The Temba way: Neither accident nor fluke

The rise of Temba Bavuma was nothing short of a cricketing fairytale.

The Test Championship Mace did not exist in cricket’s early years before the two World Wars, the golden age in the 1970s and 1980s, and the era of the sport’s physical and mental transformation in the 1990s and 2000s. But one can imagine Don Bradman lifting the crown as captain of The Invincibles, or Clive Lloyd and Vivian Richards being hailed as champion leaders with West Indies in the 1970s and 1980s, or Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting

Temba Bavuma with his son while holding the ICC Test Championship Mace. (Reuters)