The contrasting yet similar fortunes of England and South Africa in 2019

Makes one think that the English team had a great year, while South African cricket has failed severely in 2019. Reminds us of the year 2015, when England had a shameful exit from the World Cup and South Africa made it to the semifinals, doesn’t it? But the two teams in question, part of the same collision in the universe of the sport have essentially had the same fate in Test cricket this year.

"As we build towards three major ICC events over the next four years; the World T20 in India in 2016 and the Champions Trophy and World Cup which will be staged in England and Wales in 2017 and 2019 respectively," Strauss had his entire blueprint ready. 

Meanwhile, before South Africa met the start of their horrendous form, before the painful exit from the World Cup, the perishing board, there was a lot to cherish throughout this decade. The Proteas toured England in 2012 for a three-match Test series and a comfortable 2–0 win helped them claim the top spot in the rankings, which they retained for over a full calendar year. A week following that, South Africa became the first team to top the rankings in all three formats of the game at once. Once again, in 2014, they regain the No.1 spot after defeating Australia. With AB de Villiers, Dale Steyn, Hashim Amla, Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, the Proteas were supposed to go on as one of the best teams at the end of the 2010s. But now all of them have left or retiring, leaving South Africa far away from the dream. 

Not everything in cricket is as poetic as the storyline of the Poms and the Proteas, the two Ps, in the decade-ending year. 

“Luck is that which is beyond my control,” the English cricketer and selector Ed Smith wrote in his book on the subject. But what was in his control for sure was the nation completely drifting away from what they’ve boasted about the most in history- Test cricket. What Strauss started still continues to be of top priority under Smith. 

Meanwhile, everything that could go wrong with a cricketing structure did go wrong with South Africa. Firstly, the racial ideologies and pressure from the government to apply those had the team broken. That further led to the able players, from Kyle Abbott, Duane Olivier to Rilee Rossouw, leaving for their respective Kolpak deals. Earlier in December, the Board of Directors of Cricket South Africa suspended their CEO  Thabang Moroe upon allegations of misconduct, pending further investigations. This happened following Moroe’s public apology regarding the ban on five journalists over the weekend and possible “failure of controls in the organisation”.

But why was a home win so important to the side? Not just because of the fact that they lost a Test series at home or their terrible form, but hosting a full-fledged Test series in these drastic conditions was in itself a huge pressure. But when have a team comprising the influence of Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher ever give up? And to quote Suresh Menon, “A Sportsman's Faith Is In The People Around Him, Luck Is His God”. I think that’s what Faf du Plessis abides by. “We needed this win as the last couple of months have been tough. We worked really hard building up and I thought it was a really good Test. The effort today was incredible… We haven’t won a Test for a while and for us, this is the start of a new chapter.”

Despite losing their stalwarts, South African captain believes this win is a “new chapter” for them. Meanwhile, England still stuck in the World Cup dream, is in complete denial of the bigger picture.