NEIL MANTHORP: Orange is the new blackout looming for the Proteas

Something peculiar happened when the England squad met up in wintry London to fly to SA for their ODI series against the Proteas. There were more coaching staff and management than players. A lot more. There were just three players — seamer David Willey and batters Ben Duckett and Harry Brook.    

Eight of the 14-man squad are already in SA and will make their way to Bloemfontein on Wednesday and the remaining three, Moeen Ali, Dawid Malan and Chris Woakes, will fly in from Dubai where they have been competing for the Sharjah Warriors in the International League T20. One of England’s best players, Joe Root, will remain there to continue playing for the Dubai Capitals, having been given the series off. They will have less than 48 hours to prepare and just one training session.    

Most of SA’s squad will also travel to Bloemfontein on Wednesday from various parts of the country as the SA20 takes a seven-day break to incorporate an ODI series that may be remembered as the most important in the country’s history.

The home side are likely to need to win it at least 2-1 and then hope they don’t mess up against the Netherlands in two Covid-19-rescheduled matches at the end of March and beginning of April to have a chance of sneaking into the World Cup automatically.    

If they lose to England and/or there is a slip-up against the minnows in orange, or it rains, SA will have to escape from a potentially torturous prequalifying tournament in Harare in  June and July in order to make it to India at the end of the year along with the word’s other “big” teams. Apart from hosts Zimbabwe, the 10-team prequalifier will include the likes of Ireland, Scotland, Namibia, Netherlands and one of Sri Lanka or the West Indies, any of whom can win the game that condemns SA to the ODI wilderness.    

Should Temba Bavuma’s team lose 3-0 to England, the Harare trip is guaranteed. Should they lose 2-1 there is still a chance they can sneak into the main World Cup draw provided Sri Lanka are not beaten 3-0 in New Zealand in March. If Sri Lanka win two of those matches then SA will definitely need to win four of their remaining five Super League fixtures. Should Sri Lanka complete an unlikely 3-0 sweep against the Black Caps, SA will have to win all five.    

There is another complicating caveat. If the Proteas’ fast-bowling heavy attack is penalised for a slow over-rate in any of those matches, they would still be heading for Harare. Such are the margins.    

The long-term scenarios are wildly divergent. Sneak into the World Cup, either automatically or with a heart-stopping victory against the United Arab Emirates at the Harare Sports Club, then the England series might be quickly forgotten. But lose to England, crash in Zimbabwe, unthinkably fail to qualify for the World Cup, and despite hosting the 2027 version, the ramifications of missing a generation of World Cup cricket could be catastrophic, and not just financially.    

The selection of a conservative squad for the England series has raised eyebrows. There are no new caps, no “brave” calls on wild cards such as Dewald Brevis, no sense or recognition that rebuilding is required. The unwieldy 16-man squad has been chosen on the basis of those “in situ”, not on form. Janneman Malan and Reeza Hendricks would surely not have been included on the basis of recent form. It is understandable.    

New white-ball coach Rob Walter was consulted before the squad was selected and announced. He is still in New Zealand from where he was interviewed for the job and appointed. He would not have wanted to create the impression he was pulling selection strings from afar without recent involvement in the local or national game. He won’t even be in SA for the series. Test coach Shukri Conrad will oversee preparations.    

He adopted the pragmatic view. “Most of you were involved in getting the team into this situation, now you have the opportunity to get us out of it.” If and when the time comes to make difficult decisions, Walter won’t back down. Born and bred in Pretoria and with his sharp ends frostbitten during five years in Dunedin coaching the Otago Volts, that experience has made him even more committed to investing in the people who play cricket rather than “cricketers”.   

Bavuma and his players have barely had time to process their ignominious departure from the T20 World Cup two months ago, certainly as a group, and now they face the possibility of another. It could be a watershed moment in SA’s cricket history. No amount of leadership will atone for a lack of runs and wickets. Now is the time to deliver. Don’t leave it to Harare.