I’ve been an unapologetic supporter of Zimbabwe Cricket and its players since covering their inaugural Test match just over a quarter of a century ago. There were some great times in the early days but it has been an almost endless struggle for over a decade now. The United Cricket Board of SA and then Cricket South Africa have both made sporadic attempts play the role of big brother and help up north, but mostly not enough has been done. A decade ago, however, one of those sporadic attempts to assist the international minnows almost went spectacularly wrong…Cricket South Africa chief executive Gerald Majola averted a crisis in South African cricket on Thursday, a crisis with the potential to have brought the domestic game to a crushing halt. Zimbabwe's proposed semi-participation in the 2007-08 Supersport Series would have diminished the country's premier first-class competition to such an extent that the...
Nicky Boje has always been a batsman. Some people who watched his brilliant century in the first NZ one-dayer may be surprised. Unlike those unfortunate players who need to 'prove' it, however, poor old Nicky's problem has always been to make people REALISE it! Those 'priviledged selectors' who watched him bat at number four or five in the SA Schools side of 1989 or 1990 were unilaterial in their opinion that Nicky was a man (make that a batsman) capable of playing for South Africa and yet cricketing fate conspired to turn him into a left arm spinner. The country has always lacked spinners so, at schoolboy level, Nicky was encouraged to combine the dual role of opening the bowling with his left arm seamers followed by a few 'tweakers' in the middle of the innings. "Someone had to do it!" he laughs now. His strength has always been with...
The best performance of the second Test at Kingsmead may have come from an Australian. The best century of the three seen so far has come from Herschelle Gibbs, admittedly, and Makhaya Ntini was magnificent in claiming his second successive five-wicket haul against Brian Lara's men, but the Aussie was better. Even Jacques Kallis and Gary Kirsten were outperformed by the man most people won't have noticed much, if at all. Even batsmen with a hundred to their name play false shots and the most fastidious bowlers produce no balls, long hops and half volleys from time to time. But so far, umpire Simon Taufel has enjoyed the perfect match. He hasn't just been faultless, he's been inspired. Two lbw decisions appeared "dead" to the naked eye but half a dozen television replays confirmed that Taufel had got them dead right, not "dead" at all. Two "catches" by the wicket-keepers...
The South African national cricket team has never been picked solely on merit - and it still isn't. If it was, Martin van Jaarsveld would have played at least 30 Tests by now, possibly more. Cricket selection should be easier than in most sports given its reliance on statistics. A soccer player, for example, isn't weighed down by pub talk of his low tackle count or goals per game whereas a batsman with an average of less than 35 is frequently given looks normally reserved for transsexual cross-dressers. But as compelling an argument as statistics can make, they are are never good enough by themselves. As Van Jaarsveld. For the last three years he has scored more runs, with more hundreds, at a higher average, than anyone else in first class cricket. When there wasn't room in the national team he was, eventually, given a place in the 'A' side....
In the Bradman Museum at the Bowral Oval just outside Sydney there is a small room on the first floor with a sign which says "Strictly no entry." It's only a small room and, anyway, if it's so important that no one goes in there why don't they just close the door? And what about the "strictly" business? Is there a difference between "no entry" and "strictly no entry"? Does the first one mean "Please don't come in unless you're REALLY curious?" Needless to say, at least a quarter of the people who pass through the museum pop their heads in. It was a bit dark the day I did so all I could see was an old pair of the Don's cleaning overalls and his old bucket and mop. No wonder they didn't want it displayed. But the point is, if they hadn't put any signs up nobody would...
Five years ago the drive from Faisalabad to Rawalpindi was one the scariest experiences of the national squad's collective life. The bus driver was clearly under instructions to maintain his speed above 50 kilometres an hour at all times and never, ever to drop below that speed - through traffic lights, circles, impromptu street markets and...oncoming traffic. The experience this time could not have been more different for Graeme Smith and his men. It's difficult to know why and how the economy of Pakistan has done so well with wars going on around them, but a magnificent, brand new highway now exists between the cities allowing children to play with their dogs in safety. The SA national team's safety was also paramount on Wednesday's drive with the jeeps and motorcycle outriders providing security that was not only classified as presidential but looked and felt like it, too. But if it...
Plumbers fix leaks, fishermen catch fish and bankers charge too much. Electricians install lighting and cricketers play cricket, which is why they employ journalists to help with columns. Sometimes 'ghost writing' can be a lonely business. You really can feel like a ghost because the man whose name appears above the words in the newspaper is a little too pre-occupied with other things to find time, let alone quality time, to gather his thoughts. Often a newspaper editor will request that a certain subject be addressed by his 'star' which can make the job of being the 'ghost' considerably easier. On the recent tour of England it was my great pleasure - and I mean that sincerely - to help Graeme Smith with a column for an English newspaper. Things may change in the years ahead, but the captain was thoughtful, honest and interesting about every subject he touched upon....
If South Africa avoid defeat during the fifth and final Test against England at the Oval, and win their first series in the country for 38 years, there will be an Englishman in their dressing room cheering as loudly as any of the players. Sports psychologist Michael Finnigan, from the agency Advance Performance, heralds from Preston in the north of England and had never even met the South African players before the Test series began. But the demoralising thrashing in the Natwest one-day final at Lord's prompted some drastic changes from coach Eric Simons. Finnigan was contacted and traveled immediately to Arundel where South Africa were playing India 'A' in a first class warm-up match. "I was amazed how low their confidence had fallen," he admitted in an interview during the Oval Test. "They are such proud people and they needed to see they were over-reacting," Finnigan said. "I think...
There is salt for the gaping wounds of the loss against the West Indies and it is the unpalatable but unavoidable truth that it was never that close. Three runs and a mile, they are the same thing. The match was lost much, much earlier than the final dramatic overs. Mark Boucher spoke for the whole team when he said they wanted to "do it the hard way" before the tournament began. He was not, of course, referring to losing the opening game. He meant the team were not afraid of any eventuality, that they were prepared to face the hardships and difficulties that inevitably accompany a tournament lasting over six weeks and that they expected no favours. Now is the first, and possibly most testing, of those difficult times. The team spent three days getting to know each other in the Drakensburg, trying to understand how they might react...
This may be bad news for United Cricket Board officials and administrators, but Graeme Smith's squad may be about to hit their first snag in England. They remain tightly knit as a unit, they are happy and they are confident. But there are some massive doubts and insecurities just around the corner. The good news is that they do not concern the tour of England, and least of all the fifth and decisive Test at the Oval next week. The bad news, however, is that they could cause divisions, anxieties and doubts serious enough to affect performances during that match. A mere nine days after they are due to return to South Africa, most of this squad will be required to board a plane to Pakistan. The vast majority are very, very reluctant. It is not an exaggeration to say that some are feeling desperate. Furthermore, some have said they...