australia at Newlands and more recently 5 against England at Centurion. Harris simply can not play the holding game, he needs to attack while being economical.

The Indian team will be relying on Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma in the bowling department. It’s up to these three bowlers to keep India in the series, if they let the likes of Amla, Smith, de Villiers or Kallis get a strong hold, especially early in the series, then they’ll struggle to come back. It’s also been noted that a few of the Indian players are carrying niggles, so they’ll have to keep them fit.

It’s been the batsmen that have let India down in the past, they’ve often come undone by the pace and bounce of the South African wickets. This series will be no different, the wickets will be fast and will offer assistance to the seamers.

Previous Indian teams only came out to South Africa ever four years or so, this time round many of the Indian players have been to South Africa a couple of times for the IPL and Champions League. Most of the South African team have also played alongside and against Indian players in the IPL and CLT20, so they know each others games. Add to that, they have Garry Kirsten with them this time round, their batsmen will be a different prospect.

This is not just another Test series for the Indian team , add to their experience in South Africa, India are looking to consolidate and justify their no. 1 position in Test cricket. They have occupied this position for a while now, but have never won a Test series in South Africa, not even come close. Sachin is in the twilight of his career, and a series win in South Africa must surely be a goal that he will go great lengths to tick off on his list of impressive achievements.

The Indian team have opted not to make use of the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) in this Test series. The Indian team are of the opinion that the on field umpiring needs to be improved, rather than making use of technology.

This is going to be a great series with world class players with the likes of Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid, Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn fighting it out, some to keep the unbeaten records in tact and others set on breaking the ho-doo of touring South Africa.

The new look Proteas Pro20 team faced up to their first challenge of Zimbabwe of Friday night at the OutSurance Oval in Bloemfontein. The pre-match interviews were all about Zimbabwe being the underdog,  coach Allan Butch commented: “every dog has his day” – Zimbabwean cricket is rebuilding at the moment and that day will come soon.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat on a pitch that resembled the M1 South. The Zimbabwean batsmen seemed to struggle with the Protea bowlers, managing only 22 runs for 1 wicket in the first five overs.

By the time Zimbabwe had batted out their 20 overs the tag of underdogs was thrown away, Zimbabwe posted 168/4. The South African spin bowlers struggled on a pitch that offered no purchase. Opening batsman, Hamilton Masakadza played a masterful innings of 72 from 63 balls, consisting of six 4’s and two 6’s. Chamu Chibhabha in at three after Taylor was dismissed for a duck went on to score 52 from 32 balls.

The fielding display from the Proteas was poor and the dismal performance was compounded when Morne Morkel turned his ankle over badly, he left the field and would not return for the remainder of the match.

After a good performance with the Bat, the Zimbabweans fell to pieces with the ball, Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman plundered the bowlers knocking up 90 runs from 7 overs. On his way to 58 Smith hit nine 4’s and two 6’s from just 29 deliveries. Smith was out lbw to Cremer. Bosman soon followed as the was dismissed a few balls later trying to hit another big one, out for 33 from 15 deliveries.

Collin Ingram on debut didn’t last long getting out for 3 – JP Duminy and David miller collected the remaining runs to give South Africa the victory by 7 wickets, with 25 balls remaining.

Our boys were sloppy in the field, commanding with the bat, had the Bloemfontein wicket offered something for the spinners Zimbabwe could have come a lot closer. Onto Kimberly for the second Pro20 on Sunday.

Cricket South Africa have released the Proteas ODI and Pro2 squads to play Zimbabwe and Pakistan in October and November respectively. I would consider the selections in the ODI squad significant as we build towards the World Cup 2011.

When discussing the selections for the ODI squad, Andrew Hudson, the convener of selectors noted that the Proteas would field their ‘strongest combination’. Notable omissions from the team sheet were Mark Boucher, who was dropped during the tour of the West Indies, Alviro Petersen and Roelof van der Merwe. van der Merwe has been replaced by Robin Peterson who returns to the Proteas squad after a year in the wilderness.

My initial reaction to the inclusion of Peterson was, ‘why drop van der Merwe, and replace him with a player who has been out of the mix for so long?’ but upon investigation into the statistics from the past MTN40 series, the reasoning became clear. Peterson has the ability to deliver with both the ball (left arm orthodox) and the bat. Peterson had a batting average of 39.57, with a strike rate of 125.90 compared to van der Merwe’s menial average of 11.20. It’s clear that the selectors are looking for more depth in the batting department.

The other omission that has gone unnoticed is that of Alviro Petersen, admittedly Alviro Petersen didn’t have the best MTN 40 series or tour of the West Indies. I think it’s two faced of the selectors to back JP Duminy after a long run of poor form, and then drop another player after a few months in the team.

