VINCE VAN DER BIJL: Why rituals are important for sports teams

The Cricket SA disciplinary process dealing with the Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith charges will hopefully and finally produce a fair and just verdict, unlike the Social Justice and Nation-building Commission’s (SJN) extraordinary untested findings.

Articles by sports journalists illustrate the divided views in our cricket world. Even renowned political analyst Barney Mthombothi penned a piece in last week’s Sunday Times with the headline: “The harassment [re Smith and Boucher] has nothing to do with cricket. It’s a political hatchet job.”

This unhealthy situation needs to be resolved in a way that has a stamp of legal and moral approval. The verdicts must be transparent and irrefutable. Racism is too heinous a label for there to be any question of doubt.

Most teams in business, sport and schools have rituals. The rituals are designed to develop that enigmatic team spirit that all groups seek to give them the cutting edge. Senior members are invariably brought down to size. New members are initiated to make them feel part of the whole. No-one is immune.

It is this type of ritual that will be dissected at Boucher’s hearing. The use of the widely publicised racial term in the post-match Protea song is inappropriate and so unexpected in a side that was successful and seemingly united. All this and more will be scrutinised, including the origin, tone and context of that song. That is all ahead of us. We must be patient.

One question remains. Has Boucher been set up as the fall-guy for this team ritual?

It also raises the question: “Why are these rituals important?”

Last year, former England cricket captain Michael Brearley described the team’s elation when they celebrated their phenomenal 1981 Ashes victory. He wrote: “Such excitement is rare in sport at any level. Yet a cricket team is one of the heirs of a primitive hunting band, and the pleasures of mutual help that results in the climax of a kill, of planning that comes right and of supreme effort from all, are deep, almost instinctual sources of human satisfaction.”

That is how the Proteas would have felt after their Test and ODI series wins over India. It is a feeling like no other as it celebrates the commonality of a triumphant purpose. The Springbok rugby team and the Blitzboks know that feeling well.

Victory comes from planning, courage and an almost savage combative approach to win. As with a primitive hunting band, this is not a quiet or gentle environment. Binding a diverse team requires the in-depth private conversations, the open sharing of stories round the proverbial campfire and the celebratory dance.

There is also a rough humour designed to enhance performance. A treasured memory of mine is when I was about to leave the Middlesex dressing room at Lords to go in to bat against the West Indies in 1980. Our backs were against the wall at 62/7, having been decimated by the likes of Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts and Collis King.

To say this clumsy No 9 batter, about to face Michael Holding first ball, was anxious is an understatement. As I left the changeroom, Wayne Daniel, my opening bowling partner, said: “Don’t worry Vince, I just told them you were a white racist South African!” The Middlesex team was in stitches. Daniel was merely settling my nerves with a little fun. Humour has many guises.

The selection submissions of alleged racial prejudice, highlighted at the SJN, was when the Cricket SA selectors were committed to ensuring that the Proteas were more representative of SA’s demographics while also choosing a winning combination.

There’s the rub. The more recent choice of Boucher as the Proteas coach is central to the charge against Smith and must be seen in this light. Boucher’s appointment was of course ratified by the Cricket SA board.

Selection decisions lie in the rational hearts and minds of those making the choices. Remember the unusual selection of David Warner for Australia in 2009 straight from club level, when he had not even played one first-class match? Imagine how many Australian cricketers felt cheated out of that opening batter spot. Warner scored 89 against the Proteas in his first T20 International.

Selection is about choosing the right balanced team for each match. The cited selection in the SJN of AB de Villiers over Thami Tsolekile is another such example. There is much that the disciplinary hearings will have to sift through.

While these disciplinary hearings and their verdict are so critically important in themselves, the development of a well-defined, integrated nonracial strategy for our game remains top of mind for the Cricket SA board. This is a most important outcome.