Proteas: No demons to exorcise
2007-04-23 15:14
Johannesburg - Veterans of South Africa's 1999 World Cup insist they will not be haunted by the nightmare of their exit at the hands of Australia when they square-off once again in the semi-finals on Wednesday.
The Proteas have been trying to shake off the tag of chokers ever since the infamous last ball run-out of Allan Donald at Edgbaston eight years ago when a single would have secured victory and a place in the Lord's final.
Four of that team will once again take to the field against Australia on Wednesday in St Lucia, including batsman Herschelle Gibbs, who was taunted by Steve Waugh that he had dropped the World Cup after he spilled a catch in an earlier group game between the two countries.
"It did leave one or two little scars but as a cricketer if you're going to have a long career, you're going to have scars, every cricketer has had them," said wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.
"It's how you get up from those moments when you're down and bounce back," he told The Star newspaper.
The Edgbaston semi-final is widely regarded as the greatest ever World Cup game but many commentators believe the trauma dogged the Proteas for years, and was partly responsible for their lame first-round exit when they hosted the tournament in 2003.
Shaun Pollock, the team's captain in 2003 and who continues to open the bowling, said that lessons had been learned.
"The '99 World Cup was an exceptional game, the emotions swung from team to team," he said.
"One side had it wrapped up and then the other side had it won and it kept like that, to and fro.
"We've had some close encounters over the years and we've learnt something from all the close encounters. From our side, an experienced side, we really are ripe for anything we have to deal with."
Batsman Jacques Kallis, the current tournament's leading run-scorer after Australia's Matthew Hayden, said the team had long ago put the result behind them.
"You move on from those games, you take what you can from them. Like Mark said, we woke up the next morning, the sun came up and we had lots of cricket ahead of us. So you've got to move on.
"I don't think about it, perhaps just take the positives out of it."
The carefree Gibbs meanwhile said that he had managed to put the defeat behind him within hours.
"I had a bit of a hangover the next morning and that took care of that," said the dashing batsman.