PJ Claasen threw back his head and laughed long and hard. The sound was bright and boisterous, and it filled a school hall on an otherwise serene Sunday afternoon some 65 kilometres east of Cape Town.

Claasen's mirth leapt around the large room, flooding the ears of the audience who had come to hear him talk about his book "The Bok Way: Unlocking the Springboks' secrets to performance, culture and success in business" at the Franschhoek Literary Festival.

Lester Kiewet, the radio host and cricket aficionado who interviewed Claasen, had prompted the clamour by asking the author what the Proteas needed to do to win a World Cup.

The Boks have won four of them, more than any other men's rugby team. The Proteas have won none, despite going to several tournaments as the favourites. Or playing themselves into pole position only to lose when it mattered.

Like they did at this year's men's T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and India, where they sailed into the semifinals unbeaten after seven games - earning wins of Afghanistan, New Zealand, India and West Indies along the way - but then crashed and burned to go down to the Kiwis by nine wickets.

The men have yet to reach an ODI World Cup final. The women have been to three in less than three years in both white-ball formats. And lost all of them.

So Claasen's guffawing echoed hurtfully among the cricket-minded people in the hall. To rugby people, it seemed, South Africa's cricket teams were a joke. To hear this from outside the cricket bubble was awkward and uncomfortable. The bubble burst with a painful pop.

The Proteas? Win a World Cup? Yeah, right. Funny!

Once he was done laughing Claasen bemoaned "all of those times the Proteas found a way not to win. It broke my heart every single bloody time."

But he also spoke of the WTC final at Lord's in June last year, when South Africa beat Australia: "We were sitting there waiting for it not to happen, but it actually happened and it was such a proud moment."

And he had something like hope for the future: "I think it's going to happen and they're going to get over the line. But I can't explain [why South Africa haven't won a World Cup]."

Doing so is the most important achievement in international cricket. If South Africa don't claim a World Cup - particularly the men's ODI version - they could win the WTC forever more and not move the needle on their standing among their own fans and those from other countries. Even the women's team bringing home the trophy from the T20 World Cup in England in June and July wouldn't do so significantly. That isn't fair, but it is how it is.

So the fuss about tour operators being allocated 39% of the tickets for the Test against England at Newlands in January is curious. What do they know of World Cups who only World Cups know? But Newlands fancies itself as different; as a place where Test cricket reigns supreme.

If that was true Cape Town Tests would sell out more often than not. They aren't. Attendances there are better than at most other South African grounds, but - as is the case elsewhere in the country - the stands are sparsely populated unless India, England or Australia are in town. Even then, empty seats appear after the first day. Yet Capetonians are carrying on as if someone has stolen their full English breakfast.

It's simplistic to think anyone has a god-given right to be able to buy a ticket to any match anywhere. It's snobbish to think a Newlands Test is more special than others. And it's stupid to think CSA's top priority isn't monetising to the hilt the only assets they have: their teams.

Of course, it's also naive to think CSA couldn't possibly mess this up. The organisation has long had an unfortunate talent for self-harm, and even though it has been in more sensible hands in recent years it still struggles to communicate itself out of a wet paper bag.

At 9.30am (South Africa time) on Monday it sent out a release saying tickets for the coming season were on sale online, "inviting fans across the country to come together for a summer filled with fierce rivalries in world cricket". Chief executive Pholetsi Moseki was quoted as encouraging "supporters to secure their tickets early".

How early? There was no explanation in the release about the chunk of tickets for the Newlands Test that had been carved out of the total for tour operators and other considerations, as there should have been. Minutes after the remaining tickets were made available they were snapped up.

That prompted another release, which landed at 7.40pm on Tuesday and said the Newlands Test was "currently sold out, with additional general access tickets scheduled to be released at a later stage". Only then did CSA reveal that 39% of the tickets had not been available at 9.30am on Monday. Nothing was said about the many other tickets that were also not up for grabs.

Thus part of this mess is of CSA's making. But not all of it.

Arsenal's supporters aren't demanding that next Saturday's Champions League final against Paris Saint-Germain should be in London. Neither are PSG's fans arguing for the match to be in the French capital. Like the Gooners they know that, if they want to be there, they will need a ticket for the Puskas Arena in Budapest.

But, deep in the bosom of privileged, exceptionalist Cape Town, there is outrage. "How dare they? Do they know who we are?"

And that from people who will be able to watch a Test against Australia in October. How many Tests do they want? They might well think every match South Africa play should be at Newlands. "If England's football team play almost all their internationals at Wembley and almost all their rugby internationals at Twickenham, why shouldn't Newlands be the home of cricket in South Africa?"

The thought that the Wanderers or Centurion, which will also host two Tests each in the coming summer, might deserve that honour doesn't cross Capetonians' minds. Because that would mean they would have to leave their precious city to attend matches. Just like the millions of fans of England's men's football and rugby teams who do not live in London have to do...

Dear Capetonians: you are not special. You just think you are. Get over yourselves already.