The Proteas Connection
The relationship dynamics in the Proteas set-up.
Bjorn Fortuin hugged David Miller from behind. The dugout erupted in cheers, high-fives and hugs. In the middle of the park, Aiden Markram and Reeza Hendricks fist-bumped and hugged. Marco Jansen let out an exclamation of joy as he entered the dressing room, where the Proteas streamed in, propelled by happiness. Protected by the four walls and a roof overhead, the South African contingent expressed raw emotions that can only be described by the modern phrase; ‘you had to be there to understand.’
The T20 circuit, in its current form, has turned cricketers into guns for hire. They spend nine to 10 months of the year hoping from one plane to another to join different team environments. In most instances, they don't play with a teammate from a previous team. They are teammates in one franchise and opposition in three more leagues.
Their duty is to deliver runs and wickets. Each outing is an audition for an invitation to return next season. Every good performance is a step further in securing their future because it helps them get the attention of other franchises in other leagues.
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As Tom Dawson-Squibb, the Proteas’ performance coach, says, cricket is an individual sport wrapped in team clothing, or vice versa, depending on how you look at things. That nomadic existence and reward for individual performance puts the individuality part of cricket into sharp focus and makes their lives similar to that of tennis players. Also, while they take direction from coaches at those franchises, like tennis players, they have personal coaches they reach out to regularly, sometimes daily when they are playing.
Immediately after the T20 World Cup, players scattered across the globe to fulfil T20 commitments and only a handful of Proteas players made their way back to South Africa. A lot of the modern T20 player's game and life is spent facing inward.
However, now and then, South Africa’s stars interrupt their globetrotting to wear caps with the numbers: 81, 54, 61, 45, 75, 103, 95, 96, 102, 98, 84, 94, 85, 62, 72, 67, and 101*.
The numbers indicate their place in the line of succession of T20 players who vow to keep the Protea flame burning bright. However, that's not all they are. They are more than that; they are a single unit. You might not see that if you only watched them in the dining room. The same groups gravitate towards each other and eat their meals together.
Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen, who shared a flat while fighting to establish themselves at the Titans and spent their time away from the game in each other’s company, might spend the entire tour eating together. So might Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi, who share a bond built when they were schoolboys competing against each other.
The married players often have their wives and kids along during a series or a tour. At the World Cup, about 60% of the players had their families in tow. Naturally, most wives gravitate towards each other. Their husbands will be drawn into those circles at meal times or during downtime when there are places to be explored and sights to be seen. Singletons find their way towards each other. Bonds are created and groups are formed.
“Those groups only become a problem when the one dinner table or section talks about the other dinner table nastily. That doesn’t happen with this group,” says Dawson-Squibb.
Kagiso Rabada and Aiden Markram's relationship encapsulates the Proteas' dynamic best. They have divergent interests. They as similar as Tabraiz Shamsi and Tristan Stubbs. One enjoys surfing and golf, the other loves cool cars and finds time for video games. Rabada enjoys and experiments with music. Aiden Markram enjoys golf and likes to spend time in the bush.
However, anyone who saw them embrace after South Africa’s semifinal victory noticed that they had a special bond. It wasn’t a one-second dap and hug. It lingered. During training sessions, the duo spends time sharing information and insights. If you hang around the training ground for long enough, you would have to be blind not to notice the little bits of affirmation they constantly give each other outwardly.
“Seeing that was very powerful, very, very powerful. And that's when you realize that there's a legacy relationship between these two guys. They have deep trust and deep respect for each other,” says Dawson-Squibb.
That trust and respect spills onto the pitch. They have performance connections. They can get the best out of each other in the field. If Quinton de Kock is batting with Anrich Nortje and went over to the pacer during an Axar Patel over and said, ‘It's gripping and I think my option is a reverse sweep.’ If Nortje’s response is, ‘That's perfect. I've seen you at your best, the reverse sweeps on.’ De Kock will play the reverse sweep 10 out of 10 times because he trusts Nortje as a batting partner regardless of the other’s batting ability or lack of it.
It is those connections that have carried them along. At the 2024 World Cup, they should have lost several matches but pulled them from the brink. Over the past year have shown resolve in pressure situations. To capture another Dawson-Squibb saying, the antidote to pressure is connection.
The roots of those connections are in the candle-lighting ceremony each new team member performs. They were nurtured on the fertile ground of victories. They were hardened and developed resilience during the SJN storm, Quinton de Kock’s kneeling episode, the T20 and ODI World Cup losses to the Netherlands and their semifinal exit at the ODI World Cup. They only had each other to lean on during those times.
As highlighted above, cricket is an individual sport wrapped in team clothing. Like every other cricketer, each Proteas player has personal goals: runs and wicket milestones. In addition to that, Markram and his teammates have an extra personal goal; making their teammates proud. They play for each other, literally.
*81 - Aiden Markram, 54 - Quinton de Kock, 61 - Reeza Hendricks, 45 - David Miller, 75 - Heinrich Klaasen, 103 - Ryan Rickelton, 95 - Tristan Stubbs, 96 - Marco Jansen, 102 - Ottniel Baartman, 98 - Gerald Coetzee, 84 - Bjorn Fortuin, 94 - Keshav Maharaj, 85 - Anrich Nortje, 62 - Kagiso Rabada, 72 - Tabraiz Shamsi, 67 - Lungi Ngidi, 101 - Nandre Burger.
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Thanks for reading. Until next time… - CS
nicely written.