Beginning the fifth day in Cape Town, the to-and-fro series remained in limbo: 288 for Australia to win with minimal run-rate pressure. South Africa needed 10 wickets to mark a hugely credible series comeback. Which way? It was Saturday evening here; primetime viewing. Kagiso Rabada did what he does. Australia’s top order did what it does. And Simon Harmer did what we didn’t know. That was all she wrote. Australia’s vehemently protected batting had folded for 111 and before that, 99. “We’re gonna be OK.” “Honest, mate.”
Australian captain Pat Cummins first stood accused of being “too woke” in October 2022. It centred largely on his public comments about Cricket Australia’s fossil fuel sponsorships, when he pulled out of promotional ads for main sponsor Alinta Energy because of its carbon footprint. A fractious group of disgruntled ex-players banded together and quickly picked up on this, transposing it onto his leadership and team. At the time, Australia ranked number one and had come off an incredible 12 months of results.
November 29, 2022, in Perth, he then responded to ex-coach Justin Langer’s derogatory comments by saying there are no cowards in the Australian cricket team, ever. Period. (There is video footage.) Not great from Langer, and suitably defended by Captain Pat.
I’ve never fully understood the term “woke.” I thought it meant you were a socialist, too performative about political correctness, enforcing cultural changes—equality, language policing, wealth redistribution. Attribute the vagueness to a Mancunian upbringing.
In the sporting sphere, it becomes murkier, but then clearer to me. Maybe there isn’t a true definition. “Woke” is a truly elastic word—meaning it can be attributed to a national cricket team and its leadership without question. And used internally the same way.
Sport has generally reflected society, often ahead of it and sometimes behind. But sport also has some fairly fundamental principles that elude society and politics. Fairness, equal competition, merit, and a level playing field. None are too fashionable—more the foundations of sport itself.
Difficulty arises when those principles seem to conflict. The same applies to teams—in this case, Australia. What does our style of play look like? Who decides who should play, or not? How can you defend a skill group that continually fails—and do it with such blind self-assurance?
On the style of play. It’s been plain to see for some time that Australia have become less and less watchable in Test cricket—you could argue the same across all formats. I can’t quite put my finger on it. Perhaps the sameness of the rhetoric that surrounds them. Or a national selector like George Bailey who abandons his mandate to dress and sit alongside his players, as if he were one of them.
No doubt, team selection is a complicated dance between ego and unity, individual skill and cohesion, particularly the higher up the chain you go.
But the ascension of self-importance is a worrying condition; to me, Bailey is at fault here.
Self-confidence is different, more a realistic belief in your capacity to perform tasks, solve problems, handle challenges, and make sound choices. Self-confidence is having grounded trust and a willingness to learn. Whereas self-importance, though, is operating with an inflated belief that you are on a higher plane than others.
Perhaps it’s a team split by age, or that their best player is becoming increasingly distant and self-absorbed. I’m not sure—it is a hard watch, though.
And circling back to the “coward” comments.
Australia chose to protect Cameron Green, batting four, from South African off-spinner Simon Harmer during day five of the third Test in Cape Town. Why? Because Harmer was bowling into the same Mitchell Starc footmarks that their spinner, Nathan Lyon, has been doing for the last 10 years.
From the 16th to the 39th over, they actively tried to keep Green from facing Harmer by rotating strike and letting lower-order batters—Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon—face the majority of the spin. Harmer bowls off-spin. Green made 65 from 110 balls in Australia’s first innings.
In Green’s defence, he was facing Rabada at the other end.
This from Simon Katich, one of the toughest quiet bastards to wear the baggy green. “I’ve said it before, Collo, in Test cricket, you can run, but you can’t hide.”
Cowardice is an ugly word, and not one for here. Maybe the thinking was more “woke” than the alternative.
The post-mortems will be lengthy and hopefully worthwhile.
Nick
