South Africa's decade at a glance A full decade on, I can still recall the buzz of expectation as Jimmy Cook and Andrew Hudson walked out into the middle at the Eden Gardens in Calcutta. After 21 years in cricket purgatory, the South Africans were back. An entire generation had grown up hearing stories about Dr Bacher's magnificent 1970 side. Though we had never set eyes on them, Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock, Eddie Barlow, Mike Procter and Peter Pollock - and later Clive Rice, Garth le Roux and Vintcent van der Bijl - were names ingrained in the cricket fan's subconscious.

The early omens weren't very promising. A visibly ageing side were outclassed by India in the first two games. With the exception of Kepler Wessels, Peter Kirsten and Allan Donald - who demonstrated straight away why followers of county cricket had marked him down for greatness - it was a team out of its depth in a world that had moved on. Rice himself was a pale shadow of the great allrounder he had been in his heyday.

It took them just three months to get things right. But for Wessels's extraordinarily negative tactics, Dermot Reeve's swashbuckling hitting and a farcical rain rule, the South Africans might have won the World Cup Down Under in 1992. As it was, time was called on Cinderella an hour early, but a semi-final appearance was reason enough to celebrate. Their fielding - and no-one exemplified that better than a bloke made of India-rubber called Jonty Rhodes - had been a revelation and the established one-day powers knew that they had a new rival to look out for.

The new South Africa's first Test match - against West Indies at Bridgetown in 1991-92 - was another hard-luck story. After dominating with bat and ball for four days, they were sent crashing to defeat on the final morning by some magnificent bowling from Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh.

With the old faces making way, the revival began in real earnest. By the time Fanie de Villiers bowled them to an epic victory at Sydney in 1993-94, the South Africans had come to be seen as one of the leading sides in the world - worthy contenders to Australia and West Indies.

The next World Cup in 1996 brought only heartbreak. After steamrollering all opposition in their group matches, they rested Allan Donald for the quarter-final against West Indies. As a glum Donald looked on, a scintillating hundred from Brian Lara condemned South Africa to an unexpectedly early flight home.

Further disappointments followed. The unofficial World Championship of Test cricket turned out to be nothing of the sort as Australia registered comfortable series victories both home and away. The South Africans also developed an alarming tendency to splinter like glass each time they were subjected to pressure. Several limited-overs final were lost, as was a Test series in England in 1998 - though the English were aided by the mind-boggling incompetence of umpire Javed Akhtar.

Hansie Cronje's team were joint-favourites with Australia for the World Cup a year later. But yet again, their nerve failed them. Australia sneaked a tie in the semi-final at Edgbaston and went through to the final on the basis of a victory at the Super Six stage. Cronje and his distraught team-mates went back to the Cape with "what if" stories ringing in their ears.

It would get worse before it got better. Much worse. April 2000 should have been a time for joyous celebration. South Africa had just become the first team to beat the Indians on their home patch/dustbowls for 13 years. The homecoming party became a wake when it emerged that Cronje - an inspirational figure for so many - had been lining the pockets of his expensive leather jackets with bookmakers' money.

So it was that a devout Christian - Shaun Pollock - replaced a born-again one (supposedly) - Cronje. Encouraging performances in the home-and-away one-day matches against Australia set the tone for Pollock. Eighteen months on, with a Test series win in the Caribbean added to South Africa's resume, Cronjegate is just a bad memory and Cronje himself a sad cartoon, rather like Richard Nixon.

In a month's time, South Africa go to Australia for another tilt at the world title. With liberal doses of luck, they might just sneak a win. Ten years ago, few of us would have thought that possible. It just goes to show that the determination and sheer bloody-mindedness that characterised the early gold and diamond prospectors is far from dead. Long may it stay that way.

South Africa's decade at a glance Tests
Results P 87, W 41, D 30, L 16
Best series wins 2-0 in India, 1999-2000; 5-0 v West Indies, 1998-99
Worst series defeat 1-2 in England, 1998
Most caps Gary Kirsten – 76 (December 1993 to date)
Most runs Gary Kirsten – 5225 in 76 Tests at 42.82
Most wickets Allan Donald – 325 in 69 Tests at 21.64
Highest score 275* – Daryll Cullinan v New Zealand, Auckland 1998-99
275 – Gary Kirsten v England, Durban 1999-2000
Best bowling 8 for 64 – Lance Klusener v India, Calcutta 1996-97

One-day internationals
Results P 239, W 152, L 79, T 2, NR 6
Most caps Jonty Rhodes – 210 (February 1992 to date)
Most runs Gary Kirsten – 6149 in 161 matches at 42.11
Most wickets Allan Donald – 226 in 136 matches at 21.39
Highest score Gary Kirsten – 188* v UAE, Rawalpindi 1995-96
Best bowling Allan Donald – 6 for 23 v Kenya, Nairobi 1996-97

Dileep Premachandran is assistant editor of Wisden.com India. Additional research by Andrew Miller.

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