The Proteas offers lessons

beyond the boundaries of cricket

South Africa could become the top test cricket-playing nation in the world this week if England wins the fifth Ashes test against Australia. The Proteas are already numero uno in One Day Internationals.

There are lessons beyond the boundaries of cricket about the development of human capital, planning and attitude to be learned from the remarkable road Graeme Smith and his men has travelled.

At the Oval in this week's deciding Ashes test, a disjointed and demoralized England would attempt what no international cricket team could achieve since 1995, and that is to push the all-conquering Australian team from the pedestal as the top test-playing nation on the globe.

If England does win the fifth test, not they but  South Africa would replace the Australians as the top-cricket playing nation. The Proteas are already numero uno in One Day Internationals.

In 2004 they hovered at number six in the world with Eric Simons as their coach and SA cricket generally in a state of turmoil and disarray.

Perhaps the deciding moment for SA cricket arrived in Pakistan in June 2007 when Graeme Smith, after seventeen mediocre tests as an opening batsman and an uncertain topsy-turvy period as a captain, decided to change his style of captaincy and reinvent his faltering batting career.

He consulted a business coach, Paddy Upton, and asked him to re-assess his captaincy style and also to assist him with the way he managed his own life.

Smith opted for a batting diary and a team diary to help him to refocus his life.

Mickey Arthur, the national coach, and Smith also decided to rethink their own cricket philosophy of "brave cricket".

The birth of "Brave Cricket 11" occurred in Pakistan in September 2007. Captain and coach decided that if South Africa wanted to reach the top of world cricket, they needed batting excellence and four fast bowlers with the ability to capture twenty wickets in a test match, and capture it cheaply.

Call it re-inventing the wheel or back to basics, if you want, for Clive Lloyd, captain of the West Indian Islands, after a good old street mugging at the hands of Messrs Lillee and Thomson in the mid-seventies, decided on a similar tactic to wrest control of world cricket from the Aussies.

He used his battery of fast men, Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner, to bowl 'around the clock'.  With hardly anything more than 26 overs possible in an entire session, that gave every fast bowler less than seven overs each per session, which was quite manageable for these big sprawling figures.

Duncan Fletcher, former coach of England, revealed in his book "Ashes Regained" that he used the same tactic in 2005 when England finally beat Australia in a remarkable series. With Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Andrew Flintoff all bowling at 145 km/h and playing 'chin music', England kept the Australian top-order on the back foot - literally so, and won the Ashes back.

But Arthur was also aware of the challenges that such a tactic would bring, like dropping a legendary warhorse in Shaun Pollock. Pollock had lost the edge as a fast bowler. He was still a model of consistency, but the SA team needed an injection of pace.

With Dale Steyn, Mornê Morkel, André Nel and Makhaya Ntini there, he could intimidate opposition teams. But this tactical approach would still be challenging. It would leave the lower order exposed as nine, ten and Jack could hardly hold a bat.

Arthur challenged the top-order to take collective responsibility to score 300 runs as a unit every time they walked to the crease.

The results were staggering, as four top-order batsmen, Smith (1656 runs), AB de Villiers, Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla, all scored 1000 test runs or more during the 2008/2009-cricket year, while Ashwell Prince managed 900 runs at an average of 64.28.

The other change that guaranteed South Africa success was the persona of Smith. Smith is an attacking player and captain. Altering their style of playing somewhat, assisted him in attempting to do what he always wanted to do, and that is to pressurize opposition teams.

Smith, a student of history, would have learned from one of his predecessors as an opening batsman, Eddie Barlow.

Louis Duffus, arguably South Africa's greatest ever cricket writer, once said: "I am inclined to contend that Eddie Barlow had more influence on South African cricket than any other single player I know.

"Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he had more influence upon the country's spirit, tempo of batting and approach to the game. He did more than anyone else to break down the timid defensive tactics which for many years kept South Africa a second-rate cricket country - and that, to me, is a tremendous achievement."

If Barlow transformed the timid hearts of the SA team to Bravehearts between 1960 and 1970, Smith did the same for the Proteas in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

And he had willing and able-bodied mental support in De Villiers, Amla, JP Duminy and Prince.

