CricInfo Home
News Home

NEWS FOCUS
Rsa in Pak
NZ in India
Zim in Aus

Domestic
Other Series

IN the bitter aftermath of elimination from the World Cup, Hansie Cronje hinted that he might give up the captaincy of South Africa.

``It is time to do some soulsearching,'' he said after the tied semifinal at Edgbaston allowed Australia to go through to the final because they finished ahead of South Africa on run rate.

But Cronje will not easily be allowed to hand over the reins.

``I hope he'll be there for the 2003 World Cup,'' said Ali Bacher, MD of the United Cricket Board (UCB). ``He needs some breathing space, but he is crucial to South African cricket. He almost has an obligation to steer us forward.''

Cronje is the longest-serving captain in international cricket after Arjuna Ranatunga of Sri Lanka, who was all but fired by the country's sports minister after a dismal showing by the defending World Cup champions.

Cronje, 29, is relatively young to be thinking of giving up but he has been doing a high-pressure job for five years.

An intense man, he will feel deeply the pain of failure. For failure it was, even though the margin was so desperately close. When he analyses the World Cup, he will recognise that he has to bear some of the responsibility.

Cronje's most obvious failure was with the bat. He made only 98 runs in eight innings with ducks in the two matches against Australia, , although he was the victim of a poor decision on the second occasion.

Steve Waugh, his Australian counterpart, played vital innings of 120 not out and 56 as Australia squeezed through to the final.

Tactically, too, Waugh proved more dynamic. While Cronje stuck to a stereotyped bowling line-up, Waugh recognised the match was slipping away at Edgbaston and brought Shane Warne on after 10 overs, with devastating results.

Cronje had already decided that Daryll Cullinan would bat at three. Although Cullinan has conquered his deficiencies against Warne, he has yet to find a way to score freely against the legspinner. Cullinan was not dismissed by Warne, but made only six runs off 30 balls while wickets were falling at the other end.

Another example of Australian adaptability was the decision to use Glenn McGrath as an up-front strike bowler after he had started in an Allan Donald role, coming on as first or second change. Yet South Africa did not deviate from their pre-ordained tactic, even though there were times when Donald's early strike potential was missed in helpful conditions.

Cronje rightly said he was proud of being part of a group which ``turned one-day cricket around in South Africa''.

He included retiring coach Bob Woolmer and selection convenor Peter Pollock among those he thanked.

Cronje might have added that South Africa set a standard in international one-day cricket which put them at the forefront of the game.

To compete with South Africa, other countries had to lift their standard of fielding and improve the quality of allrounders.

Of the two finalists, Pakistan have five high-class bowlers, three of whom are good batsmen, while Australia had to ditch nondescript allrounders in midtournament and call in specialist skills.

It is in the nature of sport that the standard-bearers do not long stay out in front. With Woolmer gone, setting the agenda for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa will be a substantial challenge.

The failure to reach a World Cup final is a big blot on Cronje's record as captain, which is especially frustrating because he has a 75 percent success rate after 118 one-day internationals as captain.

He has been a successful leader in Test matches, too, with 21 wins and only 10 defeats in 44 matches.

Bacher said the World Cup setback had been devastating but he remained positive. ``When it is sudden death in a tight situation every team needs a little luck,'' he said. ``I was very encouraged by the way some of our younger players came through.''

A new selection panel will be appointed at the UCB annual meeting at the end of July. Possible candidates for chairman include Kepler Wessels, Mike Procter and Clive Rice. One of the new man's first tasks will be to discuss the future with Cronje.

Contributed by management (help@cricinfo.com)