Temba Bavuma is an inspiration to young black cricketers. Who could forget the century he scored against England at Newlands in 2017? Never before had a black African player scored a century for SA in Test cricket.
I now read that Bavuma has availed himself to take over the Proteas captaincy, but I humbly suggest that he should not, even if it is offered. We need him to focus on his batting and solidifying his position in the team.
The form of the Test team's middle order has been horrendous, and herein lies an opportunity for him to solidify his position. The team needs to know it can count on him to steady the ship by batting through long sessions, thereby also giving him the opportunity to convert half tons into centuries.
While no-one can doubt Bavuma’s leadership skills, as proved at franchise level, the reality is that his captaincy will be judged on his colour rather than his leadership skills. Because his position in the team isn’t guaranteed at present (he was dropped during the recent England series), he will, unfortunately, be seen as a “quota” captain rather than the true leader he is.
As Bavuma pointed out during the England series, transformation is blamed when black players don’t perform, but no-one commends it when the same players perform. These are the double standards SA society holds against black sportsmen in general. At this stage, we need an inspirational black African batsman who can build the foundation for a future black captain.
To paraphrase what the current coach Mark Boucher said after dropping Bavuma for the first few Tests in the recent England series, “focus on piling on the runs”.
Khaya Tyatya, Randburg
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