Andrew: Being No. 1 means you are able to raise to the occasion, and win the BIG games, the way our favourite gifsppeltjies used to do. If you're rated No. 1, but fail at the BIG games, well that's the textbook definition of a CHOKER.

As far as credit goes: The Proteas team is PACKED with talent, including Graeme Smith's batting skills. That's what got them to the top of the rankings. To perform consistently requires more than talent, it requires leadership. And that's lacking all the way from CSA management to coach and captain...

Surely it's time for Mike Arthur to walk. He has had far enough chance to prove himself, and has failed us. The team has talent, but he has not been able to turn that talent into winning. Him and Joel Santana do not compare favourably with Peter de Villiers, who was convincingly able to infuse talent with a winning culture. Imagine Mike Arthur was black?

@gutted fan, according to the ICC rules a runner can come on for an injury only, cramp is not classified as an injury by the ICC so Smith had no right to request a runner, by doing so he and the team management were knowingly trying to cheat ( nothing unusual in that, ASA most probably adviced on the matter.) as well as fake an injury as he was getting tired, the decision to bring on a runner is not taken by the opposing captain but by the umpires, so the press and all the know-all SA fans who are accusing Strauss as been unsporting or cheating, ( as SAn always do when they lose.) you owe Strauss an apolgy, which I'm sure he wont get from the likes of "gutted fanny".
If Smith was cramping then it shows a lack of conditioning/fitness, what professional sportsman selects a team that is not fit, butterbean kallis, sore ribs Gibb, cramping Graham, I think we should look at the managment and selection committee before making stupid, childish and ignorant accussation, this is beginning to sound more and more like the ASA.

To Hugest Proteas Fan, Andrew Strauss is South African isn't he.

Bokfan thanks for the laugh! what would Hansie have done differently? Well all depends on the bookies i guess. I don't remember Hansie winning us any trophies. Pointless debate anyway..
The Proteas have consistently been at the number one or two spot in the world lets give them some credit Bok "fickle" Fan

Bokfan - stick to netball. You obviously don't know too much about cricket.

Graeme Smith is a useless captain.

There is no shame in that. Great players who also proved useless at captaincy are everywhere, including Fred Flintoff, Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. Our own Shaun Pollock deserves mention. I'd even add Ricky Ponting to that list, as the captaincy part of his game has yet to impress me, brilliant batting or not.

What would Hansie Cronjé have done differently? Let's count the ways:
1. Cronjé's bowlers would NEVER have conceded 300+ runs. This is a GREAT attack. With proper motivation, teams would struggle to post 200+ against this attack.
2. Cronjé would know that his team's strength is setting a target, NOT chasing it - in spite of the great 438-game.
3. Cronjé's team would be motivated throughout the tournament, not just after their first bad loss. Notice that after one win, the went right back to being confident underperformers. I'll spot Graeme Smith this: part of the motivation problem is the Disney character's job. Unfortunately, CSA has a simple motto: In Mickey we trust...

OK, so Cronjé might be tempted to sell his team's success to the highest bidder. There is a simple solution: make Mark Boucher captain. It would also awake him from his slumber.

Related to #3 (motivation): Did anybody notice that at ICC ODI tournaments the Proteas seem to follow a predictable pattern: win one lose one, win one... The only recent exception being when they beat Scotland at the 2007 WC. They even lost to Bangladesh to maintain the pattern!

If that doesn't point to an obvious problem with motivation, I don't know what does.

Well done England...you deserved to win. SA were poor.

Instead of writing cryptic daily columns J.P. should be concentrating on his indisputable batting skills. His performances in the Championship O.D.I. Trophy tournament from which the Proteas have been eliminated suggest he is being distracted by his journalistic abilities,

Theodore Pearlman
S.A. ex- patriot
California

Why do some people think that Hansie is a better captain? Is it because he sold his team out just occasionaly for a few dollars?