OPINION: Proteas Test team must now be respected and rewarded

After an incredible two-Test triumph over India on their home turf, surely the Proteas Test team deserve to be respected — and rewarded?

The current World Test Championship mace holders absolutely dismantled one of the “Big Three” in their tailor-made home conditions, on the biggest stage.

Yes, the first match could have gone either way, but the Proteas won a tight contest by 30 runs on an almost unplayable pitch, while the second Test was a statement performance, and win, by the South Africans.

And to think they did it without their strike bowler, the injured Kagiso Rabada, with 36-year-old veteran Simon Harmer the star of the show, picking up 17 wickets and claiming the player-of-the-series-award.

But now we have to wait almost a year to see this quite phenomenal Proteas Test team, under the excellent leadership of Shukri Conrad and Temba Bavuma, in action again, when they host Australia in a three-Test series on home soil in September and October next year.

The question has to be asked again, how is it right that one of the most dominant teams in Test cricket over the past few years, and historically, plays so much less cricket than the “Big Three”?

Test champs cycle

Over the current Test Championship cycle, from 2025 to 2027, the Proteas are scheduled to play 14 Tests, with only Sri Lanka (13), Pakistan (12) and Bangladesh (12) playing less than them.

West Indies play the same number (14), New Zealand (16) play more, and the “Big Three” dominate again with India (18), England (21) and Australia (22) playing the bulk of the Tests.

The Proteas will only play two three-Test series, with the other four all two-Test series, and although India also play four two-Test series, they also have two five-Test series against Australia and England, who only play one two-Test series, and the others three or more.

After Temba Bavuma and his team reached the Test Championship final earlier this year, many questioned if the Proteas deserved to be there.

They went on to beat Australia in that final to be crowned the best Test team in the game, and have since drawn a series with Pakistan away and now beaten India in India. Surely that should result in the Proteas getting more Tests?