Pretoria: South Africa do not deserve to go into next year's World Cup with a reputation for choking, fast bowler Dale Steyn said yesterday.
South Africa have exited the 50-over showpiece tournament in three semi-finals, a quarter-finals and in the first round of the 2003 event they hosted. In May, they were knocked out of the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies in the second group stage despite being one of the favourites.
They are still licking their wounds from that disappointment and are attending a conditioning camp at Pretoria University's high performance centre but Steyn said the "chokers" tag struck a nerve because it was unfair on a side with fresh blood in it.
"This team is made up of a lot of young guys who will play for South Africa for a long time. Why are we being called chokers, a lot of us have never been to a World Cup before!
"It was extremely disappointing what happened in the West Indies, but we have another opportunity at the end of this season and hopefully we can get this monkey off our back."
