National pride restored

Puff out your chests. The nation has a cricket team that everyone can be proud of. Okay, they didn’t bring home the bacon but over the last three months they were splendid.

I write this the morning after the Test series was completed and I have no doubt that there is a group of cricketers and management who at this moment are hurting badly as they pack their bags for the long haul home.

Reality would have jolted them this morning. That extra bag that would have transported the NPower trophy back to South Africa is probably lying in a crumpled heap in the corner of Graeme Smith’s room….. And that is where it will stay.

The players will be examining themselves. How did they not at least salvage a draw after that superb first day in the final Test? The bookies had England at 40 – 1 to win that Test after day 1. Simply put, the two hours of play the next morning cost the visitors dearly. Losing 5 wickets for 70 runs cost them the series.

I suspect England is the number three cricketing nation right now. To play an arduous series in their backyard and share the spoils is no mean feat.

Their exploits, both individually and collectively on the park, as they showed fight and character spoke volumes. But it goes further than that.

As ambassadors for the game South Africa were magnificent. A captain of enormous stature has been born who will be the standard bearer of great things to come. I have kept a close watch on comments made by hardened media men over the last 3 months and all have been lavish in their praise of Graeme.

Poisoned pens have been reduced to perfumed pencils. South Africa is being hailed as the best tourists ever to set foot on English shores. Senior players has taken responsibility. Well done guys and well done to the hard-working members of the squad behind the scenes. Gerald De Kock deserves a special mention.

The team can improve. There are some glaring deficiencies. The bar has been raised dramatically since the World Cup debacle and a solid platform is now in place. This means improvements can be made and we can all sit back and eagerly take note of the development over the next couple of years.

The pride and passion is back and the leadership desire has filtered through the squad. The team is galvanized as one. Galvanized for you.

Puff out your chests.