LEFT ARM OVER
Different roads brought Kiwis and Proteas to same place — putting team above all else
These two teams may play as though it is a matter of life and death but much of their current success is because they know it is not, writes Neil Manthorp
The players in the Proteas and Black Caps national squads find themselves in a remarkably similar position in many ways, but for very different reasons and through an exceptionally different journey. Both are consequently among the most firmly bound in recent history with a selfless willingness to place the team and its fortunes far above any desire for individual success. How did they get there? New Zealand’s comes from two places. The first is a historic feeling of inadequacy, which stems from living in the shadow of the All Blacks and, for that matter, several other sporting codes and pastimes. Sailing even rivals cricket for the number of registered participants, but cricket has somehow hung in there over the decades despite falling into several patches of deep decline. It took 22 losses and 22 draws spanning 26 years before they won their first Test match – against a West Indies team in 1956 that included Garry Sobers among other dignitaries of the game – and high points contin...
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