The Proteas may have a slight advantage in the WTC final against Australia, due to them exclusively playing in two-Test series.
Who would have thought that the Proteas’ two-Test series curse would work in their favour going into the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at Lord’s in London from Wednesday.
Much has been said about the Proteas only being afforded two-Test series over the entire current WTC cycle that launched in 2023.
In that time the Proteas played three two-Test series at home, drawing with India and beating Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and three two-Test series away, losing to New Zealand, while beating West Indies and Bangladesh.
Australia by contrast, over their six Test series, played two five Test series, beating India and drawing with England, one three-Test series beating Pakistan, and three two-Test series, drawing with West Indies and beating New Zealand and Sri Lanka.
Proteas all-rounder Aiden Markram explained that having played so many two-Test series has prepared them well for the one-off final at Lord’s.
“A lot of our series’ have been two-game series’ so in order to win them, we couldn’t start slowly,” explained Markram.
“There’s no second dip at it (the final), so we’re going to have to make sure we hit the ground running and are nice and sharp come day one.”
Major heartbreak
The Proteas have suffered a lot of heartbreak in major competitions over the past few years, falling at the semifinal stage at the 50-over World Cup in 2023, losing in the final of the T20 World Cup last year, and being beaten in the semis of the Champions Trophy earlier this year.
A number of players in their group played in those tournaments, but Markram said that it wasn’t something that would bother them going into the WTC final.
“This team is a bit different. The few of us that have been a part of previous events that didn’t go our way have dealt with it, have obviously chatted to each other and made sure we’ve buried it nicely and taken some good lessons from it,” said Markram.
“But besides from that now, it’s more about the excitement of having another opportunity to actually do the job. So that’s pretty much where the mind is at the moment.”
Looking at his primary job, which is batting, Markram said preparations had gone well up to now.
“When you’re opening the batting, obviously your responsibility is to get the team off to a good start and get the team ahead in the game. So that’s the challenge, that’s what excites us,” said Markram.
