Real Pressure…because of her

Often, cricketers are rated by their ability to perform under pressure. This would be one particular reason why the Proteas are struggling right now – just not enough players with big match temperament (BMT). Looking back at SA cricketers since readmission, there are very few players who would qualify as being excellent at performing under pressure and having that BMT. Those who quickly come to mind as being part of the unique group are Kepler Wessels, Hansie Cronje, Jonty Rhodes, Daryll Cullinan, Gary Kirsten, Lance Klusener, Shaun Pollock and Fanie de Villiers. Sadly, none of those players are playing anymore in SA teams.

Kepler Wessels would be one of the better SA cricketers with BMT because many occasions he’d be batting with some sort of injury or niggle, something that would deter many other cricketers.

Internationally, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne, Shiv Chanderpaul, Danny Vettori and Adam Gilchrist are those in recent years who share the limelight with the unique group of players who have BMT.

There is one player in international cricket who probably performed better under extreme pressure than ANY other player ever to play the game. Glenn Donald McGrath has to be one of Australia’s greatest fast bowlers ever. He was consistent with his line and length, plus he often picked up vital wickets in all forms of the game.

During his last few years of international representation, knowing that his wife was at home with their 2 children, suffering with various bouts of cancer, he continued to perform better than ever before. As time went on and the cancer got worse, McGrath continued to perform better and better. The psychological impact on his mind must have been excruciating, yet he continued to take wickets and intimidate the best batsmen.

Finally, in December 2006, enough was enough. McGrath decided it was time to hang up the boots and return to his wife’s side. A true champion of the game, he excelled under the harshest conditions – the knowledge that his wife was suffering from breast, hip and brain cancer.

 Earlier this year, Glenn and his wife Jane were appointed members of the Order of Australia in recognition of their services to community health and establishing the McGrath Foundation – a foundation aimed at inspiring thousands of women who suffer from breast cancer.

 

Even towards the end, Mrs. McGrath insisted that Glenn continue his dream and play in the IPL. She wanted things to continue as normal. With all the circumstances in mind, Glenn bowled brilliantly in the IPL and was the most consistent bowler in the tournament along with Shaun Pollock.

On June 22nd, the pressure that McGrath had been playing under for so many years ended. His wife had passed away after complications during a surgery. The whole cricket world mourns her loss.

Glenn McGrath, AM, can leave cricket as being the man who performed under the type of pressure that is foreign to international cricketers. Facing the new-ball pair of Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose or bowling at the Waugh twins cannot come close to the type of pressure that McGrath faced over the last few years.

The cricket world should take their hats off to Mrs. Jane McGrath, as it was because of her that the world got to see one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time in action. It was because of her that he continued to take wickets more and more each passing day. It is because of her that cricketers can learn to play under great pressure.

It is because of her that we can learn to give more…than receive. 

 

 

 

Great players come second…

About 16 years ago, I read an article in the South African Sports Illustrated entitled, “Nice guys come second”, and it was about Dave Richardson.  True, South Africa were still new in the international cricket arena after many years of isolation, but even then it was apparent that Richardson’s genial manner behind the stumps was never going to allow him to steal the spotlight.  Even when he scored 93 and 100+ in the New Zealand test series in 1994/95, his performances were overshadowed by the excellent bowling of Fanie de Villiers.

The game has certainly evolved, but one thing remains constant is that nice guys, and even great players, are not bigger than the administrators of cricket.  Loyalty is not a word that is found in the vocabulary of many cricket administrators around the world.

Just look at Steve Waugh.  There’s a difference between being dropped because you’re performing badly and being scooted out because administrators and coaches are wanting to go in a different direction.  Steve Waugh, after more than 12 years of test cricket and 5 as captain, he deserved better than to be shunned away from the Australian setup.  His form in limited-overs cricket may have been dwindling, but he still had done enough to warrant a place in the 2003 World Cup team, even if it was just for the morale boost of the younger players.

