In a world where offence is taken around every single corner, we’ve become way too soft.
And it has now spilled over into what was supposed to be our enjoyment in the first place - sport.
First things first, I am a great believer in respecting your opponent on any field of play.
But I’m also a great believer that half the sporting battle is won in the head before you execute your skill.
That’s why I had my first “wait, what?” moment during the second Test match of the series between South Africa and England at Newlands.
Having kept wicket at school level, I understood it as part of my job to work up the batsman in order to get him to play a shot that he wouldn’t necessarily play if someone didn’t get under his skin.
Now I believe this is what Jos Buttler did when he was caught cussing at Vernon Philander.
I doubt whether Philander took offense to what Buttler said.
He knows professional sport, or any sport for that matter.
Things do get heated out in the middle and if you’re going to look at your opponents face for five days, in what is at times a boring match, you need some spice.
Anyway, Buttler got a demerit point and was fined 15 percent of his match fee.
He also had to apologise to Vern afterwards.
The incident also raised the question whether stump microphones should be allowed.
I say no.
Society has become so soft that even if the players on the pitch don’t take offence to something that is being said, someone watching on the telly will.
They will then tweet about it and daar gaan ons alweer, fires have to be put out.
Off to Port Elizabeth for the third Test and here I was even more surprised at what happened.
The first “really?” moment came when watching the opening few overs of the match.
South Africa bowled first and it was clear to see that they were going to struggle on a pitch that really didn’t provide much for the fast bowlers.
Frustrated to the max by the England batsmen, it was no surprise that South Africa’s premier fast bowler Kagiso Rabada then tried to put some blitz on the Protea fire when he removed the visitors’ captain Joe Root for England’s fourth wicket in the 65th over!
Rabada didn’t touch Root.
Rabada didn’t swear at Root.
Instead, he ran up the wicket and bent down looking like someone dropping a deuce while shouting in enjoyment of the big wicket he just took.
And boom!
Demerit point and banned from playing in the final Test at the Wanderers.
To the haters saying Rabada doesn’t learn from his past mistakes, I say this: Rabada is Rabada because he has that fire.
In the past he may have gone overboard, but this was a controlled celebration and in my books the paceman deserves to be commended for curbing his enthusiasm, not banned.