“It’s a little bit embarrassing.”
Those were the words uttered by South African skipper, Faf du Plessis after his side lost by 49 runs to Pakistan at Lord’s.
That result saw the life support system on the Proteas’ World Cup campaign switched off.
The South African team has won just one of its seven matches.
Only Afghanistan sits below them on the table.
Their last two games will have no impact on their future as they are heading home early regardless.
Alas, for South African fans, failure at the World Cup is something they are used to.
Since re-entering the international arena post-Apartheid, the country has contested eight World Cups.
They have made the semi-finals four times, only to be denied a finals berth on each occasion.
Along the way the most unwanted sobriquet in sport – ‘chokers’ – has been applied at various times.
One of South Africa’s most famous World Cup capitulations. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
None more so than 2003, when South Africa hosted the tournament.
A fourth-place finish in their pool saw them miss out on the super six stage.
This time around, the current team was seen as a legitimate semi-final prospect.
Most saw England, India and Australia filling three of the four slots in the semis with New Zealand and South Africa the most favoured to make up the final four.
As it has turned out, the Black Caps are currently sitting atop the tree with five wins from six starts.
In a bid to end their World Cup drought, Cricket South Africa produced what it called ‘Vision 2019’, a concerted effort to produce a team with the ability and wherewithal to lift the silverware.
A major snag was hit in May 2018 when the side’s talisman, A B de Villiers made the shock announcement that he was retiring from all forms of international cricket, effective immediately.
It was expected that he would pull the pin on his Proteas career after the World Cup having said numerous times in the previous few years that winning the trophy was his ultimate aim.
Bizarrely, on the day that South Africa finalised its squad for this year’s tournament, de Villiers approached the captain and coach and said he wished to make a comeback.
The skipper reportedly was keen to have de Villiers back but the selectors thought otherwise.
News of his plans to abandon his international retirement at the eleventh hour became public after South Africa had lost its opening three matches of the tournament.
It provided a substantial distraction to a team that was firmly under the pump.
The selectors did take a risk, however, with the selections of pacemen Dale Steyn and Lungi Ngidi.
Both were sidelined with injury in the lead-in to the tournament.
While Steyn has been a great of the game, he has barely donned the coloured uniform in recent years.
South Africa’s Dale Steyn bowls (Photo by RODGER BOSCH / AFP)
Since January 2016, he has played just 13 one-day internationals.
Not surprisingly, he was withdrawn from the squad with his ongoing shoulder problem before he could bowl a single delivery.
Ngidi, who was suffering a side strain in the build-up, has missed three games with a hamstring injury.
For much of the tournament, quick Kagiso Rabada and 40-year-old leg-spinner Imran Tahir have been required to shoulder the bulk of the load.
Both have toiled manfully and done their best to keep their side in games.
But it is the batting that has been particularly lacklustre.
Quinton de Kock is the leading run-scorer with 238 runs from seven innings at 39.7, considerably down on his career average of 45.2.
His strike rate has been a rather pedestrian 84 against a career mark of 95.
His 68 against Afghanistan is the highest of his team’s seven half-centuries.
Hashim Amla has had a woeful tournament.
His six innings have netted 123 runs at 24.6 with a strike rate of 59.
Compared to his career average and strike rate of 49.0 and 89 respectively it underlines his fall from grace.
His last 22 ODIs have produced a meagre average of 32.6.
He has been kept in the side more on sentiment than performance.
At 36, this World Cup will surely be his last hurrah.
JP Duminy, at 35, is likely to follow him on the ride into the sunset.
JP Duminy of South Africa (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)
He has contributed 56 runs in three innings.
The captain may be a casualty of this campaign as well.
While du Plessis has stated that he wishes to bow out following the T20 World Cup in Australia next October, he may not be accorded that luxury.
Throughout the tournament, South Africa has appeared to be tentative, almost afraid to take risks.
There has been a distinct lack of flair with the willow.
This is not the way the modern game is played.
They have played a brand of cricket more akin to the way the game was played a decade ago before T20 reinvigorated the one-day game and brought to it a more expansive 360-degree approach.
With every loss, the collective body language has appeared more and more fraught.
The pressure of expectation from a desperate supporter base appears to have ground them down.
South Africa will face a significant rebuild following this World Cup.
Successive sides have carried healthy expectations to the sports premier white ball tournament, often far greater than this time around.
Each time they have fallen short.
They have four years to get it right ahead of the next World Cup in India.
History indicates that it will be a monumental task.
Lawrence
Roar Rookie
I would think South Africa should well and truly moved on from those bad past days. Identity politics shouldn’t be applied to sports. The best players should be chosen in your XI. ABD couldn’t select Abbott in the 2015 WC SF because quotas. Kolpak is hurting South Africa, losing players of the quality of Roussow, Abbott and Olivier while in their prime aren’t easy to replace.
