It’s burn or fly for South African cricket
Sports minister Nathi Mthethwa gave cricket the hard reset it needed, but that drastic step will mean nothing if the corrective action isn’t carefully considered, writes RYAN VREDE.
Sports minister Nathi Mthethwa gave cricket the hard reset it needed, but that drastic step will mean nothing if the corrective action isn’t carefully considered, writes RYAN VREDE.
AB de Villiers will turn the Proteas from T20 World Cup place fillers to title contenders. His inclusion in the squad is critical, despite what unsophisticated rationale rooted in ‘patriotism’ will tell you, writes RYAN VREDE.
Let the purge of the power drunk at Cricket South Africa begin. The game deserves better, even at the expense of an international ban, writes RYAN VREDE.
Picking a generational talent like Kyle Verreynne whenever he is available is a no-brainer, even if it means he bats out of position. Mark Boucher is failing in the most obvious selection of them all and it’s sickening that he defends it, writes RYAN VREDE.
After a barren period for the Proteas spinners in T20Is, they have taken more than half the team’s wickets in matches in 2021. This is a piece of the World Cup puzzle that could be critical to their performance at the tournament, writes RYAN VREDE.
Great coaches are able to find solutions to their team’s most difficult challenges in relatively short periods of time. Mark Boucher’s capacity to do so is now in question, writes RYAN VREDE.
RYAN VREDE rates the Proteas players on the weight of their performances in the series defeat by Pakistan.
The Proteas have the makings of a very good one-day side, and there’s a path for them to be among the format’s elite if they address some deficiencies, writes RYAN VREDE.
Aiden Markram’s declaration that the Proteas want to play a certain ‘brand’ of cricket is concerning because the team has a history of wanting to be something it cannot, writes RYAN VREDE.
The short-term pain of an international ban may be worth it, if it means fixing the deeply dysfunctional leadership in Cricket South Africa, writes RYAN VREDE.
As Cricket South Africa lurches from one crisis to the next, there are no winners. There is only the potential for cricket to be irreparably harmed, writes RYAN VREDE.
Virat Kohli highlighted one of cricket’s greatest threats when he called for players to be consulted on scheduling during the pandemic. Bubble life has the potential to break cricketers and end careers, writes RYAN VREDE.
The four-day season is almost done, and one of South African cricket’s great deficiencies persists: there are just no black African batsmen pressing for Test honours, laments RYAN VREDE.
Match-fixing had disappeared from cricket’s consciousness until a UAE duo were pinned for it this week. It’s a reminder that this scourge continues to be one of the game’s greatest threats.
In the wake of the two-day Test pitch in Ahmedabad being deemed ‘average’ by the International Cricket Council, one has to examine why England and their friends in the media can’t let go of a game and a series in which they simply failed to match India.