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Deserving South Africa Can Change Cricket Perception With World Test Championship Victory
South Africa have a chance to end their curse in the World Test Championship final (Photo by Matthew ... More Lewis-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
Take a deep breath, South Africans. Here we go. Once again South Africa are agonizingly on the cusp of ending cricket's most infamous hoodoo, so close to removing the noose that has been hanging over them for more than three decades.
South Africa's latest efforts to win a major cricket title starts on Wednesday against defending champions and favoured Australia in the World Test Championship final at Lord's.
While Australia are one of the three undisputed cricket powerhouses, often reviled by hard-bitten opponents due to their financial and political clout, and dotting with stars, South Africa are clearly more intriguing and provide the better narrative.
Any time South Africa enters the pointy end of a tournament, their macabre history since readmission in 1992 resurfaces. There are too many grim tales to dredge up and they are part of cricket lore anyway, but the bottom line is South Africa have not won a major cricket title.
South Africa lost the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup (Photo by)
They did win the 1998 Champions Trophy, but hardly anyone cares about a tournament manufactured by cricket's money-hungry officials. When it comes to the events that matter, with legacies attached to them, South Africa have suffered so much misfortune that it has been interpreted as something of a curse.
Those more malicious use another c-word to describe their continual woes - choke, an unflattering verb that has probably been banned there since roughly 1999. It's been all rather unfortunate for a country that has been consistently strong for three decades and clearly the best performing nation outside the big three.
In a sport that revolves so much around India, Australia and England, it's been a breath of fresh air that South Africa made a barnstorming run to the final. Of course, they had their cynics - mostly from those nations - as the Proteas qualified after playing a bunch of two-Test series against smaller nations in a modest schedule.
Some believe that South Africa should have had karma after sending a weakened squad to New Zealand last year. It was supposedly disrespectful to Test cricket given their top players were instead required for their fledgling T20 domestic franchise league, which has become the country's money-spinner.
But hasn't it been disrespectful from the power trio that they have to be scratched and clawed to play anyone other than themselves? It's no wonder countries like South Africa have had to find other revenue generators such as creating their own T20 domestic league.
It's been encouraging to see South Africa still thriving in Test cricket against all the financial odds even though some of their talented players inevitably are lured by the well-heeled franchise leagues.
Other teams have been more dominant - Australia in the 2000s - and more hyped - India in recent years - but no country has been as consistent in Test cricket than South Africa since 1992. The Proteas have never had a significant dip, while Graeme Smith's hardnosed side in the late 2000s-early 2010s just has to be Test's most underrated team.
South Africa are preparing for their date with destiny (Photo by Ben Whitley/PA Images via Getty ... More Images)
Similarly uncompromising, this current team is less driven by top end talent compared to their predecessors, who rode the back of some of Test cricket's greatest ever players.
Apart from quick Kagiso Rabada, making headlines recently for the wrong reasons, South Africa boast hard-working, indefatigable cricketers who are enjoying being underdogs. Perhaps being written off suits their DNA more than being talked-up.
A defeat against Australia in this final won't muster the scorn and mockery of previous results, but South Africa does have a opportunity to change their unwanted perception. The match means so much to them compared to an Australian team that has won almost everything during this golden period under captain Pat Cummins.
Back in Australia, the match isn't even available on free-to-air or pay television with it shunted behind an online subscription service. In the early stages of winter, Aussies are deep in the weeds of their highly-popular football leagues with the WTC final generating very little interest.
It's a much different story for South Africans, whose feelings of hopelessness are once again rearing. But maybe, just maybe, they will emerge triumphant to banish the ghosts of the past on cricket's most famous ground.
