WORLD CUP CRICKET 2011 - Decision time for Proteas...?

It is time soon for our Cricket boys to kick off their 2011 campaign in a sixth attempt to win the biggest crown in International one-day cricket. Will this be the year for the Proteas, or will they fall flat on their face once more...?

Our opening match will be against the unpredictable West Indies side and this time around we do not want to start our WC the way it did in 2003 when we lost our opening match, on home soil, against the very same West Indies side. 

What sort of side will they select to play in this all important opener, because we want to start with a very positive result to give us immediate momentum going into the rest of the month-long tournament? Our selectors, coach and captain Graeme Smith have a few difficult choices to make? Will they go for the tried-and-tested players, or will an unexperienced spinner like Tahir get the nod? What will it be?

This is the moment in a International sports persons career where decisions can influence the outcome and

success of your efforts to a huge degree. In team sport it is even more important to make the correct choices, because it has an influence on more than one persons life and career. Will they be willing to take a few calculated risks? In the past South African sport teams have made very conservative choices and never took any major chances. They might need to change that way of thinking soon...

We absolutely do not want to find ourselves in a position where we feel we need to make sudden and hopeless choices - a position where we stand a chance to be knocked out prematurely and we find ourselves in a desperate moment in time, because we were too conservative upfront.  I say, bring in the talents of Tahir. None of the opposition teams know him at all and this may just count in our favour?

Good luck to our boys for Thursday's opening encounter and we stand behind you all the way, NO matter what...!