The South African team is in pretty bad shape at the moment. Despite having quality players in the ranks, the Proteas were eliminated in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup and are also on the verge of playing the qualifiers in order to feature in the next ODI World Cup in India.
Now, despite being one of the favourites to win any multi-nation competition, South Africa’s downfall has become a matter of significant concern among the administrators. Former skipper Graeme Smith is deeply worried and also mentioned the fact that at the moment, none of South Africa’s cricketers averages over 40 in the longest format of the game.
“I look at South Africa’s Test batting line up and not one is averaging 40. When I played we had close to four averaging 50,” the former cricketer said while speaking on News 18 Cricketnext’s Youtube channel.
“One thing that we want to make sure that like India, they have so much talent, you are putting out two squads of serious quality there. But look at the performances and the type of players there. I mean if we can give the selectors of South African team 25 to 40 players of serious quality, then it’s a game-changer,” he added.
South Africa is still producing talent, but unfortunately hasn’t translated into success: Smith
There’s no shortage of talent in South Africa as a sufficient number of national team players feature in multiple leagues across the globe. The commissioner of the SA T20 League, Smith acknowledged that and believes there currently is a gap between domestic cricketers and national cricketers and that’s the reason behind the downfall of the Proteas on the international stage.
“South Africa is still producing talent, but unfortunately hasn’t translated into success. The leadership at the top of the game certainly has to be stronger. The product has to be stronger. If your domestic product is weak then the gap between your domestic talent and international requirement just grows,” the 41-year-old said.
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