You can’t change the past, but you can shape the future and for that reason the Proteas will go into a “culture camp” this week.
With a number of ex-black cricketers such as Makhaya Ntini and Alviro Petersen, among others, speaking out about unfair treatment in the national team in the past, Cricket South Africa CSA) wants to make sure that the current group of players are all on the same page.
Former Proteas wicketkeeper Thami Tsolekile is the latest player to voice his unhappiness at how he was treated during his time in the national team setup - especially by then-captain Graeme Smith, who is now CSA’s Director of Cricket.
The central point of his unhappiness is that he was overlooked on the 2012 tour of England, where the Proteas were crowned No.1 in the world after winning the series 2-0 at Lord’s.
Regular keeper Mark Boucher was injured and AB de Villiers was given the gloves instead of Tsolekile.
The 39-year-old Tsolekile, who is still serving a 12-year ban for match-fixing, spoke about his unhappiness on Marawa Sports Worldwide and blamed Smith for his role in the decision.
Smith replied via a statement, saying: “Thami was in the squad as reserve keeper to AB de Villiers and this was communicated to him on both the England and Australian tours by [coach] Gary Kirsten, which has been previously acknowledged by Thami.”
Tsolekile, however, claims this was not the case and says the least he wanted from Smith was an apology.
To prevent this sort of thing from happening again, a squad of 32 players will assemble for a culture camp in Skukuza from Tuesday to Saturday.
Team manager Khomotso Volvo Masubelele explains: “We felt that it was important for the guys to come together to engage on some of the critical issues surrounding the team or elements that need attention.
“What we are going to be focusing on is matters around team identity, team environment, the performance measures and models that we want to put in place for the season to come.
“We want to leave with a blueprint that the players will be able to own and understand, something that will resonate with them.”