Cape Town — Played eight‚ lost five. Oh dear. But‚ as SA cricket coach Ottis Gibson explained after the last match of SA’s tour to Sri Lanka‚ winning was not everything. "If it was all about winning we would have brought [Imran] Tahir [who was rested] and all the other guys‚" Gibson told reporters in Colombo. "But winning a series in Sri Lanka right now does not give us a strong indicator about where we are going towards the World Cup." The tournament will be played from May 30 to July 14 in England‚ where conditions will not be anything like those in the subcontinent. So SA’s mission in Sri Lanka amounted to an audit of their skills base. "This exercise in giving young players opportunities to see where they are gives us a better chance when it comes to sitting down and picking a team.
"By the time we get to Pakistan in SA [in December and January] we’ll be picking the team that is very close to the team that will go and help us win the World Cup." Gibson spoke after SA had b...
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