2022: A year that could have been for South Africa

A year that began with great optimism spiralled shockingly poorly, and South Africa finished 2022 at a crossroads. The national setup, including teams and administration, is in disarray, and a new franchise T20 competition, the SA20, has been formed in an attempt to salvage the game from financial ruin. South Africa topped the World Test Championship points table after beating India and Bangladesh at home and drawing the series in New Zealand, but they were unable to maintain their lead. With at least one big batter out injured on their next two tours and inexperience widespread, they were dismissed for less than 200 in seven consecutive Test innings and lost series in England and Australia.

Back-to-back successful chases against India in early 2022 signalled South African cricket was on the rise: they scored 240 in Johannesburg to inflict India its first Test defeat and 212 in Cape Town to secure a morale-boosting victory. Keegan Petersen, the Player of the Series, hit three fifties in four innings, indicating that South Africa had identified a new No. 3 batsman. South Africa were eliminated from the T20 World Cup after losing their final group encounter to the Netherlands, in what could be remembered as the lowest point since readmission. South Africa sleepwalked through what should have been their simplest match after beating India in what was deemed their toughest encounter, failing to chase 159. Kagiso Rabada and Lungi Ngidi each allowed 11 runs per over, while no batter scored more than 25 runs. It was an unbelievable result that brought an end to Boucher’s tenure as national men’s coach.

Read more: All you need to know about the ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup

Not the best year for the women’s team too

The female squad followed a similar path. They began the year successfully, winning an ODI series against the West Indies. They lost only one match in the round-robin round of the 50-over World Cup and appeared to be on track to reach their first final, but broke apart in the semi-final against England. The squad went on to lose ODI and T20I series in England, performed poorly at the Commonwealth Games, and lost two crucial players, Lizelle Lee and Mignon du Preez.