‘Proteas must play like Springboks’ - Kuiper

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Hamilton

ADRIAN Kuiper tried hard, but soon admitted defeat: “Australia, England, SA, Sri Lanka and India - if you had to say which team among those was the best, I don’t think you could.”

Indeed. But the best team does not always triumph at the World Cup - Pakistan had no business winning in 1992, SA should have won in 1999.

However, that does not get in the way of Kuiper’s point. The captain who lifts the trophy at the Melbourne Cricket Ground after the final on March 29 will more than likely have led one of those five teams to glory.

Of them, only SA and England have not won before. Infamously, SA have reached the knockout stage five times in six tournaments and crashed at the first hurdle each time. But is their pain worse than England’s, who have been beaten in three finals?

“They must play with absolute pleasure and enthusiasm,” was Kuiper’s advice to ensure a happier ending to SA’s tournament this time. “When the Springboks play, regardless of who they’re are playing against, that’s how they play. So SA must not revert and go back into their shells and back to that laager mentality.”

And, as no SA cricketer needs reminding, the Springboks have been to two World Cup finals - and won both.

What are the chances of Pakistan staging another miracle or West Indies recovering from the amnesia that has afflicted them for 20 years?

Pakistan have lost eight of their last 10 one-day internationals, while the Windies have won four last 10. That would seem to answer the question above were it not for the lurking truth that the teams concerned are the wounded buffalos of cricket.

These unknowables are what elevates the World Cup above all other one-day cricket. Every four years, ODIs are given context and relevance. Then they slip back into meaninglessness.

At an individual level, too, what players accomplish at the World Cup earns a much more prominent place in the memory than what they do in just another one-day series. Herewith the heroes-in-waiting of the 2015 World Cup:

Mitchell Johnson (Australia)

Wouldn’t it be fun if a bowler pissed on the batsmen’s parade? And Johnson, egged on by vast crowds of quasi-fascist Aussies, is just the man to do it.

David Warner (Australia)

Talking of quasi-fascist Aussies, here’s a prime example of a bloke who does first and thinks later. Trouble is, Warner can keep doing it without thinking long enough to put piles of runs on the board.

Virat Kohli (India)

Up there in the Warner league of unpleasant little bliksems, and as an opponent. A furious ferret at the crease who truly believes he is as good as he really is.

Brendon McCullum (New Zealand)

Has his wedding ring tattooed on his finger and utter competitiveness seared into his soul. You know he’s good because his fellow Kiwis tolerate him rather than adore him like they would if he was just another of their non-rugby-playing mediocrities.

Trent Boult (New Zealand)

Swing when you’re bowling. Does he ever. Took 5/51 in the warm-up against SA. Of course, that didn’t count ...

AB de Villiers (SA)

The Best Batsman In The World Right Now. We know what he can do. Now, young man, get out there and do it.

Hashim Amla (SA)

Makes no sense to anyone who has a grip on the mechanics of batting - how can he stand there all frail and crooked looking and score all those runs? He does. He will.

Dale Steyn (SA)

Few players understand their celebrity as well as Steyn does. And he knows there is no bigger stage than the one he is standing on right now.

Morne Morkel (SA)

Maybe his new Australian wife, Roz Kelly, his slipped some swagger into his cornflakes. Whatever, we have never seen a more assertive Morkel. And it’s working for him.

Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

He’ll huff. He’ll puff. He’ll sling your wickets down. Along with Johnson and Steyn, he is the World Cup’s scariest bowler.

Chris Gayle (West Indies)

Hasn’t scored a century in 17 ODIs. And? Do you think that is going to make bowlers not lose sleep over him?