• The Proteas have secured a new team identity following the completion of a five-day culture camp.
• South African cricket has been at the heart of Black Lives Matter conversations in sport.
• The camp was attended by 32 players as well as coaching staff and support staff.

Proteas management says the team has mapped out a new way forward following the completion of a five-day culture camp in Skukuza.

The camp, which saw 32 players as well as the coaching and support staff come together, ended on Saturday. 

It has been a testing time for cricket in South Africa. 

The sport has been placed at the centre of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) conversation ever since seamer Luni Ngidi voiced his support of the movement at the beginning of July. 

Ngidi’s stance was criticised by a small group of former Proteas, which effectively opened the door for an emotional conversation around race in cricket that has only gathered in momentum. 

Along the way, former players and coaches have vocalised their own experiences of loneliness, exclusion and racism within the South African cricket structures over the years and it has all shined a renewed spotlight on Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) commitment to transformation. 

On July 18 at SuperSport Park in Centurion, all players took a knee in support of BLM before the first ball of the day. 

CSA is also in administrative ruins presently, while with the coronavirus pandemic has ensured that the Proteas have not played international cricket since March.

The culture camp, which was originally meant to take place ahead of the suspended Sri Lanka tour, presented an opportunity to take stock. 

The camp included the 16 contracted members of the national men’s team as well as the high-performance squad.

“The camp was aimed at bringing together players as well as the coaching and support staff of the national and high-performance teams to align on objectives and plot the road ahead with a new cricket season not too far from beginning,” a CSA statement read on Tuesday.

“Topics under discussion included the Proteas’ team identity in their capacity as representatives of our diverse nation, the team environment as well as its performance both on and off the field. 

“After vigorous, open and honest conversations and consultation with the guidance of the camp’s facilitators, Mahlatse Mashua and Ruan Botha, the squad arrived at a 100% synergized approach. The team’s identity or DNA is built on shared values, ground rules, philosophies and belief systems, with a heavy focus on the first two mentioned.”

The statement continued to map out the key taings from the camp: 

Team Values: 

Belonging – The team needed to ensure it firmed up and left no room for misunderstanding in the inclusivity of its environment. It is a platform where everyone can be themselves and be an equal member within the team space. 

Empathy – Every team member must be able to freely share how they feel, and individuals must be willing to ‘take a walk in another member’s shoes’ and listen with the intention to understand and not respond. 

Respect – Team members will respect themselves, they will have respect for others, for the environment and the badge. The Proteas are honoured to and responsible for representing the people of South Africa everywhere they go, both on and off the field. 

Rules of engagement: 

Every member of the team must be free to be themselves without fear of judgement. Everyone is of equal importance to the system. 

Team manager, Khomotso Volvo Masubelele, said that the camp would be extremely beneficial to the future of the group.  

“I need to highlight that the planning for this camp began at the beginning of last season. The plan was to have this camp prior to the tour to Sri Lanka but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, everything had to be put off,” he said. 

“The camp demonstrated that regular conversations and prioritizing the so-called ‘soft skills’ work is as critical to the performance of the team as are the on-field strategies, training and development aspects. The players also demonstrated a capacity to have the hard conversations and how to prioritise agreement and the need to listen to understand, rather than to respond. They have learned to move away from arguing their way through conversations, to feeling their way into the conversations through story-telling and guided conversations and first-person narration. 

“We moved from addressing issues to addressing people, from contention to conversation. It highlighted the need for education and showed that no matter what level a player enters the team environment, there is importance in touching base with everyone and having awareness of what it means for them to be Proteas.

“The camp also highlighted the importance of listening, understanding and acknowledging the experiences of others and through that, allowed the group to move into a space where it could concentrate of the performance model that the team feels they are a part of.

“It is a model that they can own and be proud to have formulated something that can outlive them and be there for future generations of Proteas.”

– Compiled by Lloyd Burnard