Proteas “Just Not Good Enough”
Graeme Smith's wicket falls: Pakistani schadenfreude
Proteas captain Graeme Smith said his team were “just not good enough” following their World Twenty20 exit after an 11-run loss to Pakistan yesterday.
South Africa held defending champions Pakistan to 148 for seven, with seamer Charl Langeveldt taking four wickets for 19 runs.
But South Africa’s batsmen were undone by Pakistan’s spinners and were in trouble at 23 for two, with Smith out for 13.
South Africa have been beaten semifinalists in seven ICC events going back to the 1992 World Cup, but reached only one final, winning the inaugural Champions Trophy, then known as the ICC Knockout, in 1998.
“I guess you run out of excuses,” Smith said at the post-match presentation ceremony. “We were just not good enough again. It’s very, very disappointing.”
“Today we got strangled a bit with the bat,” Smith added after his team were held to 137 for seven, with off-spinner Saeed Ajmal taking four for 26.
“We bowled pretty well to restrict Pakistan, but we were tense with the bat and lacked fluency and positivity. AB (De Villiers, who made 53) was the only one who really played.
“That’s been the story of our tournament. We’ve struggled to get all three disciplines together in one game.
“You always say you’ve got to learn your lessons. You have to say, with the talent in South Africa, it’s not good enough to perform at this level.”
The Proteas reached the semifinals of last year’s World Twenty20 in England before losing to a Shahid Afridi-inspired Pakistan.
Pakistan captain Afridi was again a thorn in South Africa’s side, helping man-of-the-match Umar Akmal add 61 for the fifth wicket.
Pakistan were in dire straits at 18 for three but Akmal counter-attacked to make 51 and, with brother Kamran, was involved in a fourth-wicket stand of 51.
“The boys performed really well,” Afridi said. “In the beginning it was not a good start, but then Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal and myself, those partnerships were good and 140-150 is a good total on this track.”
As a result of England’s win over New Zealand in the game following the Proteas/Pakistan matchup, Pakistan qualify for the semifinals and coast through to the last four.
AFP
Van Zyl Will Still Be Coach
Corrie van Zyl will remain as coach until 2011.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced on Friday that Corrie van Zyl will remain interim coach of the Proteas until April 2011.
Van Zyl was appointed interim coach after the abrupt resignation of the former coach, Mickey Arthur, last month.
CSA also announced after its Board meeting that Graeme Smith would continue to captain the Proteas until the end of the World Cup in the West Indies next year and veteran all-rounder Jacques Kallis would serve as his vice captain in all forms of the game, also until the end of the World Cup.
The Board endorsed a new structure to provide the Proteas with a strong management team that supports excellence, innovation and international best practice, as proposed by CSA chief executive Gerald Majola.
The Board tasked the CEO with compiling a process of appointing the new structure, which will commence after the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup.
The Board also accepted a recommendation from the Cricket Committee to appoint a four-member national selection panel comprising the National Convenor of Selectors, a High Performance Representative, the National Coach and the National Captain.
The process to establish this new selection committee will begin immediately.
In the meantime, the interim selection panel comprising Majola, Van Zyl and Proteas batting consultant, Kepler Wessels, will continue to operate.
“These decisions were made with the goal of streamlining the selection and management processes around the Proteas as one of the main objectives of getting the squad back on top of the world logs and staying there,” said CSA President Dr Mtutuzeli Nyoka.
“The Proteas deserve the very best support and CSA wants to take time to formalize a management structure that supports excellence and innovation. At this time, we are of the opinion that Corrie van Zyl be kept on as interim coach, until the end of the 2010/2011 season, to take us through an incredibly busy period for the Proteas.”
The Board also announced that it had added six new players to the list of contracted players for the 2010/2011 season. The new players are Loots Bosman, Alviro Petersen, Charl Langeveldt, Ryan McLaren, Roelof van der Merwe and Rusty Theron.
Courtesy of iafrica.com
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