Leading Edge: Why SA could drive us to drink

Sunday Times

TELFORD VICE, Harare

IT had all become too much for a bloke sat of an evening this week at the bar that offers generous views of matches played at Harare Sports Club.

He had turned his back on the field, and by the look of him as he leaned on the counter - backside firmly on barstool - he had done so hours before.

His head was down, defeated. His shoulders sagged with resignation. He was motionless. He had, in fact, passed out. Goneski. Sleeping the sleep of the spectacularly sloshed, oblivious to the drinking and partying going on around him.

But, even as he slumped there, somewhere between terminally drunk and abjectly hungover, he had given up to the barman his hope and prayer for yet another drink: in his limp hand propped on a firmly cocked elbow, plain as the froth on a freshly poured beer, he proffered a crisp $10 note.

What became of this man and his money is not known, at least not by this reporter. But many South Africans will know how he felt the next morning. It is the same way they have felt in the aftermath of two test matches now.

Watching SA play those games, the second match against Sri Lanka in Colombo last month and the one-off affair against Zimbabwe that ended on Tuesday, has brought on a dull ache and a need to lay down in a darkened room.

That SA have not lost either match is hardly relevant to those who prefer cricket to entertain them rather than be conducted as a grim trudge to be endured rather than enjoyed. SA’s batting has been the latter.

“We haven’t been able to play the type of cricket we usually play, given the conditions,” Amla said after the Harare test was put out of its misery. “Winning in four days is as big a victory as it gets on this type of pitch.”

Too true. The petrified pitches at Sinhalese Sports Club and Harare Sports Club should have earned their creators hefty fines. How come the International Cricket Council, which does not hesitate to punish players for being human, is OK with troglodyte thinking when it comes to pitch preparation?

But SA cannot avoid the largest chunk of the blame. In both matches, their opponents - lesser teams than them - have risen above the conditions and played cricket worth watching. That those sides have not had a series lead or a No. 1 ranking or a big reputation to protect is a valid defence only up to a point.

As much as SA, or any team, have a responsibility to respect the game and their opposition, they also have a responsibility to respect the people who watch them play. Some of those people will be satisfied with the team they support having emerged unbeaten from these two tests. They will be the same people who cheer inside edges all the way to the fine leg boundary.

Cricket has, sadly but unsurprisingly, deteriorated from a sport to an industry. It is more about pressure and less about fun, and few involved with the game at a high level seems to be properly in touch with the world the rest of us live in.

We’re out there, watching. Try not to drive us to drink.