It has happened frequently in the South African National setup, where great players have been discarded.  In recent years, it has happened to Lance Klusener, Nico Boje, Andrew Hall, Andre Nel and the biggest of all, Shaun Pollock.  There is question as to whether those players deserved to be dropped.  My answer is “no”.  Klusener, Boje, Pollock and Hall were unceremoniously pushed out of the national setup…they had no chance.  Polly was the number 3 bowler in the world at the time of his sacking, and the final test at Kingsmead that he played, proved what a contributor he was.  That won’t change, he’ll perform wherever he goes, as can be seen in the IPL and the current ECB Twenty20 tournament. 

This sort of attitude has filtered down to the local scene.  At the end of last season, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince and Mark Boucher were dropped for the Cape Cobras’ vital Pro20 playoff match.  Maybe not dropped, just not selected since they hadn’t played any matches for the Cobras prior to that.  Two months later, coach Shukri Conrad has come out to say that Kallis and Boucher were not good enough to make his team.

That statement would have had “The Don” or WG turning in their graves.  The best all-rounder in the world (Kallis) and one of South Africa’s most explosive batsmen (Boucher) were being told that they were not good enough to play in a semi-final. 

While both players, along with Prince, have indicated that this was not the primary reason for their move from the western cape franchise to the Eastern Cape Warriors, this certainly would have added to whatever problems they were having previously.

This is all just another example of how no matter how excellent of a player you are, you will never be a true winner because the administrators will always have the final say.  Kallis but in 12 years at Western Province.  Prince put in 10.  The least the Western Province Cricket Union could have done was ensure that these two were rewarded for their loyalty to the Union.

Watch this space, as there will be more to come…and no doubt, more South African cricket making the headlines for the wrong reasons.

“…for players of colour to compete.”

Boeta Dippenaar’s comments in last week’s CricInfo article reminded me of something I had written in a cricket magazine many years ago.  I don’t recall the title, but I had written a letter to the editor of the now-retired SA Cricket Action magazine in 2001/02, regarding players leaving our shores to go for the lucrative Pound.  At the time I was mostly referring to Kevin Pietersen, but had also mentioned Nic Pothas, Shaun Adam and a few others. 

At the time of penning that article, I was concerned about the 5-6 players who had left SA because of the quota systems put in place by the National Sports Council.  I had asked the question, “is it the intent of the Minister of Sports to scare away good cricket players who happen to be white?” 

Perhaps 7 years ago I had been privileged to gaze into the crystal ball with a knowledge of things to come.  If that were the case, I had not read the “prophecy” very well because I had never dreamed of today’s results.  Never did I think that the SA-Kolpak XI would almost be a stronger outfit than the current national team.

Last week Boeta Dippenaar revealed to the country what I was hoping to convey 7 years ago regarding the quotas and the mismanagement of them. 

He acknowledged that we were losing too many great white cricketers to foreign shores.  One only has to look at this week’s scorecards from the County Championships to realize what he was referring to.  This morning I glanced at the Warwickshire scorecard and discovered 4 South Africans playing for them.

Shortly after Dippenaar’s statement, the South African Cricketers Association’s Tony Irish was very quick to release a counter-statement, saying that the players fully supported the transformation policy in cricket.

Tony Irish said: “The players’ association is however fully supportive of transformation in particular where it promotes opportunities for players of colour to compete for selection. “

There is a huge irony in there and I don’t know if anyone picked it up.  “…for players of colour to compete for selection.”  So, are talking about players of colour competing against each other for those 4 target places, or are we referring to players of colour competing for all 11 places with the white folks?

If you look at national squad selections over the past 6 years, you’ll notice a pattern.  Coloured players get replaced with coloured players for the most part.  After the World Cup 2007, Roger Telemachus was replaced by Vernon Philander; Robin Peterson was replaced by Thandi Tshabalala; JP Duminy replaced Loots Bosman.  For the Bangladesh series, Monde Zondeki replaced Charl Langeveldt. 

Tony Irish is correct about players of colour competing for places, but he is referring to the 4 “reserved” spots for those players.  The national team would be quite different if each player was, as Dippenaar requested, selected on merit. 

The CSA’s “ruling” about ICL players not being eligible to play for their franchises has helped the case for moving black players into these open spots.  I am quick to use quotation marks for “ruling” because the CSA have declared that there is no ruling, rather a gentleman’s agreement.  As far as CSA are concerned, that is the same as a ruling…especially if you don’t want to be fined heavily for breaching the non-written agreement. 

