No disrespect to Rachin Ravindra or Kane Williamson, who together put on a Test batting masterclass at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, but to call their opposition underwhelming whould be a huge overstatement.
South Africa’s ‘D’ side were simply hapless from start to finish with both bat and ball and the nature mismatch was disrespectful to the paying New Zealand public and to fans of Test cricket in general.
The reality is this South African side isn’t a 2nd XI, or arguably even a 3rd XI but a mix of county cricket journeymen, average first class cricketers and a couple of promising enough youngsters that may eventually be quality players, but still a long way off.
This is due to the fact that South African Cricket prioritised a domestic T20 competition, a second rate one at that, over International Test cricket, and it just sums up the complete hole Test cricket has fallen into in South Africa.
New Zealand were professional with the way they went about it and while Ravindra showed us all what a talent he is, it looked as easy as you could’ve imagined. On a flat wicket, South Africa’s attack of plodding medium pacers were ground into the dust by the Wellingtonian and it amazingly took a 6 wicket haul from their ‘captain’, a part time left arm spinner by the name of Neil Brand (who was himself making his test debut) to finally bowl the Kiwis out for 511.
If South Africa weren’t at the very least going to take this test series somewhat seriously, the question has to be asked why they bothered coming at all? It’s effectively a training drill for the Kiwis before the big series against Australia – but couldn’t they have just hosted the Aussies for a four Test series instead of wasting two Tests against a non-opposition?
New Zealand Cricket loses money on every Test match they host, which is why the Australian series is limited to just two Test matches. They only host four Tests in their entire test summer – for the cricket loving public to have half of these against a team that isn’t of International standard is completely disrespectful and should’ve be called out far more strongly than it has been across the ditch.
You can’t really fault South Africa’s cobbled-together group of journeymen for their poor performances, they’ve performed as you’d probably expect them to. It’s the South African Cricket Board that need to come under fire, and the ICC for allowing them to do it.
I couldn’t care less if the T20 league is important in South Africa – if your national team is going to play Test cricket during that same period, your best players should be playing in those Tests, no exceptions. It’s why barely any of Australia’s national stars play BBL – thankfully, at least for now, Test cricket still remains the priority, as it should.
If you can’t send your best team then don’t schedule the series, or change the timing of your T20 league if you must – a situation like this mustn’t be allowed to happen.
The ICC has to take some blame for this farce as well. They’ve been strong backers of the South African League and have allowed this situation to happen under their watch. If they continue with this ho-hum attitude towards Test cricket and scheduling, then scenes like this will continue to occur.
Make no mistake – this isn’t even similar to the West Indies, who at least sent a young side full of promising players to Australia. All of South Africa’s promising youngsters are all still playing domestic cricket as well while their national side gets embarrassed in New Zealand.
The ICC should be calling this out and threatening Test bans for countries like South Africa if they keep treating Test cricket with disrespect. It’s still the oldest and most important form of cricket and considering these matches are for World Test Championship points, it also threatens competitive integrity.
We can only hope this South African side lifts their levels to something well above what looks like their capabilities, but three days in this series already looks like a fizzer. What makes this even more is incredible is New Zealand have never beaten South Africa in a Test series ever, home or away. South Africa have chucked that record in the bin and set fire to it, as they have to any ideas that they still care about the long format of the game.
Hopefully as somewhat of a consolation the New Zealand public are treated to a cracker of a series against the Aussies, with tests in Wellington and Christchurch in early March. One only wishes that we were going there sooner, to give their test summer a much needed boost.
Opeo
Roar Rookie
Michael Clarke and Marnus Labuschagne both averages less away from home than Williamson. Virat Kholi averages 42.84 away from home. Mathew Hayden had similar average away from home as Williamson.
