Proteas Bid For No.1 May Be Hit By Strike

South Africa’s best cricketers have belted India in the first two Tests and are currently engaged in an intriguing third match in pursuit of a white wash that would atone for the 3-0 loss they endured in India two years ago.

- Neil Manthorp

The pitch at the Wanderers is as bouncy and spicy as the ones in India were dry and broken. As Faf du Plessis said before the series began: “There is a score to settle.”

Australia tour South Africa in March for four Tests. If the home side prevail on home turf for the first time in eight attempts since readmission (two drawn, five lost) they will return to No.1 in the world.

That is, of course, if they all go ahead as planned and without disruption. At this stage there is a realistic chance that one or two, if not all four, will be affected by industrial action induced by Cricket South Africa (CSA).

At the heart of the problem is the payment structure which exists between CSA and the players and which is up for renegotiation in April, but it is also about far more than that. It is about respect.