I’m not one of those new year, new me, kind-of-guys. My personal philosophy is much like that of the Stormers - try to be better than yesterday on a daily basis.
Anyway, happy New Year to each and every single one of our loyal readers out there, as well as for the haters and those who happen to stumble across this column by accident. Blessings to you and may 2023 open doors you didn’t even know existed.
So while I’m not about the new year, new me-vibe, I do like to set goals - which I will keep to myself.
Naturally, like any sports fan, I also have things I want to see happen in the sporting world in 2023.
And if a sporting genie granted me three sporting wishes for 2023, what would they be? Let’s dig a little deeper.
1 Arsenal winning the Premier League again
When Arsene’s Wenger’s Arsenal, erm Invincibles, lifted the Premier League trophy on 15 May 2004 it was an early birthday present for yours truly who turned 20 a couple of weeks later.
The Gunners simply had no equal with Patrick Vieira bossing the midfield and Thierry Henry being pure poetry in motion up front.
📈 @Arsenal move eight points clear at the top pic.twitter.com/KFrfkhNobm
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 3, 2023
But never in my wildest nightmare would I have imagined having to wait for nearly two decades to see my team challenging for top honours in England again.
As it stands, coach Mikel Arteta’s team is on top in England and dare I say, I am beginning to have hope again.
While perhaps not as “invincible” as the 2003/04 squad, this team, somehow, has only lost one match to date and has shown a real hunger to bring back the glory days.
I do fear that the bubble can pop at any time and I really don’t hope that goalless draw against Newcastle on Tuesday night was a sign of things to come. COYG!
2 Rekindle my love for the Springboks
If you’ve read this column in 2022, you’d know by now that the Springboks’ off-field antics had me falling out of love with them.
There was Rassie Erasmus and his ref-bashing which landed him in hot water more than once, then there was also Elton Jantjies getting arrested for alleged bad behaviour on a flight from Turkey, before rumours of an alleged affair with team dietician Zeenat Simjee broke.
Asof daai nie al is nie, the Springbok camp then had to put out rumours that their manne were not using recreational drugs.
Too much off-field drama to this fan’s liking and it left a bitter taste in my mouth to be honest. It tells me something is wrong discipline-wise in the camp.
But, you know that South African sports fans are fickle and we forget it quickly when our team starts winning.
This is a World Cup year and while my early prediction is a quarterfinal exit at the hands of either New Zealand or France, who we are destined to cross swords with, there’s no better way than winning over lost love with back-to-back World
Cups.
3 Stop our cricket from bleeding
South African cricket is bleeding out. It’s no longer just a small cut, the sport is on life support in this country.
Just look at our results in the Test series in Australia and our failure at the most recent T20 World Cup last year, where we failed to get out of the group stage after losing to Netherlands!
🚨 RESULT | NETHERLANDS WON BY 13 RUNS
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) November 6, 2022
The Netherlands' bowlers came up with the goods as they held their nerve to claim the win#SAvNED #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/v0rqyhKNLf
And it’s not because of a lack of talent. Instead, I once again lay the blame at the feet of the administration.
To be more specific, I reckon Victor Mpitsang and his selection panel has to do a better job at picking the team.
As an example, I find it strange that none of the top-10 run-scorers of last season’s domestic 4-Day competition are involved in the Test series in Australia, where our batters are simply being slaughtered.
Another example would be the continued insistence on picking captain Temba Bavuma at the T20 World Cup while he was clearly out of form.
With Keshav Maharaj having shown to be a superb leader as well, the best thing to do would have been to play Reeza Hendricks instead of Bavuma.
Just for contect, Hendricks entered the World Cup on the back of a record-breaking four fifties in his last five innings. Bavuma, on the other hand, went to the tournament on the back of scores of 8, 8*, 0, 0, 3 and only ever score ONE T20 fifty.
Anyway, I am pinning my hopes on this new T20 tournament to expose local talent to the world. Good performances, I hope, will force the hand of the selectors to make better decisions in all formats.