Oh and don’t get me started about Albie Morkel, how he continues to be included in the ODI team astounds me, his bowling has been poor and this batting worse.

On the whole it’s an experienced team with the mix of youth in David Miller and Colin Ingram, I’m sure we can expect another white wash of both Zimbabwe and Pakistan.

Standard Bank ODI squad (to play Zimbabwe and Pakistan): Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Colin Ingram, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveldt, David Miller, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Standard Bank Pro20 squads: (de Villiers will not be fit for the Pro20’s against Zimbabwe and so Heino Kuhn get’s anther start, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn are being rested for the Pro20 series)

Hashim Amla - Man of the series - Picture from Graeme Smith's Twitpic

The Proteas beat the West Indies 5 -0 in the One Day International series for the third time since readmission to international cricket, the West Indies should be relegated to the ‘b’ league. According to CricInfo’s stat’s guru, since 2000 the West Indies have lost 46 games from 75 played… at home! That’s a disgrace. Never mind the useless West Indies lets look at our boys, the controversial decision to drop Mark Boucher become a farce when David Miller was injured in practise, they brought Boucher back into the team as a specialist batsman. Boucher has played 292 games as a keeper and they bring him back into the team to field at third man? what a disgraceful end to a magnificent ODI career.

Boucher did stick it to the management by taking a blinder of a catch at mid-wicket to dismiss Darren Bravo and claim his 400^th ODI catch.

How can the team management allow themselves to get into a position where they are left exposed by the injury of one player? They released Loots Bosman early, on the same night as the 5^th ODI he scored 94 off 49 balls for Derbyshire in FP T20 in England. More poor leadership and team management …

Enough criticism, oh wait Graeme Smith only managed to score 119 runs in five innings, this man is under pressure – but we believe Graeme, we wait in anticipation for your return to form.

AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla, world class batsmen, both of them played fantastic cricket. Amla scored 402 runs at an average of 80.40 and a strike rate of 101.25. Which is a new record for a South African batsman as his 402 is the highest total score over a 5 match ODI series. Amla received the man of the series award and 5 Blackberry’s for his efforts, he shot up the ODI rankings to no. 4 in the world.  Could Hashim Amla be come the best batsman South Africa has ever produced?

de Villiers scored 283 runs at 70.75 and a strike rate of 95.60 – and kept wicket, the importance of this batting display is that keeping wicket hasn’t affected his abilities with the bat. AB needs to work on his keeping, he gave away a few runs and a catch or two behind the stumps.

It was a good outing for our bowlers as well, Morne Morkel took the most wickets in the series even though the didn’t play every game.

There are two areas of our game that concern me, firstly when the West Indian batsmen did get in and started scoring runs freely, we didn’t seem to have a plan to stop them. It’s as if we wait for the batsmen to get themselves out… And the run chase in the last game, that was dismal, our middle to lower order did not perform with the bat.

Well played boys, 2 from 2 in the T20 series, 5 from 5 in the ODI series, now can we take the Test series as convincingly? I think we can.

It’s been a few days now since the Proteas were knocked out of the ICC World T20, following a string of losses. There’s been a real backlash from the media, fans and past players about the way the Proteas succumbed to the opposition. Let’s be honest we played poor cricket, the leaders in the team did not perform and the strategy seemed to be nonexistent.

That being said, the cracks in our Proteas team are only starting so show. Understand that players will fail, and we will get knocked out of future tournaments, players are human after all. During the hard times, such as the Proteas currently find themselves, a team, and when I say team I mean from Gerald Majola the head of Cricket South Africa, all the way down to the baggage handlers need to unite and stand together, instead we have a diabolical situation unfolding.

Players are covering their asses, administrators and players alike are washing their dirty laundry in public, the cracks are starting to widen….

The national captain is criticizing the stand in selector:

Recently Graeme Smith criticized Kepler Wessels via his Twitter stream saying: “find it amazing that kepler can sit and say should have picked a younger squad when he was 1 of the selectors who chose it! unbelievable!”

link to original tweet : http://twitter.com/GraemeSmith49/status/13988779333

Graeme Smith then went on to have a dig at ex-players, again via his Twitter stream:

“Atleast we own up to playing poorly. but all these so called experts/ex players im not sure I see a winners medal hanging round there necks!”

link to original tweet : http://twitter.com/GraemeSmith49/status/13989111066

Poor form Graeme, you should be setting the example not alienating yourself and the team from past players and administrators. Some of those past players do have a medal handing in their trophy cabinet at home, ask Pat Symcox (@Symmo77)

Then we have our newly appointed coach Corrie van Zyl again talking via the media calling for change, he didn’t go as far as saying we’ll be dropping players, but we can read between the lines:

“I don’t want to come down on individuals, but the time is right for change. We have to sit down and think about what is important to change and which players are the right ones to fit in with that change.

