Proteas' year of enduring achievement

And AB de Villiers could achieve similar or even greater dominance when the 2009 edition of the Mutual &Federal awards ceremony.

During the period under review the Proteas have achieved unparalleled success in the history of South African cricket, either before or after unity, winning away Test series in both England and Australia and both the home and away ODI series against Australia.
During this period they won 21 out of 37 matches in all three formats of the international game against England, Kenya, Bangladesh and Australia.

This breaks down into seven Test victories and four defeats, 11 ODI victories with seven defeats and two no results, and three Pro20 victories as against two defeats and one no result.

The overall record against Australia, who were the world No. 1 ranked team in both Test and ODI cricket going into the summer was 12 victories and eight defeats which is something that no South African team has ever achieved before.

The cherry on the top was to finish the summer rated the No. 1 ODI team in the world and to be hot on Australia's heels as the No. 2 ranked side in the Test match arena.

South Africa have been ranked No. 1 in ODI cricket before for brief periods of time but this was the first time they had actually become No. 1 by dethroning Australia - and this was a significant difference.

Steyn had another very good summer as was illustrated by his 34 wickets in six Tests against Australia but, if Steyn's form was very good as were several others such as Paul Harris, Graeme Smith, JP Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince and Hashim Amla, De Villiers was absolutely brilliant.

He average 60 or better in both the home and away ODI series against Australia and hit no fewer than three centuries in the six Test matches for an average of 75. If you throw in the England series as well, then Prince, who was restricted by injury, also hit three centuries but De Villiers, of course, got a fourth from his stand with Prince at Headingley that set up a notable victory.

The pundits will have to argue whether Smith's unbeaten 150 at Edgbaston, De Villiers' unbeaten century at Perth, Duminy's maiden century at Melburne or Prince's 150 at Sahara Park Newlands was the Test innings of the year. It is certainly a wonderful choice of epic moments.

As far as the bowling went, Steyn's 10 wickets at Melbourne must stand out, particularly as he also made a career-best 80 as well, for one of the finest South African all-round performances of all time. Harris certainly ran him close with his nine wickets at Sahara Park Newlands and the left arm spinner is the most improved bowler in world cricket, getting into the top 10 in the world Test rankings.
De Villiers has arguably established himself as the best fielder in world cricket with Duminy also a contender for this award while Mark Boucher continues to extend his record as the most successful wicketkeeper in Test cricket and the second (after Adam Gilchrist) to complete the 400 double in both formats of the game.

Johan Botha also achieved significant process as a leading bowler in ODI cricket and an impressive stand-in captain for Smith in limited overs cricket.

Finally, there was Jacques Kallis' double of 10 000 runs in both Test and ODI cricket, 250 wickets in Test cricket and 247 wickets in ODI cricket. He has also taken more than 100 catches in both these formats of the game to make him the greatest cricketer produced under the banner of Cricket South Africa.