The Proteas, always the bridesmaid, never the bride.

Guys here is my first attempt to write an article for V2 journal on cricket, please enjoy.

Since their return to international cricket, the South African national team, the Proteas have a history littered with near misses.

In the One day International arena they have a win loss record second to Australia by the smallest of margins, both teams boasting win/loss ratios of 1.83 (SA) and 1.84 (AUS) respectively.

To put that in context to their nearest rivals Pakistan who have a win/loss record of 1.25, it is clear that these two teams have been at the top of the pecking order for quite some time.

But, consider this, Australia has won 3 world cups in succession, 1999, 2003, 2007 while South Africa has failed to make any finals.

Looking at South Africa’s record at Test level since their return from isolation shows an uncanny similarity in win loss ratios. Their Test win/loss ratio of 1.83 is second only to Australia who has dominated Test cricket for nearly a decade.

This would suggest that at some point you would expect them to have broken through to the top of the pile and apart from a brief moment at the top of the rankings in 2009, they have nearly always been the bridesmaid of world cricket but never the bride.

Considering their success at Test level where they have won 37 Test series, losing 14 and drawing 12 since their re-admission, one would have expected them to not only be a competitive force in world cricket, but to have dominated at some stages during this period.

Alas nothing is further from the truth, Australia dominated Test cricket for most of the time since South Africa’s return; India had a period at the top, thanks mainly to Gary Kirsten’s ability to manage a plethora of demi-Godlike Indian greats; and since India's meteoric fall in the last year England under Andy Flower has taken over the reign.

This begs the question of why South Africa has not managed to remain at the top of the rankings for any sustained period of time.

As far as professional outfits go and how they prepare for any upcoming series, it is common knowledge that they do not lack in physical preparation, they show energy and vibrancy in the field, have been one of the leading nations when it comes to skill and commitment in the field and consistently have batsmen and bowlers in the top ten ranking of the ICC.

The Proteas have produced some great individuals in modern day Test cricket, such as Alan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Hashim Amla, Graeme Smith, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher and a whole host of other quality international cricketers.

Since 2007, South Africa have not yet lost an away Test series, they have completed 8 away series and have taken series wins in Pakistan, Bangladesh, England, Australia and West Indies and have drawn two away series against India and one against Pakistan.

Perhaps their home record provides an indication of their failures. Their last 5 Test series at home resulted in a lost return series to Australia, A drawn series against England, India and Australia, and their most recent series versus Sri Lanka is their first home series win since 2008.

I have some other theories why South Africa has never been able to overcome that final hurdle to dominate.

When you look at the two drawn series South Africa have played in India, both those series they led 1-0, and yet were annihilated in the following tests.

Since the 2009, Cricket South Africa has had an inexplicable itinerary scheduled for the Proteas. Between March 2009 and December 2009, the Proteas played no Test cricket. From January 2011 to November 2011, once again the Proteas played no test cricket.

South Africa has lost their last 4 Tests in Durban, and a number of them by quite some margin. In 2009 South Africa had a total batting collapse against Australia being bowled out for a mere 138. In december of that year, they had another failure with the bat, getting bowled out by England for a paltry 133. In 2010 their woes continued with another batting collapse against India when they were bowled out for 131. Perhaps the most disappointing loss was late last year when they once again failed with the bat against Sri Lanka for only 168 and handed them their first ever Test win in South Africa. It seems Durban has become the great equiliser for visiting teams.

So logic tells me you need time in the middle, and long layoffs is not the ideal preparation for cricketers, when touring teams travel to South Africa they get a warm up match before the Test series starts, this is to get used to South African conditions and yet South Africa doesn’t prepare their players in the same manner.

In 2009 a number of South Africans looked over weight after their long layoff, so this would suggest to me that perhaps our preparation is not as professional as perceived.

Why does Cricket South Africa schedule a test match in Durban if it is clearly not a fortress? Perhaps CSA is chasing after the holidaymakers, hoping that will increase ticket sales.

Why these long layoffs in between Test series? Surely other countries don't have this imbalance in time off and on.

Why no warm up matches for the Proteas? Even if you are used to conditions, the time in the middle is invaluable to gain some kind of form.

Do these issues also encompass a lack of mental preparation and mental toughness? A few days get together is not enough to regain the collective focus whilst working on skills and fitness levels.

Graeme Smith has always led by example, but is his loss of form influencing his ability to lead?

Why is it that South Africa rarely plays a test series of more than three Tests? Surely it cannot only be ticket sales, a five day Test match should in theory bring in more sales than an ODI or T20, especially in a stadium with a capacity of less than 20,000 spectators.

You be the judge.

Generally, a very interesting read. I don't think you can 'blame' CSA for scheduling matches at Kingsmead - it makes no sense whatsoever to say 'the team plays badly at Kingsmead so lets play at some tiny outground where we win' and thus deny the Durban public Test cricket.

The layoffs are an issue and probably to do with, admirably, playing less 'pointless' series than the sub-continental teams and even Australia, whilst having their season at just about the same time as everybody but England, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Shelsey, there are 6 main grounds in SA, Durban, JHB, Pretoria, PE, Capetown and Bloemfontein. Capetown and Durban always gets a December test and then the other grounds alternate with whatever is left

I believe that South Africa have struggled to win any tournaments such as ICC World Cups etc since their return from International Exile in 1991 because they simply don't have the great matchwinning batsmen as they once did prior to being exiled in 1970 when there was Barry Richards and Graeme Pollock to call upon. Other countries like Australia in the 1990's and India during this decade have had the matchwinning batsmen in their team such as Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh.