South Africa's victory shows Test cricket is worth saving

Cradling the Test mace, soaking up the sweet taste of success, Temba Bavuma perhaps took a moment to reflect on a long and unlikely journey to the top of the world.

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE

Many a great South African captain had tried and failed to lead their side to this sort of triumph, many a team of top talents falling short, the Protea name becoming a byword for blunders with the line in sight.

And so it took the lad from Langa, all of five-foot-four in his spikes but a towering figure in so many senses, to overcome the derision and doubters to lead the Rainbow Nation to unlikely cricketing glory. While his tale is well told, it is worth reflecting again on the barriers Bavuma had to overcome. When he was first picked, certain sections of South Africa suggested a Black batter had been selected only due to transformation targets; after cementing himself in the side and earning an elevation, they questioned his captaincy. The critics are quieter now.

For this victory is a story of resilience and breaking barriers, both personally and for the team. It is impossible to disentangle the story of South African cricket from matters of race, not least due to the 22-year isolation under the apartheid regime. Further back, their first series against Australia in 1902 featured a standout performance from Charlie “Buck” Llewellyn, the first non-white South African Test cricketer – there would not be another until 1992. Until Bavuma’s breakthrough hundred in Cape Town in 2016, no Black player had ever made a century for South Africa.

But a team broadly drawn and led superbly by their captain, who averages nigh on 50 in the last five years, are Test champions of the world against all odds. There were plenty of detractors and doubters who felt it unfair that South Africa had played a softer schedule on their way to this final, but over three-and-a-bit days, they have proved themselves worthy winners.