Neo
Roar Rookie
All that SA have to do is just sent their boiling unit, that’s enough for NZ
Lance Boil
Roar Rookie
SA20 was established by CSA in 2022 through a newly formed entity, Africa Cricket Development (Pty) Limited (ACD). CSA is the majority stakeholder in ACD with a 50% share, while broadcaster SuperSport has a 30% share and former Indian Premier League (IPL) Chief Operating Officer Sundar Raman, the remaining 20%. Its not Test Cricket as such, its the Money, Man! The answer for Test Cricket is the same it's the Money, Man! Until the balance of $$ favours Test Cricket QED. So in whose possible pecuniary interest is Test Cricket? Hard to see any candidates. Sad!
GWSingapore
Roar Rookie
There will be a time, not too far into the future where there will be two test matches played each year. Boxing Day at the MCG and June at Lords. These Test matches will be regraded as an important link to cricket's glorious history and played by players whose whole year is white ball cricket. They may struggle to even have a test last five days. As Eric Baume used to shout, "THIS I BELIEVE."
jammel
Roar Rookie
plenty of good stoushes for you on this thread, 13th man!! :)
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Going to day 3 of that test - should be a cracker.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
To be fair to the Super Smash, you are right it’s a truly domestic comp that they mostly play on regional grounds. It’s a good set up but let’s be clear what it is – it isn’t a T20 comp with lots of imports and big money. I went to a game at Molyneux Park in Alexandra (near Queenstown) and another up at Saxton Oval in Nelson and both were great grounds to watch cricket at. Not really comparable to the BBL as these grounds capacities are somewhere around 5k.
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
That 26 run gap is enormous and not matched by any of the other 50+average players who had tighter averages home and away. Not saying he's not a good bat, he's terrific. But it's definitely assisted by generous home efforts is all
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
You're living in the past Dan You are talking 70's-80's in the Hadlee era. NZ haven't had crowds for ages.
Tufanooo
Roar Rookie
Basin is the best venue for tests in the world. A great venue
ForeverBok
Roar Rookie
You have to understand that Cricket South Africa is run by incompetent Communist Cadres, as is the rest of South Africa. This is the reason that South Africa has gone from the brilliant sparkling diamond jewel of Africa, to a corrupt slum of Africa. I weep for my beloved country.
Dan James
Roar Rookie
No question that Eden Park or Jade Stadium when it was still functional were not adequate cricket grounds, but people did not attend them. Stop your nonsense. In the past Eden Park had huge crowds...I know, because I was there. In NZ, much like England, it still struggles to get it’s prominence on the back page. That's just silly. The cricket Test was the major sporting event of the month and was covered closely by the media. A day after the finish of the Test, three out of the five main articles on the Stuff sports section are still about Test cricket.
Aiden
Roar Rookie
I often think with international sport, stuff like this, you just have to take it on the chin, play what is in front of you, take the win, and celebrate it wholeheartedly. International sport is more than just about playing whoever is deemed to be the best team .... its a test of each countries' systems, their approach to the game, in some cases their national character. As far as I am concerned NZ beat the best that SA could put out in the circumstances. The circumstances in this case being the disgraceful utter lack of character and shame of their cricket board.
Harvey Wilson
Roar Rookie
SA at least are blooding players and seeing where the future lies. Bedingham was highlight for them. A number of them have FC averages nearing 50.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Great comment, couldn’t have said it better.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Yes - this is the other point, competitive integrity has gone out the window. Imagine if NZ make the WTC final at the expense of India due to winning these two tests - that would ruffle some feathers at the ICC!
13th Man
Roar Rookie
Perhaps - which is why I advocate for an ICC revenue sharing model that is more lucrative for smaller federations like NZ and the West Indies.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
See comment below - his away average is still significantly better than Warner’s
13th Man
Roar Rookie
It’s a fair point - however there is still a small but passionate minority that really do enjoy the game - and I’ve found some very educated and knowledgeable fans in this part of the world. The Basin and Hagley are perfect sized venues for Test cricket in NZ, small enough that they fill up and create a great atmosphere - a bit different to cavernous grounds like Optus in Perth (where I’m originally from), that at a quarter full look empty.
13th Man
Roar Rookie
I think your point on the demographics is a fair one. I’m currently based down south in Otago, so slightly different demographic down here to up in the North island, and cricket does have a good foothold here - although hasn’t really taken much hold with the Māori and Pasifika populations.