espnstar.com studies the mood of the South African public after the hosts were knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy.

By Firdose Moonda
 
Graeme Smith has always been described as being a little overweight. Very few people have gone as far as to say the man has two faces, a couple of chins maybe, but not two face. On Sunday night, the world saw both of them.

First, there was the victorious expression of a hero, when he masterfully crafted a captain’s century. His sparkling grey-blue eyes glistened under the Centurion floodlights, he raised his arms to the heavens as though he had won an ever evasive ICC trophy and his smile screamed self belief  that he could go on to guide the team to victory.

Then, 11 overs later, there was the visage of a defeated man. He tried to play one big shot too many, only managed to top edge the ball and watch it land in Owais Shah’s safe hands. Failure and disappointment was smeared across his face like a permanent marker stain, even as he acknowledged the crowd.

The Centurion crowd’s response was bitter sweet. Their applause drowned out the thuds of their hearts breaking and their private thoughts wondering why, yet again, South Africa had crashed out of a major tournament. The palette of embarrassment was painted in every shade of red imaginable, after the 2003 World Cup blunder, the 2007 World T20 incompetence and now the sheer frustration of having one man play like a hero and the rest fall like flies around him.

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Now the dust has settled, and South Africans have had some time to think about what’s happened. Most are angry and the likeliest target for their anger has been the opposition and one Andrew Strauss. If he had only allowed Smith to have a runner, perhaps he wouldn’t have played that one big shot too many and perhaps South Africa could have sneaked even the 313 they needed to be in with a slim chance. Besides they all thought Strauss was such a decent guy after he called Angelo Matthews back when he had been run out in a gesture of fine sportsmanship. What they’ve all forgotten is that Strauss had a valid point in disallowing the runner and perhaps blame should be shifted to the rest of the batting order, where not one of them succeeded in getting over 35 runs. Oh, and even nice guys, like Strauss, want to win.

Other, more rational, members of the Proteas’ public pinned the defeat on the bowling. To concede over 300 runs not once, but twice, is in indictment on the men who were so instrumental in getting the team to the number one ranked side in the world a few months ago. But all reason transformed into complete and utter irrationality as hoards of fans who commented on the website news24.com called for the removal of bowling coach Vincent Barnes, the dropping of Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn and Albie Morkel. As one user, Mark, put it, “A blind man could see Parnell taking a few wickets and giving away a million runs.”

Just a few months ago, young Parnell was going to become our very own Mitchell Johnson. Now, the public would rather he be hidden somewhere in the Eastern Cape where we won’t have to see too much of him and bring back Makhaya Ntini. That’s the same public that are calling for Jacques Kallis, and Mark Boucher to be dropped, and younger players like Imran Khan, the Dolphins opening batsman who has played a test match for South Africa. Go figure.

Even though that observation from the fans is contradictory, they are not all quite as dim as they may seem. Many blamed a lack of match practice for the team looking out of sorts. Another of the site’s users, Devil’s Advocate, said that Cricket South Africa showed a “lack of foresight” in not planning more competitive practice matches for the team. After a three month lay off from the game, the team practiced against the least successful domestic franchise, the Lions, and then against the West Indies.

Gerald Majola, chief executive of Cricket SA had promised a full enquiry into the dismal performance. Perhaps he should also ask Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers to put away their foghorns and stop shouting that “no one can match us” and “it’s our time” as the pair did before the Champions Trophy.

Maybe it will get them to put a muzzle on it, but it won’t quell the anger. Moreover, underneath those layers of rage, is something else: deep, deep sadness. There’s no doubting the team is better than they played in this tournament. And most South Africans are sharing in the pain of watching them choke, even though that’s not the team they prefer, again. The deputy captain of the national rugby side, Victor Matfield, expressed his disappointment as well on his Twitter page, saying, “Really feeling sorry for our cricketers, they are really an awesome team. Things just don’t want to happen for them in big tournaments.”

Now the only things that would really smother salt in the public’s open wounds would be if England were to go on and win the event. Some will say those brave Poms will then only find themselves on the receiving end of a backlash when they tour here later this year. Others will be smart enough to admit one thing: the Proteas need polishing when it comes to big events.

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