How the Proteas team culture ensured a historic series win

A series win as impressive as the 3-1 triumph South Africa have just inflicted on Australia would not happen if a great team culture did not exist in the Proteas camp, especially with all the incredible stress they were put under by the confrontational approach of the tourists, that in the end proved to be counter-productive for them.

Both captain Faf du Plessis and coach Ottis Gibson gave an insight into that culture after they had demolished Australia by 492 runs at the Wanderers on Tuesday, South Africa’s biggest ever win in terms of runs and the fourth-largest in the history of Test cricket.

Not since 1934, when Australia beat England by 562 runs at the Oval, has a team fallen so far short in the fourth innings.

Faf du Plessis – “It means a lot to us to get in the history books and it’s also wonderful that a lot of guys have put their hands up for us at different stages of the series. We were very motivated-slash-angry after Durban, but it’s very important that we dealt with our emotions very well. We’re not immature emotionally and we had to handle things the right way even when the series got a bit heated and there were a lot of incidents. After every day though, I could sense the calm and focus on the cricket in the changeroom.

“As a team we ask a lot about character – you can see that in Morne Morkel – and I firmly believe that if you push through the hard times, that’s how you get stronger. We spend a lot of time training our culture and if it ever falls out of line then we quickly nip that in the bud, I’m very strong on that. We take a lot of pride in our culture and it’s very important that we are never seen to be arrogant, even though sometimes there are situations where it can look like that. We want to stay humble as much as we can. We have two or three of the best cricketers in the world, but there’s never been a day when their egos have got bigger than the team.”

Ottis Gibson – “One thing that I have concentrated on all the time is keeping the support staff focused on the cricket and not what’s been going on off the field. Sometimes as an overseas coach, you don’t know how you’re going to be received coming into a new environment. But things have gone really well, I’ve been myself, we’ve had a bit of fun. I try and take the pressure off in the dressing room because there’s enough of that out on the field. So it’s a chilled place, we enjoy ourselves and it’s really relaxed, there’s even rum-and-coke on the table, but not before the end of play!

“We want to play hard but have fun, and if new guys come into the team then they must feel that it’s a welcoming space. We’ve had a good time and the way Faf has led, his leadership and character speak volumes.”

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