All of them were not mental prisoners of their predecessors who sometimes suffered from a defensive mentality, especially when visiting Australia. They tended to go into their shells when confronted with the media Down Under.

When the team of Smith arrived in Australia, Mike Coward of the Australian sensed after the first press conference that this team could beat the Baggy Greens. Why? Because the laager mentality was gone, the highly charged, intense and almost desperateness in the team leadership had been replaced by a more confident, yet relaxed spirit.

Peter Roebuck, a former captain of Somerset, praised Smith in the Sydney Morning Herald after the Proteas achieved their first-ever test series win on Australian soil. He said under Smith's leadership the team lost their innate fear of losing. They were hamstrung before by an eagerness that easily spilled over in desperateness.

"Four years ago, he arrived in Australia as an angry man who anticipated confrontation with the Aussies and was so determined to slaughter the arrogant Australians. Not since Don Quixote was as much anger and aggressiveness spilled with so little effect.

"He returned as a friendly man happy to treat each ball on its merits and was supported by a street-wise coach and support staff. He was able to transform a diverse group of players into a formidable fighting unit."

Although different to Barlow in terms of personal style, they were united by two characteristics - attacking style and enormous self-belief.

South Africa consequently achieved 12 wins in 19 tests since January 2008, won 70% of their One Day Internationals and 75% of their Twenty/20-internationals.

Gerald Majola, chief executive officer of Cricket South Africa, similarly, should be lauded for his role in South Africa's dominance. Majola and the executive board of CSA made crucial decisions that helped the Rainbow Nation to turn the corner as a cricketing nation.

He strengthened the core group of players destined to play for South Africa, as well as broadening the reservoir of talented individuals from which the national selectors could elect the test and ODI team. In 2004, South Africa opted for a system of six franchises, thereby taking the route of a strength-versus-strength domestic competition.

It was Majola and the board who also decided to select Ray Jennings, former national coach, as the mentor to the national academy, as well as putting the widely respected former SA assistant-coach, Corrie van Zyl, in the position as mentor to the SA A-team and in charge of the high performance centre.

Furthermore, the decision by SA supremo Majola to opt for a high performance as well as an emerging SA team to undertake an annual tour for an emerging international tournament in Australia has helped South Africa's cause.

The SA board has also invested hundreds of thousands of rand in annually touring the sub-continent, or inviting an international A-team of another country, like Australia or Sri Lanka, to South Africa to play in three so-called 'tests' and five One Day Internationals against South Africa's A-team.

These measures have strengthened South Africa's ability to beat top-nations even when two or three of the top-players are not available. South Africa's reserve-strength has improved remarkably and is arguably the best it has been since possibly the late 1980s.

Can this team produce a dynasty and become an all-conquering nation like Australia, who had an aura of invincibility from 1995 until they lost their edge in 2008?

Can South Africa produce a near invincible team like the West Indies did from 1976 to 1995 when they dominated all comers?

The SA system is currently producing fast bowlers of quality, and they have at least five top-class bowlers who can challenge for the national team, as well as a core of at least seven top-order batsman plus a reserve wicketkeeper like Heino Kuhn who is fast reaching maturity and who might take over from the brilliant Mark Boucher within two seasons if Boucher decides to retire.

At least eight members of this SA team could still represent the national team for at least another five years, which is an extremely healthy state of affairs. And if an SA A-team were elected right now, they would boast eight players who have represented the national team before, and only one of them is a thirty-something.

The one remaining question about South Africa's ability to dominate world cricket is their almost innate inability to win major One-Day International tournaments.

Sandy Gordon, a former sport psychologist of the Australian, Sri Lankan and Indian teams, disagrees. He says in terms of the gap between talent and achievement, South Africa and Australia have show-cased the best mental capabilities of all the teams in the world. The gap between talent and performance are wider among sub-continent teams.

Henning Gericke, a former psychologist of the Springbok-team, and a member of the support staff who received a winners medal at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, feels that South Africa's tendency to peak too early and their mental approach of 'play safe not to lose' instead of 'playing fearless to win' might have cost them dearly in the Pro 20 World Cup.

They have the right support staff in the current team and the team dynamics as well as the player potential is such that they could correct this mistake. A tournament win at the Champions Trophy is within their grasp.

Long live the spirit of Eddie Barlow...and of Graeme Smith!