The curse on SA Cricket

[Morgoth]

From the supersport Forum



Right. I know what you all are thinking. We just lost another semi, and it`s all due to the C word. Well, you`d be right on that count. But not the C word that everyone is thinking.........

You see, back in the days of the King Commission, a certain mr. Cronje made his fellow South Africans cringe with embarrasment, and the rest of the world chuckle with glee, at this particular beauty: "I was temporarily blinded by Satan....." etc.
Well, I feel it my duty, my honour and my priveledge to divulge that, in fact, Hansie was telling the truth. Here is what happened, and why we can now all blame the C factor.

Hansie:" Good day mate."
Satan:" Good day Hansie. Why did you want to meet?"
H: "Well, I really like this leather jacket Sanjay gave me. But I cannot find a matching one for Bertha anywhere, and Sanjay`s gone missing. Can you please put us back in contact with each other?"
S: "Sure thing mate, but it`s gonna cost you."
H: "What do you want? My soul?"
S: "Now, now Hansie. Think I`m that cheap?"
H: "Well what the hell then?"
S: "Now Hansie, play nice..."
H: "Sorry mate, no offence. But seriously, how much?"
S: "Well, seeing as you are the Proteas captain, how about the soul of the team?"
H: "Hell, uhm sorry- what would that entail?"
S: "Well, the boys will never progress past a semi in any ICC event."
H: "As in, never ever?"
S: "Yup, got it."
H: "Well, it`s such a nice jacket. It`s a deal mate."

And so, therein lies the conundrum of our failure to advance past the semis. And yes, it`s the dreaded C word. Not choking, but the Curse of Cronje!

 

[DJ...]

Not sure why this bland and rather uninteresting post deserves its own thread. A failed attempt at a joke? I've read funnier obituaries...

 

[N1sh]

Not sure why this bland and rather uninteresting post deserves its own thread. A failed attempt at a joke? I've read funnier obituaries...

+1

 

[The_Pumpkin_King]

*cough*

 

[OzzieCapie]

The actual curse of SA Cricket is " do not criticise Cronje".

For some reason diehard SA cricket fans still revere Cronje as if he was God, when in fact he was a blatant lying, cheat...bordering on criminality... who played conservative cricket, followed the ball with field placements and played for a draw first then a win.
Do not ask me for stats on it...one can find it if you want to.
The only thing he did well was to be the best player of Shane Warne...and granted, that takes some doing.

But the pattern that exists, is that whenever SA fall into that trap of conservatism engrained into it by the Wessels/Cronje era, they lose...they don't choke...they just don't adapt to the team that they are playing.
The pakistan game is the latest example..."we are winning and we will win again...we don't need to do specific analysis on the team we are playing...we don't need to change our team, our order etc"

SA won in Aus, because they did the opposite of that.

For goodness sake...stop treating the guy like a saint.

ps...flame away please.

 

[kaaskop]

I think you can't place any bets on a 20/20 anyway. You can be the best team, as we are imo, but the game is just to short and if a team has a bad start or a bowler is abit off the other team can really hurt you and if they play just average they should win.

The true reflection of a cricket game is a 5dayer. You can play bad and make a recovery.

Why judge a team on a single tournament anyway. Wouldn't you say New Zealand dominated rugby in the last 20 years and they have only won the worldcup once in 1987.

On Hansie, well his just like any other person in the world. Nobody is perfect, even you. We just chose to crucify him for it because he's in the public eye.

 

[OzzieCapie]

Nobody is perfect, even you.

How do you know that

btw, the former Aussie Rugby captain John Eales' nickname was "Nobody"...
... because "nobody is perfect".

I wasn't referring to betting in 20/20 or one tournament...referring to a general type of play that used to prevail under your 'saint'.

 

[chiskop]

On Hansie, well his just like any other person in the world. Nobody is perfect, even you. We just chose to crucify him for it because he's in the public eye.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not perfect - but that's a long way away from being a psychopathic lying cheat who took advantage of impressionable players and sold his country for a patchwork leather jacket.

 

[BLIXEMPIE]

You want to know why the Proteas lost to Pakistan? Because of that annoying captain of theirs standing annoyingly close to the batsmen at legside, screaming demonic sounds at top volume at the very moment the batsmen needed to be at their full. It's true. I could see AB and Ashwell cringe everytime the Pakistani would make a sound. Even over the TV it made me naucious.

 

[rbarryza]

kaaskop, I agree. In 20/20 one player can win a team a game. In 50 overs 3 or 4 good performances out of 11 can win a match. In test cricket the whole team has to perform, for the whole match, to win. That's why test cricket will always be the ultimate measurement. The English spectators are already getting bored with 20/20, after just 5 years. There's no way the IPL will last 10 years, it will just get too boring. Purists worry too much about 20/20; it will eat itself and die. It's really not a threat to test cricket. Mayeb to 50 overs, but definitely not to tests.

 

[JK8]

You want to know why the Proteas lost to Pakistan? Because of that annoying captain of theirs standing annoyingly close to the batsmen at legside, screaming demonic sounds at top volume at the very moment the batsmen needed to be at their full. It's true. I could see AB and Ashwell cringe everytime the Pakistani would make a sound. Even over the TV it made me naucious.

Ashwell Prince Ashwell? You saw him "cringe?"

You talking about Akmal? If anything was demonic it was his batting when he hit Parnell all over the ground...

 

[BLIXEMPIE]

Daai Pakistani klink soos 'n demoniese kalkoen! Eks verbaas AB heti 'n hartaanval gekry nie. Als is eers doodstil, dan gil hy sy klanke.

 

[Picard]

... And so, therein lies the conundrum of our failure to advance past the semis. And yes, it`s the dreaded C word. Not choking, but the Curse of Cronje!

 

[chiskop]

All for a leather jacket
We were so indecisive
We hadn't really thought it through
Cuz we were so in love then
And things like that don't happen
And things like that don't slip away
[source]

 

[risingtide]

kaaskop, I agree. In 20/20 one player can win a team a game.

If bowlers are restricted to 4 overs maybe batsmen should be restricted to a maximum number of balls too?