West Indies vs South Africa ...Cricket Losing Meaning

By Nishant Joshi

After nearly 2 months of non-stop T20 cricket, we will now be 'treated' to an ODI series between South Africa and West Indies. I use the term 'treated' for want of a better word, because quite frankly, I get the feeling that both sides are totally fed up of playing cricket.

Even as a cricket tragic, I am at the end of my tether. I watched the two preceding T20 matches between these sides with reluctance, and despite a close finish in the second match, my apathy was matched by the players on the field. They are professionals, but it is easy to see them all having the passion sapped out of them. Disappointing shows for both sides in the World T20 brings home the fact that there is little to play for but pride in these upcoming matches. Preparation for next year's 50 over World Cup will be key, but we all know that West Indies have never been too keen on planning for that sort of trivial thing.

There is general disharmony in both sides, with West Indies in a vacuum of nothingness for the recent past. Kieron Pollard still hasn't really put on a big show at international level, and aside from the odd decent performance, there has been nothing to write home about, let alone comment on.

South Africa are experimenting with dropping lynchpin Mark Boucher. Long-term, this may be a good move, with Boucher likely to return to the fold for the World Cup with renewed vigour. However, their batting line-up has been lacklustre for the best part of six months and this has reflected in their mediocre performances. AB de Villiers and JP Duminy were proclaimed as the new princes of the batting world just 12 months ago, but both have been relatively abysmal in the past few months. While de Villiers has regressed and lost his X-Factor, Duminy has totally forgotten how to hold a bat. He looks lost at the crease every time he goes out to bat, and ever since he played one of the best innings I've ever seen during the Champions League in October (99* for Cape Cobras in a winning chase), he has gone backwards faster than Yuvraj Singh on a treadmill.

This probably won't be a classic ODI series, but in my opinion it could prove to be pivotal in the call for less cricket. The IPL was more than enough, but having the World T20 come straight after meant that it came and went as a blur. These bilateral series straight after two months of solid cricket totally undermine the value of all cricket, and not even the most die-hard of cricket fans would be thrilled by the prospect of these coming ODI's, which are already cumbersome for the most part.

It seems as if the Future Tours Programme needs to be looked at again, as the current plan is unworkable. From 2009-2011 we will have seen 3 World Cups, 3 IPL's and 3 editions of the Champions League. On top of this, chuck in dozens of bilateral series and full domestic schedules, we see that we are reaching a critical mass.

Our only bet for the series will be Jacques Kallis top score for South Africa at 4.0. He top-scored for Royal Challengers Bangalore during the IPL and for South Africa during the World T20. He is the only SA batsman in any form to speak of, and crucially, when others don't care, he always has the motivation of boosting his average. Say what you like about his slow batting, but the fact is that for betting purposes, he is always going to be a reliable favourite, and I would have had him closer to 3.0 here.

NJ's Bet:

Jacques Kallis top SA series batsman - 3.75pts @ 4.0 (Sky Bet)

Nishant Joshi