Former Proteas’ cricketer Robin Peterson believes South Africa will win a Cricket World Cup soon FILE - Former Proteas’ cricketer Robin Peterson believes South Africa will win a Cricket World Cup soon. Photo: Karen Sandison/Independent Newspapers
Former Proteas allrounder Robin Peterson believes South Africa will win a Cricket World Cup in the near future.
South Africa have made it to two Cricket World Cup finals this year alone, with the men’s and women’s sides failing on both occasions to lift the trophy.
The Proteas women’s team also became the first SA side to reach a Cricket World Cup final last year on home soil.
The current upsurge in performances at the showpiece events is reason for optimism explained Peterson.
"We'll get on the mark at some point. We will win a World Cup. The longer I work in the circuit, the more I see that there's too much talent. It's about harnessing it, getting our own identity to the game and I'm sure that will fall into place," Peterson told SportsBoom.com in an exclusive interview.
"I know everybody is a little bit impatient, but if you want to build something, it takes a long time. South African cricket is still in its infancy if you think about unity, so I'm confident we will get there.”
Speaking about the women’s final earlier this month when South Africa lost to New Zealand in Dubai, Peterson said it was about navigating mental hurdles.
"It's just about players finding out about themselves, how they fit into the group mentally. I don't think that player for player, the New Zealand Women’s team is better than South Africa Women. These things are so mental at the World Cups," said Peterson.
"You have to have sufficient self-awareness around your game, how you experience pressure as a group, how to experience it individually and tackling it is probably the biggest thing because the talent is unbelievable in this country, men and women.”
"If there's anything to improve, it's tightening up on the mental side. Maybe we need to toughen up a little bit when it comes to how we handle the big moments but then again, they showed it against Australia. Even our Proteas, getting over the semi-finals, and almost beating India in the final, we will get there eventually, I have no doubt about it."