There have been mixed feelings about the Proteas’ World Cup campaign amongst fans. Some think that the campaign was a disaster, some think it was a success and then there are those who sit in the middle. So what was it?

The first step when identifying whether this World Cup was a success or not, is to remove the emotions from the equation and track the Proteas’ journey leading up to the campaign.

Let’s start with their record in ODI series’ from 1 January 2022, till the completion of the tournament.

The Proteas played India at home, Bangladesh at home, England away, India away, England at home, West Indies at home, Netherlands at home and Australia at home.

The results were as follows:

India series at home (starting 19 Jan 2022) – Won
Bangladesh series at home (starting 18 March 2022) – Lost
England series away (starting 19 July 2022) – Drawn
India series away (starting 6 Oct 2022) – Lost
England series at home (starting 27 Jan 2023) – Won
West Indies series at home (starting 18 Mar 2023) – drawn
Netherlands series at home (starting 31 March 2023) – Won
Australia series at home (starting 7 Sep 2023) – Won

Something to be aware of is that these results marked the end of the Mark Boucher era and into the Rob Walter era. Walter was appointed before England’s tour to South Africa in January 2023, but Shukri Conrad was in charge as interim coach of the side while Walter completed his stint in New Zealand.

A notable issue during this period was the Proteas’ ability to score totals of above 300. In 12 matches played, they only managed one 300-plus score – 333/5 against England away on 19 July 2022.

The year prior to that India series at home (1 Jan 2021 – 18 Jan 2022), the Proteas only managed one score above 300 – 346/4 against Ireland away on 16 July 2021.

During that period, they lost to Pakistan at home, drew to Ireland away, lost to Sri Lanka away and beat the Netherlands in one game in South Africa ( which was part of the Super League qualifications series that was completed in March 2023).

There was a significant turnaround since Boucher left his position and the new guard took over.

Firstly, they managed to dig themselves out of a hole, where playing World Cup qualifiers was looking inevitable. They managed to qualify for the World Cup.

Secondly, they managed to score above 300 four times in a short period, which included 416 against Australia in a comeback charge to win the series leading up to the ICC World Cup 2023. They also went unbeaten during this period, drawing to the West Indies being the only frown-able result.

This has to be looked at as a major improvement from the 2 years prior, when many fans lost belief in the ability of the Proteas in the ODI format. There were quite a few players out of form and their ability to impress with the bat was a major concern, in a world where other teams were setting the standard of scoring above 300 in an innings consistently.

Before the World Cup, there were still a lot of murmurs around the Proteas’ chances, remembering that they only managed to qualify to participate in the showpiece by the skins of their teeth. The major concern was the batting, and that’s why it was highlighted in this piece.

As the tournament began, the precedent was set with record-breaking batting performances. They scored above 300 five times, in conditions that were problematic for the Proteas unit in the past.

The narrative quickly changed from the Proteas not being mentioned as a team likely to make the semi-finals, to a team that was one of the favourites to make the final!

South Africa also managed to beat some teams in this campaign that they were never able to beat in previous World Cup attempts.

Unfortunately, they crashed out to eventual champions Australia, who played amazing knock-out cricket to win their 6th trophy, beating hosts and favourites India with ease.

As a fan who has kept a close eye on the Proteas over the period mentioned in this article, for Rob Walter to turn around the mentality and ability of these players from a struggle unit, into one of the favourites to winning a tournament, is an undeniable positive.

We can now only hope that he can continue to mould this unit into a championship-winning side.