When cricket teams lose, blaming the pitch is an easy excuse

A lot was said about the wicket after South Africa’s loss to India in the first ODI at the Wanderers on Sunday. Not enough was said about the dismal performance.

In cricket, the pitch does have a significant impact. Often, the conditions will even change during a match, offering assistance to the bowlers or the batters at different stages.

That said, however, it has become a relatively acceptable excuse for cricketers to blame the wicket when things don’t go their way.

Sometimes, of course, that reasoning can be justified, but it is often used as a way to escape discussing the real reasons behind a poor performance.

And while Proteas batting coach JP Duminy did acknowledge they were outplayed at the weekend, and he personally avoided making excuses, most of the post-match discussions revolved largely around the conditions.

Poor showing

No matter how much the pitch changed during Sunday’s ODI, the reality is that the Proteas were again shockingly poor in the batting department. They were completely dismantled by a two-prong seam attack.

And as much as the Proteas bowlers might have struggled to get the same movement out of the pitch as their counterparts, they never had a chance defending a total of 116 runs.

It was the third successive ODI against India in which the Proteas failed to make more than 120.

It also highlighted once more how inconsistent they are as a unit. When the current national squad hit their straps, they are virtually unbeatable. And when they don’t, they fall apart like a tumbling jenga tower.

For a team who have racked up some remarkable victories this year, it feels like they receive far too much criticism, but their extreme inconsistecy is an anomaly rarely seen in professional sport.

Thrilling cricket is pleasing to watch, but there needs to be a balance and they’ve got to be able to adjust to conditions and game situations.

We can’t give up on the Proteas; we know what they’re capable of when they get it right. But they need to learn to fight in all conditions, and in terms of finding any real consistency, they’ve got a lot of work to do.