Durban - The 10th ICC Cricket World Cup gets underway this week in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
South Africa will be competing for the sixth time and have yet to pick up the trophy, despite being ranked a top team.
The Proteas made their first appearance in 1992 and reached the semifinals three times - in their inaugural World Cup, 1999 and 2007.
This year, the team are fourth favourites to win the title after India, Sri Lanka and Australia. BuaNews spoke to three renowned South African sport journalists to get their views on the national squad and their chances on the Asian subcontinent.
Award-winning sports journalist Rob Houwing (RH) is the chief writer at Sport24. Houwing was previously an editor at The Widen Cricketer and began his career in 1984.
Stuart Hess (SH) is the chief cricket writer at Independent Newspapers and has spent decades writing about the national cricket team. Hess will cover the World Cup for the third time.
Jeff Moloi (JM) is a former sports editor at etv. He covered the Hansie Cronje match fixing scandal extensively and now hosts sports on the afternoon drive show on KayaFM.
BuaNews: How far do you think the Proteas will go in the World Cup?
RH: The tournament is structured in such a way that they really should not struggle to make the quarter-finals. (Failure to get to that point on the journey would doubtless be deemed an absolute disgrace back home.) Then it is simply a question of peaking appropriately in the pressure-cooker knockout stage - three good games and you can land yourself the World Cup! It is a very open tournament: South Africa should be smart money to crack the semis, at least.
SH: I think they'll get to the semi-finals. Anything is possible from there.
JM: I think semi-finals.
BuaNews: Who do you think will win the World Cup and why?
RH: I find it hard to get away from a suspicion that a team from the subcontinent will prevail - most likely India - although they face massive hype and weight of expectation as the main host nation, but Sri Lanka have good credentials too. And you can never write off Pakistan, even when their cricket is in apparent turmoil or scandal. They just have a knack of going a long way - and sometimes all the way to the silverware - in key ICC tournaments. Australia's recent 6-1 series triumph over England was certainly a signal that their one-day cricket is not in as chaotic a state as their Test game, but they probably don't have the spinning strength to be able to win it.
SH: Australia. They've won the last three World Cups and the last two ICC Champions Trophy tournaments. They've got a winning pedigree that every other team lacks. Knowing how to win these kinds of tournaments is just as important as having the talent to do so and that is a significant mental advantage that the Australian team has that the others don't.
JM: Pakistan. There is no pressure on them. They're playing closest to home, albeit in hostile India. They have the talent to win any contest.
BuaNews: What do you think are the Proteas's strengths that will bode well for them?
RH: Perhaps their main asset is that they aren't being as heavily touted as usual beforehand! They may take a view that they are cheeky underdogs, capable of landing some hefty blows. Personnel-wise, their key strength is a wonderfully settled top five in batting: Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and JP Duminy will be the envy of most other nations.
SH: The top six batting is very good. Graeme Smith and Hashim Amla are a potent opening combination and the South African captain - who is skippering his country for the last time in one-day internationals at this tournament - just looks like he is ready to produce some big performances. Then there's Jacques Kallis, a modern legend and AB de Villiers and JP Duminy, who are two precocious talents. Faf du Plessis rounds out that portion of the team, and he has had a wonderful season for the Titans, and will take some good form with him into the competition.
JM: They have balance in most of the crucial departments - the pace trio of Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn and Lonwabo Tsotsobe - a balanced batting lineup with Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla as anchors. And renowned ODI spinners, led by Johan Botha.
BuaNews: What do you think are the areas they need would need to focus on?
RH: They have selected several spinners, so should not be caught too short in that essential department in Asia. But remember that lots of spinners don't automatically translate into lots of good spinners! I am not sure how seriously they plan to employ Imran Tahir - I suspect the leg-spinner may be fairly peripheral at first. The Proteas are not hugely stocked on the "death" bowling front, which could prove costly at times.
SH: Obviously the bowling. The conditions in India will favour batting, so it's important that the South African bowlers are precise in the manner in which they execute their plans. Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Morne Morkel are a very good fast bowling trio, who have pace, swing and variety in their arsenal. If they strike up front with the new ball, South Africa will go a long way in the tournament. There are a lot of spinners too - three frontliners; Johan Botha, Robin Peterson and Inmran Tahir, along with part-timers Duminy and Du Plessis. They could have a significant impact on how well South Africa do at the tournament.
JM: Confidence! That knowledge that they've self-defeated at important times in tournaments will always be there, no matter what they say. At those make-or-break situations they'll need to rely on individual brilliance - batsman or bowler.
BuaNews: The squad that was selected for the World Cup, do you feel this is the best team? Would you have included or excluded anyone?
RH: I would have tried very hard to make room for at least one power-hitter down the order. It has been a traditional strength of South African one-day cricket down the years and suddenly the cupboard will be pretty bare at the World Cup. I would have been more comfortable had one of Albie Morkel, David Miller or Justin Kemp got the nod somewhere among the 15.
SH: It's a very good squad, but it lacks a big hitter like Albie Morkel and a skilled bowler for the final overs like Rusty Theron.
JM: You can always add or minus someone, however, you can never know what team dynamics are from outside. The only thing I would have loved to see is Imran Thahir spinning a few here in SA before the team departed. After all, it'll be the first time that Graeme Smith captains a team with an attacking leg-spinner, unless they don't see him as a crucial member of the team.
BuaNews: Who would be your players to watch out for in this tournament?
RH: India's Yusuf Pathan, both as a strangling bowler and booming lower-order batsman, could be a real force at the tournament, especially if he prolongs his form shown in South Africa. I see no reason, from a South African perspective, Hashim Amla shouldn't continue his brilliant upward curve as a top-order batsman, especially in the subcontinental environment. AB de Villiers may well shine at the crease, although his wicketkeeping chore is a bit of a distraction. Shane Watson will be a key figure for Australia at the start of their innings. If Chris Gayle is in the right mood he can go ballistic, of course, and compensate for the fact that the West Indies are collectively so ordinary.
SH: India - Sachin Tendulkar; Sri Lanka - Ajantha Mendis; Pakistan - Shahid Afridi; Bangladesh - Shakib Al-Hasan; Ireland - Ed Joyce; England - Kevin Pietersen; Netherlands - Ryan ten Doeschate; West Indies - Chris Gayle; New Zealand - Brendon McCullum; Kenya - Seren Waters; Canada - John Davidson; Zimbabwe - Brendan Taylor; Australia - Ricky Ponting; South Africa - Graeme Smith
JM: Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh (India); Akmal brothers, Umar Gul (Pakistan); Morne Morkel, Hashim Amla, JP Duminy (South Africa); Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka); David Hussey (Australia).
BuaNews: Do you think the Proteas are under more pressure to perform in this World Cup than any other team?
RH: No, probably less pressure, because of the afore-mentioned slightly lower expectation this time. Also we know that the team will be significantly spring-cleaned strategically after the World Cup, regardless of what happens, as Graeme Smith steps down as ODI captain and there is also a new coach. So any cries of "fire the skipper" or "axe the coach" will be meaningless.
SH: No. That's the significant difference between this tournament and every other World Cup bar 1992, when South Africa played in their first World Cup and there were zero expectations. They got to the semifinals on that occasion and at every tournament since they've been classified as favourites, which is not the case this time. Still, there will be expectations and that will grow as that first game against the West Indies on 24 February approaches.
JM: There was more pressure when they hosted in 2003 than there'll ever be. However we still expect a lot. In all, they're not expected to win it by most, which is good for them. But that could change if they have a great start.