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
Yes Paul, “at various times” is what I said. You have chosen to interpret that to mean that I believe that is the case at this World Cup. It isn’t.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Arguably though, you could have said the same about AUS in Test and ODIs between March 2018 and Jan 2019. At that particular point in time AUS looked like a basket case that not even the impending returns of Smith & Warner could materially rectify. Yet by June 2019, here we talking up AUS chances of WC success. The Test arena is yet to be..."tested"...but we do now seem to have the positive headache of who should not be selected for the Ashes as opposed to who we can get to play and perform.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Imagine where AUS would be if Starc or Cummins had lost form just prior to the tournament. We may very well be battling it out for position 6-8 in the final standings.
geoffo
Guest
So right Jeff. How can a side that has just demolished Australia and India in the test arena be termed " third world"? Jimbo sounds like he has a chip on his shoulder.
Gee
Roar Rookie
Rabada is carrying an injury from the IPL that didn't help either.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
And Glenn's work on 91.3 SportFM here in Perth!
Ajit
Guest
It says 5 wins from 6 starts.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
I agree that the disparity in economic circumstances between SAF and other “developed” cricketing nations is a real pull factor challenge that SAF cricket has to deal with. SAF cricket has always had a small supporter base, but the controversial changes they made to national team selection (inclusiveness/diversity, quotas even) in the early 2000s is reaping rewards in not only broadening/expanding the interest in the game to the broader population, but also in broadening participation and consequently the talent pool from which they can draw from. Like many aspects of life in South Africa, there are transitional challenges that will take a few generations to play out; I don’t see the Kolpak ruling as a long-term negative at all.
Neel
Roar Guru
Their pace attack has carried niggles into the tournament as well. The team has hit a pretty solid low. There seems to be no motivation or will to play from the South Africans. Van der Dussen has been alright but he is 30 years old now. He might last till the next World Cup but after that, I don’t think he will last. There seems to be a lack of batsman coming through for the South Africans. Markram hasn’t adjusted to the ODI format and a lot will depend on Quinton de Cock in the near future.
Paul
Roar Guru
"Along the way the most unwanted sobriquet in sport – ‘chokers’ – has been applied at various times." Glenn, the implication is there in the form of words you chose. If you didn't want this applied to the 2019 team, why not state that in your piece or why mention the term at all?
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Couldn't disagree more re their cricket team. They have maintained an exceptional domestic comp, both during and post international suspension. If anything, the broadening of their pool of available players will continue to see them as one of the top teams in world cricket. Especially in their bowling stocks; consider the contemporary players of Rabada, Ngidi, Tahir. An easy line to throw out there Jimbo, but I feel it lacks thought and at is at best, disrespectful.
pedrax
Roar Rookie
Sure, in retrospect they had bowlers going in under serious injury clouds, but it is hard to know the impact of this beforehand. Australia also had a "recipe for disaster" , but Starc has performed very well after injury come back and Smith/Warner have performed after their break. This was highly uncertain. Many people talk of how Hazlewood should have been in the side after injury too. Who knows if he would have performed?
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Glenn, I enjoyed your work with the ABC & your current segment with Macquarie Sport. Your headline "Groundhog Day All Over Again" brought back memories of the late Rugby League player & commentator Rex Mossop who was dubbed "The King of Tautology". "Advancing forward" & "Deja Vu all over again" were two of his pearls of wisdom.
Jeff
Roar Rookie
Agreed. Leading in they were definitely in the mix for top 4 finish, though in competition with 2 or 3 other teams. On that basis it would only take a few things to not go the way they had planned for them to miss out and so it has come to pass. It happens to 1 or 2 teams in any tournament. SAF has a two-decades history of regularly performing consistently even when going through a transition period or facing challenges. Perhaps more than any side in the last 20 years or so, the “sum-of-the-parts” of the SAF team (technique and tenacity) has outperformed the individual make up of the side. And that is why I never rule them out in any contest we have faced them and why many AUS fans love coming up against them.
pedrax
Roar Rookie
I agree Dave. They had a great bowling unit on paper - Steyn, Ngidi, Rabada and Tahir - and probably Phehlukwayo has over performed in the all rounder role. They lacked batting depth, but on a cloudy green-top they could have wreaked havoc. As a casual observer, I didn't appreciate the extent of the injuries to their bowlers. Now in retrospect we are all experts on this!
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
Well Rabada and Tahir were arguably the best two pace and spin bowlers in world ODI cricket. Add in a fit Steyn and Ngidi, highly rated by a lot of people, you had as good a bowling lineup as any on paper. Miller, Amla and Duminy are all highly capable batsmen, and Markram is a fantastic Test player. So to say that anyone who had SA in the semis or ahead of New Zealand is not much of a pundit is arguably themselves not much of a pundit. Sure, a lot of these guys haven’t fired but it’s patently ridiculous to say that it was obvious ahead of time that they wouldn’t fire. Remember they beat Australia in Australia fairly comfortably late last year. You wouldn’t put it past them to beat us again in the final game.
Glenn Mitchell
Expert
Paul, I never used the word ‘choke’ with respect to the current RSA side or its performance at this World Cup.
Harvey Wilson
Roar Rookie
To be fair to South Africa, I never expected they would make the top 4. Their bowling is one of the best attacks in the world, but the loss of great batsmen is something they haven't recovered from. Alma has been great for a long time, but he has been a passenger for too long.
Paul
Roar Guru
so a side that ranked 4 in the world, that had won 6 of its last 7 series, could not be considered a chance to make the semis? You're clearly an expert at hindsight, Dingo.