A retrospective look at South Africa's 5-year reign of dominance

With all the recent talk of South Africa's rapid decline, I thought it might be a good idea to take a moment to reflect on their 5-year reign of dominance. Between 2010-2014, South Africa played 18 Test match series: they won 14, drew 3, and their only series loss came against Australia in 2014.

In the 43 matches played during this period of dominance, they won 23 and lost just 7. Their win/loss ratio of 3.285:1 was double that of the second best team over this period (England). Incredibly, they won 53% of all matches played and lost just 16%.

South Africa dominated with both bat and ball. They had the highest collective batting average (41.54) and the lowest collective bowling average (29.39). The team was laden with superstars such as Kallis, Smith, de Villiers, Steyn, Amla, Philander and Morkel.

What really set South Africa apart, however, was their record overseas, losing just once in 17 overseas Test matches. That is almost unfathomable in todays Test match cricket where home field advantage looms larger than ever. Their win/loss ratio was a staggering 9:1. They won 9 matches and lost just once, in India. To highlight South Africa's dominance, no other team had a winning record in overseas Tests.

The graphic below (which can be enlarged by clicking on it) visually captures South Africa's five-year reign of dominance.

This is an example of poor succession planning !

Shame on CSA !

Great point, Ketch. One thing Australia have always done exceptionally well is breeding younger players into their teams, even if it meant established superstars retiring a year or two early. This was a discussion that was brought up during the Cape Town Test match - at what point do you break up a successful, but older team, to plan for the future? CSA opted to stick with the veterans to ride out an era of dominance, but it may have hampered their long-term future success and development.

Exactly ! CSA subscribed to "If it aint broke, dont Fix"

Mapoui blames Haroon Lorgat

My odda friend blames the team manager whom is also the team Doctor .

I blame poor Scouting and being unaware of your Inventory  :-[

As mentioned in my initial post, South Africa's decline has been rapid. Since 2015, they have won just once in 10 Test matches. Their collective team batting average (23.74) is the lowest among all Test teams over this period. In 16 innings, South Africa have managed to score 250+ runs in an innings on just three occasions. Their average innings score is a paltry 206.

Despite their struggles with the bat, South Africa still have one of the best bowling attacks in Test cricket. Their collective team bowling average (31.88) is the third lowest since 2015, and they have done this mostly without Dale Steyn.

South Africa desperately need to fix their batting. Since 2015, De Villers and Elgar are the only two batsman with an average above 40. They really need Amla and du Plessis to rediscover their form of old, find an opening partner for Elgar, and hope that Bavuma can continue to develop as a batsman.

Unfortunately for South Africa, they are a team that got old fast and have failed to replace such superstars as Kallis and Smith - two premium bats in their lineup. During South Africa's 5-year dominance, Smith and Kallis scored 5624 runs at an average of 51.12. 102 runs per innings is a large chunk of runs to cover for.

www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-engl...nt/story/963885.html

Elgar don't think its a dead rubber !

www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-engl...nt/story/963887.html

"I played 48 Tests in a row, didn't miss a single one,

and now suddenly I'm an injury liability at the age of 32?

It's ridiculous. Injuries can happen to anybody but I'm still one of the fittest players in the squad

and I have many, many overs left in me."