Brand of brothers

A few weeks ago I wrote a piece on this website suggesting that the South African players should pay more attention to those who have sweated blood and tears as they represented their country with pride in years gone by. I pulled no punches in my assessment that the current players were inept in their knowledge of South African cricket history and desperately needed to address this to get up to speed and acknowledge the honour of the badge. I further suggested that new skipper Graeme Smith should implement a fun quiz evening on a regular basis whilst on tour which will enable this deficiency to be overcome.

I had heard, via the grapevine, that Graeme had read my column with interest and upon consultation with his advisors decided this was an advantageous idea and had decided to run with it. I was therefore delighted to read the mission statement that the squad released just prior to embarking on their challenging tour of the United Kingdom, which read:

“We understand that we are simply the current (standard) bearers of South African cricket and with that comes a responsibility to everyone that came before us and to everyone that will follow us.” In a sense, this is an admittance that things were not as they should be but I give the boys enormous credit for realizing this and being determined to put things right.

That was exactly the same initial feeling that purveyed at the commencement of the media training day with the squad that was held by SuperSport on Friday evening. At the outset they acknowledged the fact that their dealing with the media, which in essence is their mouth piece, has not been up to scratch recently and have decided to get that in order and substantially improve the perception of their “brand.”

The way in which they tackled the various aspects of the five-hour session was extremely encouraging and I emerged from the event with a warm sense of mutual achievement that will put them in good stead for the sojourn ahead.

The maturity that emanated from the group was impressive. I will go as far to say that in my years of involvement with them I do not think that they have displayed this essential trait as well as they did on Friday, in a united front.

They are all aware that the next three months will be a tough tour but they have decided to pay attention to detail to ensure that they give themselves the best chance to come out on top.

Unlike many that I encounter on my weekly duties, I have an optimistic view as to what lies ahead. I am not saying they will win the Test series 5-0 but I have received enough encouraging signs from close quarters to suggest that these boys mean business. Whilst we sit back and closely analyze the performances of our national side, keep an eye out for the bigger picture.

Check out the pride, check out the passion, check out the level of enjoyment and importantly see how that translates to the bottom line.

These players know they are doing it for you as much as for themselves and they are desperate to revive the “brand.”