Preview: SA fight criticism and inexperience as they face Australia in WTC final

LONDON: The 2023-2025 International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship cycle enters its final act today, June 11, as South Africa face Australia at Lord’s in the final. However, the two table toppers have had quite different routes to the final, a fact that cricket fans won’t let South Africa forget.

Undeserved?

Australia played six series and 19 matches during their WTC campaign. The Aussies managed to dominate with white washes in half of the series, including their three-match series against Pakistan, their two-match series against New Zealand, and their two-match series against Sri Lanka. They also managed to take down India 3-1 in their five-match series, and avoided defeat against the West Indies and England, taking home a draw in both.

South Africa, who topped the table by earning 69.44 per cent of the total amount of points up for grabs, had a less strenuous path to the final. In contrast to Australia, who are tied with India for second most matches played, South Africa are tied with Bangladesh for the least number of matches played in the cycle at 12. Those dozen matches were spread evenly between six series. Out of those six, South Africa only lost one against New Zealand. They drew their first series of the cycle against India, and triumphed in four, beating the likes of Bangladesh, West Indies, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. However, the Proteas have been criticised for the level of competition they have faced.

The four teams they beat are the bottom four in the table, none of them having won more than five matches. South Africa also played far fewer matches than their competition. But, both of these points would be better suited as critiques of the tournament format itself rather than the South African team.

Teams are not scheduled to play an equal number of matches during the cycle. Thus, table positions are based on the percentage of points won out of the total number of points available. South Africa played 12 games, meaning 144 points were up for grabs. They won eight matches and drew one, giving the Proteas a total of 100 points, which in turn gave them a point percentage of 69.44.

While South Africa faced less competition, in both the amount of matches they played and the quality of their opposition, the fault falls on the ICC, as the format of the WTC makes it inevitable that some teams will have an easier schedule than others.

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Seasoned vs Spirited (Playing XIs)

South Africa aren’t just the underdogs because of the relatively easier road they traveled, but also because their team is less experienced in general.

“The inexperience is very apparent in terms of the number of tests played and their place in the ICC rankings,” South Africa coach Shukri Conrad said earlier in the week.

The three most inexperienced players in the Proteas line-up are David Bedingham, Tristan Stubbs, and Ryan Rickelton. Bedingham has played the most matches in the longest format out of the three with 12. Combined, they have only played 31 matches.

However, even with their inexperience, they have already shown their mettle. In just 10 matches, Rickelton has scored two centuries, including a monstrous 259 run knock against Pakistan in January of this year. Stubbs has two centuries two his name as well, with his high score of 138, coming against Sri Lanka. Bedingham has also scored a century, as well as three fifties.

Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder are relatively inexperienced as well, with the two having played 24 and 18 tests respectively. All five aforementioned players will be relying on the more experienced Aiden Markram and skipper Temba Bavuma to lead the batting attack, while Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Marco Jansen, and Lungi Ngidi present a dangerous bowling threat.

Coach Conrad is confident that in spite of the inexperience, South Africa will be able to take home the win thanks to their ability to work well together.

“We’re a confident bunch, we play well as a unit, and if there are any vulnerabilities among them, I’m sure we’d be able to exploit that,” Conrad said. He also pointed to South Africa’s all-star bowling attack, stating that “it’s pretty normal that the chat is all about the bowlers when you’ve got guys like Kagiso Rabada, ranked two in the world, and Marco and Keshav.”

Australia is bringing a much more battle tested line-up, including the likes of Usman Khawaja, Pat Cummins, Steven Smith, Nathan Lyon, Travis Head, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, and Marnus Labuschagne. Only Alex Carey, Cameron Green, and Beau Webster have less than 40 tests played in their career.

The WTC final will be a contest between experience and emerging talent, as South Africa look to silence the critique they’ve been bombarded with for months, proving that they deserve to be called the best. It is sure to be a tall task, as Australia has gotten the better of South Africa 54 times in the 101 matches they have played. South Africa have only won 26 of those contests.

“We are here and that’s all that matters and now we get a chance to walk away as the world test champions, playing Australia. It doesn’t get any bigger than that.”

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