SOUR GRAPES Former England captain Michael Vaughan had some unwarranted comments about the Proteas' qualification for the World Test Championship final. Picture: Ian MacNicol/AFP
Image: Ian MacNicol/AFP
Following South Africa’s qualification for the World Test Championship (WTC) final last week, former England captain Michael Vaughan’s comments seeking to discredit the Proteas' achievement smack of ignorance and condescension.
The 50-year-old heavily criticised the WTC format, but did not acknowledge the hurdles South Africa faced in rising to the summit of the table.
He argued that because South Africa played weaker opposition and played fewer games it was easier to make it to the final.
Vaughan, however, failed to acknowledge that the big three of India, Australia and England effectively control world cricket. Scheduling is released by the ICC, which for years has been heavily influenced by the mercenary interests of the BCCI (India) as well as the ECB (England) & CA (Australia).
Vaughan makes a good point about the system being unequal and unfair, but fails to appreciate the wider nuances of the economy of global cricket. This is a direct result of the big three being protectionist and self-serving in their retention of power, amongst the three wealthiest cricket nations.
One can't isolate all the other Test nations by channeling the lion's share of the money (power) in world cricket towards your own coffers, then complain when the maths and the anomalies of an already skewered system works in the favour of one of those nations. It smacks of hypocrisy.
South Africa have played the joint fewest Tests in the current cycle, with just 11 matches to their name. Second-placed Australia have played 16, and third-placed India have played 18.
In contrast, England have played an incredible 22 Tests - which is double the number South Africa have played. England, though, are way down in sixth position.
The last time South Africa played more than a two-Test series was away in December 2022 and January 2023 against Australia. In fact, the last time SA played a three-match Test series was against Pakistan in the 2018/2019 season.
It’s surely much more difficult to get a result in a two-match series than longer ones against the same opposition. Since South Africa are not among the big three (India, Australia, England), they have to constantly adjust to new opposition and find a way to win in shorter-contests.
Nevertheless, according to The Roar, Michael Vaughan told Fox Cricket: “If you look at South Africa, they’ve got to the final by beating pretty much nobody. I don’t understand the table; I don’t understand the system we have in place.
"They have beaten Pakistan at home and beaten Sri Lanka at home. I am not against South Africa, but the system has allowed them to get to the final, and they’ve drawn 1-1 against India at home, and they haven’t played England or Australia—I just don’t like the system.”
In the current cycle, at the beginning of 2024, South Africa were forced to take a second string squad to take on hosts New Zealand in a two-Test series. The Proteas were no match for their opponents as they lost the series 2-0.
The reason, however, they were forced to leave their marquee players at home was because of the financial problems of Cricket South Africa (CSA). It meant CSA had to have their top players available for their local SA20 competition. The financial implications of not having those players available for the event would have been catastrophic for the game in South Africa.
The big three would never face a financial problem like this, and yet Vaughan wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph: “They took a second team to New Zealand, because they put more importance on T20 cricket and their own league. They decided Test match cricket wasn’t quite as important.
“At the moment every team plays a wildly different number of games and that just does not create a balanced outcome or totally fair league table.”
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
** JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Send us an email with your comments, thoughts or responses to iolletters@inl.co.za. Letters should be a maximum of 500 words, and may be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Submissions should include a contact number and physical address (not for publication).