“If we need to make a few hard calls, it will be done. The point is that we cannot continue down this path. “

Source:http://www.supersport.com/cricket/article.aspx?headline=Time%20has%20come%20for%20renewal%20-%20Corrie%20&id=349170

We also have former South African convenor of selectors Omar Henry throwing around the names of players that need to be dropped:

“I would axe Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and even Graeme Smith from the T20 team. I believe we need to build a new side and head in a new direction,” said Henry. “

Source: http://www.supersport.com/cricket/article.aspx?id=349168

How does that help Omar? Really? you would drop the three most experienced players in the squad just like that, how can you make a statement like that from outside the team?

Instead of criticizing players after poor performances, why not manage the players, discuss the possibility of them not being part of T20 cricket, and assist them by getting them into county cricket to keep in form during the off season? In my opinion your premier test players should not be playing T20 cricket, they definitely should not be playing in the IPL.

How can a test player adjust their mind set from T20 to Test cricket, the two disciplines are polar opposites of each other. Have a look at the Australian team, Ponting does not play T20 cricket and India’s Sachin Tendulkar also stays away from international T20’s.

Many administrators and ex-players have commented that we lack aggression specifically amongst our batsmen, but if we look at one of the dominant teams in this ICC World T20, England, you’ll note the names of three South African batsmen, who you would describe as aggressive by nature, Pietersen, Lumb and Kieswetter. Perhaps if the very administrator that are sling mud in the media had done their jobs, those three players would be playing for the Proteas, and maybe just maybe the Proteas would have won a trophy with those players.

We have a new coach, a new convenor of selectors, a new sports psychologist and an assistant coach in Vincent Barnes looking to leave the national setup to take up a coaching position for a domestic team. This is a brand new coaching and management team, relax, clam down and give them a chance.

We’re about to start and ODI and Test series against the West Indies, get behind the team that you love and give them your unconditional support, FOREVER PROTEAS – through the thick and the thin.

What a glorious victory the boys produced in the first test on their tour to India, it truly is a great feat beating India by an innings in India, this has now been done by the Proteas three times.

It must however be noted that this test was won by three South Africans, the rest didn’t really feature.

Jacques Kallis, scored a magnificent century (173) and seems like the was well on his way to score his maiden Test double century. The class and elegancy with which Kallis played, with was only match by this third wicket partner Hashim Amla.

Hashim Amla’s double century was one of the finest batting performances I have and will probably ever watch. Amla played with total control, his patience is astounding and ability to concentrate is unsurpassed in South African cricket. Amla was on track to beat Graeme Smiths record of 277 as the highest test score by a South African until the team declared on 6558/6, which left Amla on 253*.

Some naysayers have commented that Smith declared so that Amla didn’t beat his record, this is unfounded speculation. The team needed to declare and I thought that allowing Amla to get 250 was a great gesture. Hashim Amla is a team man, and I’m sure he’s happy that he got the opportunity to post one of the highest totals scored in South African test history.

Dale Steyn also produced a personal best, he took 7 wickets in the first innings to destroy India single handily. He went on to take another 3 wicket in the second innings to end with 10 wickets in the test match, a truly remarkable performance.

Having mentioned those three players, the rest didn’t inspire confidence, except de Villiers knock of 53. Looking forward to the second test we can expect a stronger Indian side, playing on a pitch that will suit them. We’ll need a team performance to pull this one off; we can simply rely on the same guys that pull it off each game.

The South African management need to make a call on Prince, the man is not up to playing Test cricket anymore and needs to make way. I would drop Price, replace him with Alviro Petersen, Petersen gives us the additional advantage of another spin option. Mark Boucher could also find himself sitting this one out, which in my opinion wouldn’t be the worst thing; it would allow Johan Botha to play. If Botha and Petersen play the Proteas will have an excellent chance of winning on what WILL be a spinner paradise.

Cape Cobras bowler Charl Langeveldt has been called up to the Proteas ODI squad for the tour of India. Langeveldt was originally left out the ODI squad, this could be seen as one of ‘those’ decisions that represents the breakdown between Cricket South Africa and Mickey Arthur’s ‘vision’ and structure.

It was reported that between Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Wayne Parnell they have played only 67 matches, where Charl Langeveldt has played 64 ODI games. Langeveldt has also been selected with a view towards the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies and then next year’s ICC World Cup.

Langeveldt will have to pick up his game before he heads to India, this figures of 3 overs for 45 runs against the Titans in the Standard Bank Pro20, on Sunday evening were not the most inspiring. He did however demolish the Lions in the previous game, taking 3 wickets from 4 overs for just 18 runs, but that was against the Lions……

ODI squad: Graeme Smith, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveldt, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe.