SA players criticised for World T20 failure

Former South African selector Craig Mathews has slammed the South African team for its poor show in the World T20 and said that the side did not choke because they did not play enough to choke in the first place. >

South Africa had crashed out of the World T20 after losing two of their three games in the Super Eight stage of the tournament.

Mathews also added, “South Africa should be able to pick half a team against Afghanistan and still win, and we didn’t beat them that comfortably. We were horrendous against India and ordinary against New Zealand, and comprehensively beaten by Pakistan”

Mathews was particularly critical of the IPL and said that the reason why the players failed was because most of them did not get a chance to play in the tournament and were only warming the benches. He said that apart from Jacques Kallis, the IPL benefitted no South African player.

Even Graeme Pollock took on the South African side and admitted that the two run-chases in the Super Eights were abysmal. There looked a clear lack of strategy.

Another former selector, Hugh Page, said, “We seem to have a conservative approach to Twenty20 cricket. I’d rather see us having a go, even if we end up losing. I hear a lot of talk from our guys about playing risk-free cricket. If you’re not going to take a few risks in a Twenty20 match, you’re going to lose.”