Proteas know where they want to go

To reignite the Protea Fire, the national team’s players needed to re-evaluate their goals in an open and honest manner.

To reignite the Protea Fire, the national team’s players needed to re-evaluate their goals in an open and honest manner and shake off the bitter disappointment of losing narrowly in the World Cup last year.

Many wondered what effect the semi-final defeat to New Zealand in Auckland had had on the players’ psyche, and in his typically forthright manner, it was Dale Steyn who gave a voice to the anguish his teammates had endured in the aftermath of that loss.

“After the World Cup, we just kind of stopped, we didn’t know what we were trying to achieve ... why do we want to win games? Do we want to win a series? What does it all mean?”

Now that we know the team were experiencing a sort of existential crisis, perhaps the poor performances of the last 15 months are understandable.

The 204-run victory over New Zealand at SuperSport Park was just the second Test match win by the Proteas in a year, during which they played 11 Tests. They were hammered in India, and were well off the mark against England last summer. The absence of Steyn and Vernon Philander were significant but there was more to the poor performances than just missing the spearheads of the attack.

“I wasn’t in the side for most of last summer - it was very disappointing. I can’t really sit here and say what it was like to be in that team. It is disappointing to go from being the No 1 team in the world to No 7. We can sit and debate for long about the ranking system, the fact is we lost to India, we lost to England and we are where we are,” Steyn explained.

“The culture has had a bit of a change - we had a nice meeting and I feel like we are back on the path again. Players kind of know what we are playing for again, where we want to go.”

South Africa played at Centurion with an intensity that was missing last season - Steyn’s absence, obviously, had a lot to do with that - but now that he’s back and close to firing at his best, the Proteas can look forward to some major assignments in the coming months. Australia in November is a target they will relish.

“I think we are in a great position right now,” said Steyn who finished the Test with eight wickets, including a 26th five-for in New Zealand’s second innings. “And what a wonderful story it will be in two years time when we go from No 7 to No 1 in the world again. That’s the focus and that’s the aim. Guys look like that’s what they want, they’re desperate, they’re training hard, they’re working in the nets and results like this prove that’s where we want to go.”

There is no single dominant team in Test cricket at the moment. Pakistan have done remarkably well to reach No 1, while India’s status at No 2 is built mainly around their form at home. Australia, meanwhile, don’t play well in the subcontinent and England struggle away from home, too.

There is certainly scope for South Africa to climb up the table once more.

“For us to be firing with the best teams in the world, we’ll need Steyn, Philander, AB de Villiers, Morne Morkel, Hashim Amla in our team,” said stand-in Test captain Faf du Plessis. “If they are not there, as we saw against England, it’s going to be a challenge for us as a team, especially from a bowling perspective. You just don’t replace guys like that.”

Steyn’s already planning his preparation ahead of the Tour to Australia. After a short break, he’ll do strength and conditioning work and be in the nets building up miles in the legs before the trip to the Antipodes.

“I’m still a long way from where I want to be,” he said. “I want to get the pace up a little bit more - overs under the belt, a little bit more strength work and I’ll eventually get there. When there’s wickets in the wicket’s column, there’s not much to complain about.” - The Star