Wednesday's World Cup semi-final against reigning champions Australia could have been the perfect opportunity to deliver some serious pay-back for that dreaded 1999 Edgbaston tie, but, yet again, we failed to deliver on the day.

But to be honest, despite the Proteas being the number-one ranked ODI team in the world until halfway through the tournament, we were beaten by a better team on the day. A much better team. I have a slightly different viewpoint from most other members of the cricket-followers fraternity regarding the defeat, however.

I am actually rather glad that we were beaten by Australia, again.

I think it is fitting for the South African public in general and the media specifically, for the way certain players in the squad has been treated.

Let me elaborate somewhat...

If we look back at the Proteas' first defeat in the tournament - against the self-same Australian side in St Kitts and Nevis, Jacques Kallis was made the scapegoat for his innings of 48 off 63 deliveries, chasing the world champions' mammoth 377. Whether Kallis' judgment regarding the tempo he batted at was flawed or not, the 31-year-old Capetonian was lambasted in the media for his innings. Even cricketers as experienced and as comfortable with their own games as Kallis, are not immune to criticism, especially criticism so wide across the board.

That influence could be seen in the way Kallis batted for the rest of the tournament, especially in the defeats to New Zealand, Bangladesh in the Super Eights and to Australia in the semi-finals. In all three those defeats Kallis came out guns blazing when the good old steady Jacques Kallis getting his runs at a strike rate of 70-odd would have been the right approach. Kallis seemed to be a man on a mission, a mission to dislodge his reputation of a grafter, rather than a stroke-player.

Against Bangladesh, Kallis came to the wicket in the sixth over after Graeme Smith backed away from his stumps and was castled by Syed Rasel. (Smith's dismissal yesterday was virtually a carbon copy of that dismissal - stepping away from his wickets against left-armer Nathan Bracken and was clean bowled.) Against both Bangladesh and Australia, Kallis came to the wicket intent on scoring quickly. His brisk innings of 32 against the 'Tigers' came at virtually a-run-a-ball, before he was dismissed playing an adventurous shot. His brief soirée yesterday saw him dismissed - again - playing an utterly out-of-character Kallis stroke right after he had smashed Glenn McGrath through extra cover. Let's not forget that this type of attitude by, undoubtedly the best player in the Proteas team, is exactly what the South African media called for - "a more daring Jacques Kallis".

Against New Zealand, Kallis was once again at the crease early, on what was afterwards labelled "a damp, green Test wicket". In my humble opinion, Kallis and Herschelle Gibbs did rather well to guide SA to 12/2 after 10 overs. At the start of the 20th over of the South African innings - bowled by Daniel Vettori - Kallis once again seemed hell-bent on ending his reputation as an accumulator; rather than a dasher in Gibbs's mould and it came as no surprise when he skied the ball to wide mid-off, instead of depositing it in the stands. In this situation surely Gibbs should have been the one to make the proverbial move? Let's not forget, however, that this is exactly the attitude the South African media called for - "a more daring Jacques Kallis".

I find it rather interesting that of the four games the Proteas lost in the Caribbean, three of those defeats occurred when Kallis played the way the media called for. I'm not suggesting that we would have won all of those - perhaps not even any of them - if Kallis played like he has done for the past 11 years, but we surely would have gotten a lot closer?

If Kallis's methods over the past decade have been so pedantic and plainly said, slow, then surely he would not have been the most sought-after scalp in the Proteas top-order for the last five or so seasons?

So I would like to thank the media for turning undoubtedly the best batsman South Africa has produced since re-admission into a failed Herschelle Gibbs wannabe. Another disappointing World Cup campaign is exactly what you deserve.

Did Kallis buckle under the media's pressure? Do you agree with Barend? Email us your views!