Australia vs South Africa: Proteas' Test team has finally succumbed to the white-ball-first malaise

Put in to bat first; South Africa could only manage a paltry 152 in their first innings before being dismissed. 

Now there are two ways to look at it. One is that Brisbane has generally been a happy hunting ground for the Aussies; they didn’t call The Gabba their ‘fortress’ for nothing. 

The pace and bounce available on the pitch are the stuff of legends, and thus it is in many ways easy to understand why it is that the Proteas were caught off guard. 

But there’s also another unavoidable feeling one gets while watching this South African team – and that is one of a team whose red-ball fortunes are in decline. 

The batting showed little to no effort and application, barring Temba Bavuma and Kyle Verreynne, who scored 38 and 64, respectively. 

It shows the sorry state of affairs in the South African first innings. Only two other players – Sarel Erwee and Kagiso Rabada – got double-digit figures. And even that was only just since they both were dismissed for 10. 

Thus it is safe to say that without Bavuma’s gritty 38 – which ended with him misreading an in-swinger from Mitchell Starc – and Verreynne’s half-century, completed by an absolute corker from Nathan Lyon, South Africa could well have ended up with a total under 100. 

But where exactly is it that South Africa has gone so wrong in the most extended game format? 

Well, for one, the hint lies on their shirts – literally. South Africa’s red ball whites are conspicuously missing a sponsor, and their shirts are planned beyond the Cricket South Africa logo and the names and numbers on the back. 

Is a lack of sponsorship interest that has led South Africa to focus on white-ball cricket, or is there no sponsorship interest because the red-ball team has declined for a while? 

It’s a classic chicken or egg dilemma, and the honest answer might lie somewhere in the middle. But one thing cannot be ignored – South Africa’s Test team is in a bad state. 

Can they be compared to other declining teams, such as the West Indies? It might be too early to make such a call, but it is hard to ignore the obvious signs. 

To make things worse, the focus of CSA is firmly where the money is – franchise league cricket, which is white ball cricket. 

Remember, the CSA called off an ODI series against Australia at the beginning of 2023 to have all their players available for the first edition of SA20 – their new T20 league. 

And while the need for finances is understandable, there’s zero reason to entirely stop focussing on the most extended format of the game. 

Otherwise, what is the point of a World Test Championship – or any Test cricket – if only five nations at most will take it seriously?