Maketa: Style is important but results are all that matter

PEER pressure is often an underrated element, but Proteas interim coach Malibongwe Maketa claims his team won’t lose focus of their primary goal of returning to winning ways in Australia.

The Proteas are placed second on the ICC World Test championship standings and are still well-placed to secure a spot in next year’s final at The Oval, but they are coming off a 2-1 defeat to England in September.

However, it is not just the series defeat that will be hovering in the minds of the Proteas, but the fact that England under coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes are revolutionising the way the five-day game is played.

England’s thrilling victory over Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Monday only further entrenched this exciting and entertaining brand of positive cricket, that all teams may now look to replicate going forward.

The Proteas, though, have their own style that has been described as gritty, tenacious and character-filled which is quite the contrast to England’s current mantra.

But it has been successful, and led them to their lofty position on the ICC table, and Maketa feels that as long as they return to winning ways it will not matter how the result is achieved.

“There are different takes to getting people into the ground. If you start winning then people will still come to the ground,” Maketa told reporters from Australia on Tuesday morning.

“This new era for cricket where T20 is really dominating, and pulling the crowds. If you look back at the Australia of old, they made it their goal to score at around fours, and that got people into the ground and they were still winning cricket games. So, that was a win-win situation for them.

“For us, it's really about going out there and winning. We know back home people will support a winning team regardless of what happens. That’s what we are looking to set our stalls on. Obviously, we want to play a good brand of cricket, but first and foremost Test cricket is there to be played over five days and if that means winning in the final session, we will take that.”

Maketa and his team begin their preparations for the first Test against the Australians at the Gabba from Deecmber 17 with a four-day warm-up game on Friday at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane.

“It won’t be a first-class game, so that works in our favour, because we want all the batters to bat, and all the bowlers to have a bowl so that we can monitor them after going hard for the first three days we were here,” he said.

“It is important for us, luckily some of our guys are coming off some good performances back home. But getting here and being exposed to the wickets, this game is very crucial for us, and it's important for each and everyone of us.”