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Two years ago, while managing a sports writing department for one of my ex-employers, I had the kind of disagreement with a colleague that was as frivolous as it was important (to me anyway).
In a bid to improve quality control, I’d introduced a fines system which saw everyone pay R20 if their copy came in with a single mistake in it. Said colleague decided it wasn’t for him and refused to pay his penance when he’d finally left a comma out of place (that’s an exaggeration, by the way).
Strictly speaking I couldn’t force the issue as there was nothing in the company’s HR rules that made the fine legal. But it was a departmental agreement and not only had everyone else bought into it, they were also doing the right thing by paying.
My explanation to my colleague was that to play for any team there are rules of engagement, and playing along with the fine was practically the single greatest declaration he could make that he wanted to be in our team.
The veracity of that claim is debatable, but I believe a unity of purpose like that binds teams together, which is essentially what happened with the Proteas this new cricket season.
Officially, a million things are responsible for why the Proteas went from easy beats with heavyweight players like AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn in the team to nigh impossible to defeat without those marquee players.
The reasons one could go for are many: coach Russell Domingo finally imposing himself on the team; a freshly minted world class captain in Faf du Plessis; a willingness by the selectors to make the hard decisions with senior players like Steyn and Morne Morkel; Kyle Abbott finally but luckily being given his place at the main table; the introduction of seemingly ready-made greats like Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada; having a security boss who doesn’t take nonsense from Aussie journos, the list is endless.
But there is arguably one reason the Proteas have made such startling progress from the bunch of misfits that masqueraded as an international cricket team just six months ago – redefining what it is they are playing for.
Too often in the past playing for the Proteas appeared to be just another game, where senior players expected to turn up and play regardless of whether they were on form or not. Now, much like the All Blacks in New Zealand, playing for the Proteas has been bumped back up to being the main event of a season.
This is a far cry from when players paid lip service to the significance of playing for their country but left one feeling the IPL or whatever other money-spinning T20 competition was more important simply because it paid more.
The simple idea behind this approach is that to represent anything or anyone sacrifices have to be made, something all the great teams have in common. Teams that play for something greater than just wins are invariably sides that leave legacies.
A great example is the All Blacks, who up until their newest deal with the New Zealand Rugby Union were not among the best paid players in the world but stayed in their country and didn’t chase money in Europe and Japan.
The reason for that was to be part of something greater than them, like playing for the All Blacks and only then moving on after upping their value with the greatest rugby team of our times.
In a smaller way, the Proteas are trying to do the same thing, where the jersey is once again more important than any individual. There appears to be a culture to commit to being better each day at what they do.
The early signs are Abbott showing the virtues of patience, Temba Bavuma proving that working your socks off pays off, JP Duminy’s performances suggesting that talent thrives when allied to substance, with Stephen Cook’s recent runs a nod to persistence.
Throughout the squad, there are signs that most of the players are on a path to improving themselves in a system in which the main focus is on the process to being better, as opposed to results.
To a South African public which makes its evaluation of its teams based on winning and losing – and none of the grey area in between the two – that probably sounds like typical sports psychology clap trap.
But it may well be the mental shift the Proteas need to finally bag that elusive major ICC trophy.
