South Africa celebrate Test series win over Pakistan

With multi-format and cross-gender success, and the world’s second-best franchise competition, will South Africa’s next golden era be more sustainable than their first?

Three times in the last two years, South Africa have come within touching distance of that which has always eluded them: a cricketing world crown. This June, at Lord’s, they will have a fourth attempt at global glory.

After coming unstuck in the semi-finals of the 2023 men’s World Cup, they reached the last hurdle of the T20 World Cup in the Caribbean before they were blocked from the trophy by India. Four months later, South Africa’s women reached their second consecutive T20 World Cup final, having also knocked Australia out of the tournament. The World Test Championship final offers another tilt at a title, with the Proteas the first side to be guaranteed a top-two finish in the standings.

While so far it’s been a story of being so close rather than yielding a packed display unit of silverware at headquarters, the consistency of that closeness is a marker in itself. After years of financial difficulty bleeding into disappointing on-field performances, compounded by the passing of a golden generation across both sides, at last, the clouds appear to be clearing.

Whether this string of silver will lead to a truly golden era will not only depend on whether the trophies come to fruition, but on whether that era is more sustainable than when South Africa ascended to the top of the game over a decade ago. That is largely in the hands of a CSA board who are working to balance immediate success with long-term financial health, even if it means taking some unpopular short-term decisions.

The pinnacle of South Africa’s performance in the men’s game remains when they were ranked the No.1 Test side in the world in 2012. That was the high point of an era between 2007 and 2015 where they didn’t lose an away Test series.

But, what followed were the wilderness years. As the legends who had littered the side for over a decade stepped aside, a major transition period descended into a crisis of confidence on and off the field. Those earmarked for the future failed to provide the returns they promised early in their careers, and CSA dramatically imploded.

CSA burned through CEOs in the late 2010s, four departing in three years between 2017 and 2020. As the global franchise boom began, an ill-fated attempt to launch the T20 Global League in 2017 deepened brewing financial trouble. While other boards achieved lift-offs with franchise leagues, CSA tried again with the Mzansi Super League which launched without a sponsor or broadcast deal. It was ditched after two seasons having made a huge financial loss and further alienated the board from the players association.

Alongside this, performances on the field were at an all-time low. South Africa won just two Test matches from mid 2018 to the end of 2021, endured their worst-ever men’s World Cup in 2019 and were edged out in the group stages of the 2021 T20 World Cup. As failures to adapt to a landscape changing beyond recognition off the field led to crisis, that was mirrored out in the middle.

At the beginning of 2023 however, the third attempt at launching a T20 franchise league finally struck gold. The SA20 attracted not only some of the best players in the world, but crowds enthusiastically engaging with cricket in South Africa. With IPL-backed sides, and some of the best conditions for T20 cricket in the world, the league rapidly became the best of the non-IPL competitions.

Most significantly, the financial rewards have already been and are on track to continue to be huge. In 2024, CSA announced profits earned solely from its majority shares in the SA20 to be $3.02 million, a double-digit increase on the year before. Having reported losses of cumulatively $30 million in the pandemic aftermath of 2021-23, profits for the 2023-24 fiscal year (including hosting a multi-format series against India) came to $45.6 million. The league promises a reliable source of funds outside of hosting ‘big-three’ events, with neither England or Australia scheduled to tour until mid-2026.

The explosion of the SA20 hasn’t come without its challenges. The scheduling conflict which led to a Proteas side shorn of all major stars sent out for a Test series in New Zealand last year was widely criticised and held up as an example of the dwindling status of Test cricket. For the SA20, however, the decision to retain their biggest names was crucial. Other leagues have struggled as scheduling drew their international names away, while stacked franchise windows have split the talent between bidders. For the SA20, the financial promise is lucrative enough to retain enough overseas talent amid competition from the BBL, BPL and ILT20, and the level of domestic talent is good enough to ensure that should a few big names go elsewhere, the quality isn’t diminished.

New stars, now bleeding into the international stage, have also been unearthed. Gerald Coetzee was third on the leading wicket-taker standings in the inaugural edition of the tournament, and has played a pivotal role for South Africa when fit since. Similar can be said of Tristan Stubbs, who averaged over 60 in the 2023 tournament.

Those stars and the deliverance of those who survived the previous years of turmoil, aced South Africa’s sprint finish to the World Test Championship final. Should they go on to win at Lord’s, the parallels of Graeme Smith’s side who earned to No.1 Test side mace at the same ground in 2012 will be undeniable.

But this time, that place in the top echelons of the sport has the potential to be more sustainable. What’s been achieved across all-formats over the last 18 months hasn’t been down to a handful of superstars, but of a collective effort which has plumbed the depth of talent below the international top brass. Moreover, it’s been underpinned by a financial and governance structure that’s begun to look more stable.

There are still questions to answer. Plans for a women’s SA20 are not currently tangible, say Cricket South Africa, with more investment in the domestic setup needed to support a franchise competition. While South Africa’s women’s side have managed to trouble the latter stages of successive international competitions and continue to unearth talent, problems could lie down the road for those who don’t capitalise on the women’s franchise boom. Equally, for all South Africa’s combined achievements, the dreaded ‘C’ word still looms large, and will continue to do so until they finally win a world final.

But, even if South Africa fail to lift the WTC Trophy in June, the progress they’ve made has the potential to underpin a more sustained period of success, and bring in the next golden age of South African cricket.

Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.

Related tags:

South Africa Cover StoriesTrending Stories