NEIL MANTHORP: This time it is different for the Proteas

It was said by many observers of the beautiful game that the greatest footballer of his generation, one of the greatest ever, Lionel Messi, needed to win the World Cup to complete his legacy. Having won over 40 trophies in his career before the start of the tournament, it seemed a harsh judgment.

Especially as football is a team game intricately involving 10 other players and a squad of 26 for a tournament of that length. Notably, Messi wasn’t among those who said his career wouldn’t be complete without the biggest trophy of them all. It’s certain that he wouldn’t have lived out his days musing on a failed career. But Argentina won it anyway and Messi is the greatest.

It is stretching credibility to breaking point comparing the Proteas likely World Cup squad to Argentina, and there is certainly no individual deserving of a Messi comparison, but hear me out.

In two previous World Cups Messi had really wanted to win the World Cup. He actually believed all the hype that it was a requirement, perhaps even his destiny. It was preordained, so his adoring fans claimed, written in the stars. Before the last tournament, which he wasn’t even sure he would reach a year before it began, a certain degree of phlegmatic realism had set in. What will be, will be.

The Proteas squad that will leave for India at the end of September will be, by and large, comprised of globally established stars of the game and proven winners, albeit at franchise and bilateral level rather than in World Cups.

There are two points of difference between this year’s squad and all of those that preceded it, including the last one in 2019. The first is the “desperation” to win. The second is the lack of interference in their preparation, so far, from their office-bound employers.

After years of administrative turmoil and mismanagement, there was great hope that a new Cricket SA structure, with a majority of independent directors on the board, would be proactive and constructive. For the first year of their tenure the new board members were so inactive you might have wondered whether catatonia had set in. 

Chair Lawson Naidoo, having created a shit storm among the players by understandably issuing a non-negotiable decree regarding the approach to “taking the knee” at the 2021 T20 World Cup, has been largely anonymous. For a while now there has been a fear that Cricket SA’s new administrative structure has gone missing.

But no. The new board made an initial policy decision to “watch, listen and learn” when they were appointed, understandably keen not to emulate the ego-driven chaos of the board they had (mostly) replaced. Though there were undoubtedly decisions and interventions that would have been beneficial, they surmised that sections of the organisation were actually benefiting from the first period of “calm” many had experienced. Most importantly, the players.

Four years ago their preparation for the 2019 World Cup was so actively undermined it might still, in future, be shown up as sabotage. The coach, Ottis Gibson, was lied to repeatedly and important players were not withdrawn early from the Indian Premier League (IPL), as promised, and arrived in England exhausted.

It’s fair to say the man now in charge, Rob Walter, is enjoying what every coach deserves to have with his players: the chance to just “get on with it” without input or interference from people whose areas of expertise lie far away from cricket teams and their changerooms.

Walter understands the financial constraints of his job but has also, without fuss, fanfare or conflict, asked for what he believes is the bare minimum required to keep cohesion and depth among the national players in the build-up to the tournament. Low-frills camps in Durban, as much about attitude as technical approach, have all been accommodated.

Far from recalling unwilling players from lucrative T20 tournaments around the world or attempting to manage their workloads at the cost of many thousands of dollars to the players, Walter has encouraged them to take part, using their on-field game time as part of the collective strategy.

There is still time, of course, for the usual wave of jingoistic optimism to build before the players depart. No doubt awkward campaign slogans created by PR people are in the final stages of completion, but it seems equally likely that Walter, captain Temba Bavuma and the senior players — David Miller, Quinton de Kock, Kagiso Rabada and so on — won’t be affected by the “noise” this time.

It used to be said, when a raft of new players was selected in a World Cup squad, that it was a good thing because they had no scars from previous failed campaigns. This time, it might well be those scars that remind them that all they can do is their best. If that’s not good enough, nobody will die. For all the talk of intensity “wanting it more than the opposition”, perspective is also important in sport.