As summers go, it’s no stretch to say that South African cricket has never known another like it.

Upheaval. Recrimination. Stubbornness. Spite. These have been the themes, and that’s just in the boardroom.

On the field, there was a fair bit of bloodletting, courtesy of a rampant England, who savaged a Proteas team still suffering the after-effects of a painful transition.

Yet, after entertaining Australia, they’ve come through the other side, a little bruised, but also a lot better. When a team is down on its luck and hurting, the one quality you always hope to see is grit. And it’s been there in spades as coach Mark Boucher doubled down on his selections and backed the squad to rediscover its winning habit.

There can be little doubt that the boardroom squabbles trickled through to the players, particularly as the association representing them was also in the crosshairs. It was messy, but Boucher and Graeme Smith, the strongman behind the scenes, did a magnificent job shielding the players from the nonsense.

Jacques Faul, the avuncular acting chief executive, restored dignity and a sense of calm to head office.

It’s early days, but the green shoots of optimism and hope are strongly evident. This is because of Boucher’s ambitious style. He could have gone old school and trotted out the usual suspects, but he has a job to do besides repairing a wobbly system.

He must find and nurture new talent, which is what he did. In the past dozen one-day matches, he used 23 cricketers, several of whom would struggle to be recognised if they walked down Florida Road.

He plumped for a raft of fresh faces, backing the like of Rassie van der Dussen, Jon-Jon Smuts, Pite van Biljon, Janneman Malan, Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, Lutho Sipamla, Anrich Nortje and Daryn Dupavillon.

At times the first XI line-up resembled a revolving door of players, but it was fascinating to watch how the players adapted. Malan had a desperate blowout on debut, but his next innings was heroic as he belted Australia’s bowlers all over the place. Others, like Verreynne and Klaasen, played with resolution and courage as they took their chances.

The summer also saw Faf du Plessis drift in and out, resign the captaincy and unwittingly fire up speculation about AB de Villiers’ likely return for the T20 World Cup. The chemistry of a team, not least one fast seeing the light, is a fragile thing. Any such re-entry, even that of the prodigal son, must therefore be carefully managed.

Happily, Kagiso Rabada was afforded some rest while Lungi Ngidi reminded us all of his special qualities when he blazed his way to 6/58 in the second ODI against Australia.

There were also prominent cameos by Tabraiz Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj, reminders that South Africa’s depth may be better than we realise. Not forgetting Nortje, who has the mongrel you need against hard-nosed teams like England and Australia.

Boucher is still working on the balance of his squad, but he is in a far happier space than he was mere months ago. Suddenly, he has options and the happy challenge of whom to leave out as he looks ahead to the T20 World Cup and the tour of the West Indies.

There is much to still be fixed, but the repair job is well underway. – © Sunday Tribune