SA cricket needs 20/20 vision

I think we all new our last fiasco in one day cricket was inevitable and it was only a matter of time before the dark cloud of failure loomed heavily over the wilting Proteas. I am sorrybut I must blame the Administrators and Selectors entirely for the present Circus. The first mistake was excluding Pollack from the test team as he is still the best bowler we have and no mean all rounder. To exclude him from test cricket was an insult to a fine individual and it was obvious such action would force him into early retirement. Strydom and Arthur should be big enough to admit their stupidity. The second mistake was replacing Mckenzie with "brainless" Gibbs who has prooved over the years his lifestyle does not augur well for reliability. The third mistake was expecting inexperienced players such as Philander to just fit in and play International cricket. I doubt if the harm done can be rectified by the time we tour Australia at the end of the year and i think we are heading for another big embarrassment.

Sheesh, what a load of hogwash! At least you're right about KP. He is THE reason England beat us in the one-days. It's quite ironic: South Africa is captained by a man who consciously modelled his career after English captains (I guess some still believe the English way is by definition the right way). England, on the other hand, is benefiting from a South African captain in the mould of Clive Rice, Kepler Wessels and Hansie Cronjé (are we allowed to speak his name yet?).

Your comments about Shaun Pollock are statistically true, but misleading. Pollock has not bowled at the death for the last five years (or more). And there is a simple reason for that: his tendency to disappear for 20+ runs an over. Ask yourself this: How low might Fanie de Villiers' average be if he did not have to bowl those slog overs? The current pathetic form of the one-day team has very little to do with Pollock's POST mature retirement.

The wailing about all the cricketers who chose money above the noble cause of patriotic duty is only part of the story. Would these guys leave so quickly is it were not for Cricket SA's disastrous affirmative action policies? Lest we forget, affirmative action got Charl Langeveldt (who is supposed to benefit from it) to jump ship. Talk about a bad execution.

In true African (and I don't mean black) view of the world, Manthorp presents this as if Cricket SA is the victim. Nothing could have been done to avoid the disaster. By implication, nobody is responsible, and nothing needs to change. The fans just need to keep quiet for the next decade or so, and pray for the best. What hold do these guys have on you, Neil?

The truth is that this fiasco shows Cricket SA's inability to manage the pool of talent at its disposal. Keeping the talent happy and interested while pursuing affirmative action won't be easy, but that's what Cricket SA's many managers get paid to do. If they are unable to perform, they need to be replaced. Let's hope Norman Arendse gets shoved aside soon, no thanks to Neil Manthorp.

The basic reason why SA lost so badly (all teams loose occasionally, but few loose this badly), was the lack of focus from the squads most experienced players. As KP showed, a good captain can keep his charges motivated (and fit - but it does not help if you are overweight yourself). In fairness, this is also the coach's job. Between Mickey and his Mullet, they are obviously not getting this done. Mickey's blaming of the youngsters for the teams woeful form was very embarrassing, not to mention inaccurate.

A word about the Mullet: when we last toured England in 2003, he was compared to Don Bradman himself. Not for style or technique, but for sheer weight of runs. Since that tour, I doubt anybody mentioned the two in the same sentence again. Perhaps relieving Mullet of the captaincy would allow him to bat to his full potential. One can only hope.

Recall that Mullet's inability to get along with Lance Klusener is a large part of why Klusener is now scoring runs for his county, as opposed to his country. We have always been told that Graeme Smith will learn the job of captaincy through experience. It is becoming increasingly obvious that after 5 years of on-the-job training, he has learned preciously little. The one-day team today is just as unfocused and unmotivated as back in 2004 when we got whitewashed in Sri Lanka. That series cost coach Eric Simons his job. It's time to extend the same courtesy to Mickey. And this time, the Mullet needs to be included.