Valaskjalf
Club Captain
Yeah I have a huge problem with this situation with all these countries, especially England, profiting from our talent. Imagine England didnt have Pietersen or Strauss, they would be a mere shadow of the team they are now and had Trott not scored a century on his debut in the Ashes who knows?
About the reasons for this "lack of recognition" Im not sure. Some say its the quota system, the intrigue of earning big pounds in the UK...who knows. All I know is that Pietersen's whole reason for going to the UK had nothing to do with Cricket SA's inability to spot his talent - he left the country playing for Natal B so I doubt he has a foot to stand on. Noone would have selected him when he left so yea...
I dont think the quota system plays such a big role anymore...Im not sure but the players who do get into the team based on their skin colour are generally also the best guys for the job....look at Duminy, Amla, Parnell (yes he is not white), Tsotsobe as the ones who came into the squad relatively recently: They're all quality players and deserve their places in the side.
I think money talks though....SA domestic players are paid meagerly in comparison to county players for example and if you dont make the cut for the national side then you cant really make a living playing domestically here in SA. Perhaps its because SA has a very competitive domestic arrangement with a lot of talent, we probably have more talent than England in their domestic cricket.
I was a bit peeved when Trott qualified though, he was always a very good player who I thought would make it into the side - he just left a little early I think. I remember I used to play against him in high-school, our schools were in the same league and competitions and he was seriously good back then already and always looked promising. Very sad that he had to leave, eventhough I still think he would struggle to get into our test side. Our middle order is pretty strong and he would probably have to compete against Ashwell Prince who is a star player. Perhaps the problem lies with England, not South Africa....due to the media-hype and the sort of bi-polar nature of the cricketing critics in the UK (the one day you're awarded an MBE for no apparent reason and a week later youre seen as the worst cricketer in the world) - players get chopped and changed so much in the England side that anyone is likely to get a chance.
I think the SA team is more settled and we have a different philosophy to cricket than England. Over here we put a lot of stress on team unity and sticking with players and trying to create a tight bunch of players, whereas whenever a player fails with the bat in England the verdict is out and "off with his head! lets look at bringing in someone completely new". That is unlikely to happen in the SA team and when players go through a slump we dont call for their heads...so even if a player is doing exceptionally well in our domestic league, we rarely want to unsettle a team and bring in a new face unless its absolutely necessary.
About the reasons for this "lack of recognition" Im not sure. Some say its the quota system, the intrigue of earning big pounds in the UK...who knows. All I know is that Pietersen's whole reason for going to the UK had nothing to do with Cricket SA's inability to spot his talent - he left the country playing for Natal B so I doubt he has a foot to stand on. Noone would have selected him when he left so yea...
I dont think the quota system plays such a big role anymore...Im not sure but the players who do get into the team based on their skin colour are generally also the best guys for the job....look at Duminy, Amla, Parnell (yes he is not white), Tsotsobe as the ones who came into the squad relatively recently: They're all quality players and deserve their places in the side.
I think money talks though....SA domestic players are paid meagerly in comparison to county players for example and if you dont make the cut for the national side then you cant really make a living playing domestically here in SA. Perhaps its because SA has a very competitive domestic arrangement with a lot of talent, we probably have more talent than England in their domestic cricket.
I was a bit peeved when Trott qualified though, he was always a very good player who I thought would make it into the side - he just left a little early I think. I remember I used to play against him in high-school, our schools were in the same league and competitions and he was seriously good back then already and always looked promising. Very sad that he had to leave, eventhough I still think he would struggle to get into our test side. Our middle order is pretty strong and he would probably have to compete against Ashwell Prince who is a star player. Perhaps the problem lies with England, not South Africa....due to the media-hype and the sort of bi-polar nature of the cricketing critics in the UK (the one day you're awarded an MBE for no apparent reason and a week later youre seen as the worst cricketer in the world) - players get chopped and changed so much in the England side that anyone is likely to get a chance.
I think the SA team is more settled and we have a different philosophy to cricket than England. Over here we put a lot of stress on team unity and sticking with players and trying to create a tight bunch of players, whereas whenever a player fails with the bat in England the verdict is out and "off with his head! lets look at bringing in someone completely new". That is unlikely to happen in the SA team and when players go through a slump we dont call for their heads...so even if a player is doing exceptionally well in our domestic league, we rarely want to unsettle a team and bring in a new face unless its absolutely necessary.
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