Exclusive: WTC Glory ‘Puts Old Demons to Bed’ – Van der Dussen on Steyn, AB and Proteas Redemption

Proteas batter Rassie van der Dussen believes that winning the World Test Championship at Lord's last week will inspire the South African public to take the Proteas seriously again, and reckons that the victory has healed old wounds from former players Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers, etc.

The Impact

Cricket in the country has had to endure a steep downfall in the recent past due to a host of different reasons, including the incompetent governance of the game at Cricket South Africa.

As a result, the team has gone from having big sponsors to having none, as sponsors wanted to distance themselves from the sport. Like the sponsors, the interest from the general public in following the Proteas teams also dwindled.

However, in the last two to three years, Cricket South Africa has been on an upward trend, having made changes in personnel within the organisation.

Having won the World Test Championship last week at Lord's, Proteas player Rassie van der Dussen believes that the team has won the hearts of the public again.

"I think what impact it will have is, it will make people take Proteas cricket seriously again. The reason I say this is because in the last few years, even though we've got to the semi-finals, people always compare cricket and rugby. It's like the cricket is good, but rugby wins World Cups type of thing," Van der Dussen told SportsBoom.co.za in an exclusive interview.

"After all the stuff that the CSA board went through in the early 2020s, and all that political drama, it's almost like people weren't taking Cricket South Africa and the Proteas by extension, they weren't taking them seriously, and they weren't taking us seriously. They were like, if you win, it's a bonus type of thing."

"But even the narrative leading up to this final, it's like, yeah, the Proteas only played the lesser teams and snuck into the final. It's like, what do you have to do to get the credit that you deserve? And I think this win now, it's going to do that. It's going to make people sit up and say, you know what?"

"They're actually doing some good things at Cricket South Africa, and the Proteas are actually doing some good things. I think it's a culmination of years of, I want to say graft, and years of being honest, and putting in good work, and getting the right people in the right places, and years of good guys just putting their head down, and putting in the work, and keeping believing."

"It's a culmination of all that, because like I said, in the last few years, it's always been like, the Springboks are the main thing, and I'm not taking anything away from them, obviously. We all love our rugby, and what they've done for the country has been amazing. But I just think this win is going to, we haven't won four World Cups yet, but almost in a way, just put us on the same level, and people that realise that, listen, cricket is also serious about what they're doing."

Healing Old Wounds

After Kyle Verreynne hit the winning runs at Lord's and secured the Test mace for South Africa, former players, including Dale Steyn and AB de Villiers, seemed emotional.

Van der Dussen believes that the Proteas winning the World Test Championship is an achievement that not only belongs to the 15 players who were in the squad at Lord's, but also belongs to the likes of Steyn and De Villiers, who helped pave the way for this current crop of players.

"This is a feat that goes hand in hand with the song that the Proteas sing: the fire stays burning, to those before us, and those to come, we play together as one."

"The song started in the times when the Proteas fire started with Graeme (Smith) and AB and Dale, that batch. I think it's actually AB that was the main driver behind it. So I want to say it started in 2010, somewhere there. It was really just a song acknowledging, as the words say, to the guys that's been there, to the guys that's going to come," said Van der Dussen.

"And just an acknowledgement of that, if you get to sing that song, you're a cog in this engine that keeps going, and it's not yours to keep. It's making the most of it while the sun is shining on you and trying to better the environment and the team, and leave the team in a better space. But acknowledging and knowing that there's going to be someone behind you as well, that's going to pick up the mantle."

"I think it's just a fitting sort of tribute. They showed all the ex-Proteas being there, and Dale was quite emotional when he had his interview. There were 15 guys there, but I think it's come such a long way in putting to bed a lot of things that guys have been dealing with and carrying on themselves."

"Through all those ICC events and all those knockout matches that we lost, there are moments and guys that feel responsible for that, and this puts to bed that. The song is sort of just keep the fire burning. That's what it stays. We make a big thing in the Proteas set up of explaining the song to the new guys coming in, what's the significance of it, and what does it mean."