Temba Bavuma had become a walking metaphor for his country’s failures before a change in coach and promotion to captain
. It was a streaky stroke in an otherwise superb knock at Newlands and was a landmark moment for a nation perpetually gripped by the horrors of its past.
Then we waited for another hundred that never came: 2016 became 2017 which became 2018 and still we waited. He scored 74 in Hobart, 89 in Dunedin and 71 against Bangladesh in Potchefstroom. In March 2018 he faced an Australia side reeling from the sandpaper-gate fiasco and struck an unbeaten 95 before Morne Morkel edged Pat Cummins to second slip. The South African fast bowler walked off in wide-eyed disbelief.
It’s hard to know when it happened but Bavuma had become a walking metaphor by the time he was dropped from the Test team in January 2020. He had become a symbol not only for the sport in the country but for the country itself. Is this really the best we had to show for more than two decades of democracy? Is this the black excellence that the ANC promised? Unfairly, he was seen by many as yet another example of a greater malaise that had infiltrated all aspects of society.
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