London: South Africa great Graeme Pollock said the Proteas will have to accept being a “middle-of-the-road” Test side at best if they stick with racial transformation as a key component of selection.
Transformation is designed to cope with the legacy of apartheid, when largely only white players such as Pollock, one of the greatest batsmen in cricket history, were allowed to play for official South Africa sides.
Pollock accepts players of his era could have done more to help their non-white counterparts, but is concerned the balance has now swung too far in the opposite direction after South Africa “got it right when Graeme Smith was captain” (from 2003 to his retirement in 2014).
South Africa are 1-0 down in a four-match series against England after a crushing 211-run defeat inside four days at Lord’s last week.
Pollock believes political reasons are undermining South Africa’s long-term competitiveness as a Test nation.
“The major thing is the problem with the politics and interference with the selection of players,” Pollock said at a meeting of cricket enthusiasts in London.
“It’s affecting the performance of the side — they don’t put the 11 best players on the field. It’s never going to change. As South Africans, we’ve got to accept that South Africa are going to be middle of the road in their future Test cricket.”
As of last August, Cricket South Africa defined the transformation policy as one where national teams should include on average and across all formats, six players of colour, of which two must be black African.
The target at domestic level is a stricter six players of colour per side per match, of which three must be black African.
