It was a largely disappointing cricket season that ended at the weekend with the last round of Sunfoil Series matches. There’s a review now in the offing, but before that, Stuart Hess looks back at the season, finds the best moments for SA (yes there were some) and the worst, of which there were plenty.
Best performance
in a Test
Kagiso Rabada
His 13/144 in the final Test against England at Centurion and capped off what had been a depressing period for the Test team. Having won just one of the last 10 Tests, South Africa plummeted from their position as the No 1 team in the world, but in Rabada there is hope for the future. He showed excellent match awareness, determination and skill to help win that Test for the Proteas.
Special mention Temba Bavuma: Had a nation shedding tears of joy with that glorious hundred at Newlands.
Best performance
in Sunfoil Series
Heino Kuhn
A testimony to heart, hard work and showed a genuine love for the game as he helped propel the Titans to the title. Kuhn has only flirted with international cricket - he’s got five T20 caps - and was close to calling time on his cricket career last season. But he stuck it out, sacrificed himself for his teammates but when called upon, was an outstanding performer. Only the sixth batsmen to score 1 000 runs in domestic A section cricket in this country.
Special mention Hardus Viljoen: Forty seven wickets from the big man, including back-to-back ten-fors which earned him a well-deserved Test call up against England.
Best ODI performance
Winning in India
A wonderful all-round display that included Rabada’s sublime final over in Kanpur in the opening match of the series was then capped off by a magnificent batting display in the deciding match in Mumbai, where AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Quintin de Kock scored centuries as SA compiled 438.
Best limited overs performance
domestically
Lions triumph despite adversity
Lions triumph despite adversity: With lots to distract them, including a couple of senior players getting caught up in the domestic match-fixing scandal, the winning of the Momentum One-Day Cup was an outstanding achievement.
Best performance
in a T20 International
Albie Morkel
A late replacement for David Wiese, Morkel picked up 3/12 as South Africa claimed a T20 series victory over India last October. Morkel was named Man of the Match and continued his good form domestically for the Titans. Given his form, he’d have been a major asset in the World T20 tournament.
Best performance in domestic T20
The Titans
They went on a nine match unbeaten run, culminating in victory in the final against a Dolphins team containing Kevin Pietersen and Dwayne Bravo. However the star that Saturday night at a raucous SuperSport Park was Mangaliso Mosehle who scored 87 off 39 balls.
Shock of the season
Match-fixing
Cricket South Africa is still trying to get to the bottom of this unpleasant affair which has stained the most popular domestic competition. Gulam Bodi has admitted to attempting to facilitate the fixing of matches for syndicates outside of this country and the level of involvement by a number of local players is yet to be determined.
Biggest international disappointment
AB de Villiers
Produced some wonderful performances in the limited overs formats, but in the sole ICC competition of the season, he made little impact. How much of that was down to poor planning? His Test form has not been up to the standard of a player of his calibre. He averaged just 30 against England, and failed to score a run in his last three innings.
Biggest domestic disappointment
Gulam Bodi
Now banned from all cricket for 20 years and the scale of his corrupt dealings may have far reaching consequences for South African cricket.
Outstanding individual at international level
Kagiso Rabada
Superb across all formats and a genuine star for the future.
Outstanding individual at domestic level
Dwaine Pretorius
Not a household name, but he was central to the Lions’ solid season. Named the MVP by the players union - the SA Cricketers Association. - The Star