When Justin Kemp, Andrew Hall, Johan v/d Wath, Lance Klusener, Nico Boje and Nantie Hayward joined the ICL, the CSA jumped on this opportunity to create openings for players of colour in the franchise system by declaring that ICL players are rebels and will not be allowed to play in SA again.

If you look at their replacements, one can see a bit of a backfire.  Jon Kent replaced Andrew Hall and Johann Louw replaced Klusener at the Dolphins.  Dillon du Preez replaced v/d Wath as the Eagles main strike bowler.  Rusty Theron took over Hayward’s role at the Warriors.  Stiaan van Zyl has taken over the batting prowess at the Cobras that was left void by Kemp.  Thandi Tshabalala’s spinner role in place of Boje’s at the Eagles has been the only success for CSA.

The upcoming tour to England will tell a lot of stories regarding the status of selection policies for the national team.  This will be the tour where players will realize where their future lies. 

My fondest memories of a South African cricket tour to England was the 1994 series, led by Kepler Wessels where there was no ounce of agendas, targets or politics.  This squad was a squad selected on merit, barring, perhaps Gerhardus Liebenberg as the understudy wicket-keeper to Dave Richardson or the emergency selection of Richard Snell over Meyrick Pringle when Aubrey Martyn was injured and couldn’t tour.  Even then, no politics or targets interfered.

A squad like that is very far off from ever being selected again.  Until ex-cricketers and lovers of the sport take over the administration of cricket, rather than having lawyers and ex-convicts at the helm, we will be subject to seeing the cricket administrators make headlines in a South African cricket bulletin. 

Dippenaar calls for Quota system shake-up

Last week, former South African cricketer and now Players’ Association President, Boeta Dippenaar, urged Cricket South Africa to revamp their quota policy for the national side.  This is straight from CricInfo: 

May 2, 2008

Boeta Dippenaar has urged Cricket South Africa (CSA) to revamp its racial quota system and focus on cricket rather than politics. Dippenaar, the new president of the South African Cricketers’ Association, wants administrators to choose players on cricket ability rather than race.

His comments come in the wake of Charl Langeveldt’s decision in March to withdraw from the tour squad for India in protest at Andre Nel’s omission because of CSA’s racial transformation policy. Dippenaar worries keen youngsters may be deterred from aiming for international honours because of the policy.

“If people had an aspiration to play for South Africa they will now think twice about doing so,” Dippenaar told Reuters. “I have always said the game should be surrounded by people with cricketing interests at heart and not people with political interests at heart. There’s a distinct difference.

“We are on dangerous ground as soon as we start saying ‘x’ amount of players have to be white and ‘x’ amount of players have to be of colour,” Dippenaar said. “We don’t mind if the whole team is black if that’s the best team. Throughout the whole transformation process a lot of patriotism has been lost.”

Dippenaar pointed to the example of England’s Kevin Pietersen, who left South Africa partly because of his disagreement with their policy on quotas. “No country can afford to lose a player of Pietersen’s calibre,” said Dippenaar. “That puts a question mark about whether we are doing the right things. We should never have allowed a player of his calibre to fall through our net.”

I will refer to this article in another blog feature.

“Good luck, Douggie”

I took a page out of Neil Manthorp’s book and made a prediction that the Dolphins would lose if Doug Watson did not play in the Standard Bank Pro20 Final. I have to tell you, Neil, it feels good to take a stab at something and then be right. Unlike you, I’m sure I won’t get too many things right as I make predictions or speculations. Back to the cricket, and watching Imran Khan bat for his few balls was painful. That’s all it was. He managed to spare a Dale Steyn over, who was bowling at ferocious pace and some good swing, then succumbing to a ridiculous attempted pull shot off Mbhalati to be caught at square leg. Granted it was a good catch, but Khan’s sense of timing in one-day cricket has been very limited, excuse the pun. If you’re going to play a pull, go full out. In a match like this, BMT was needed and Doug Watson is one of those players who can hold up an end – yes, even T20 cricket requires holding up an end at times – while Rowley smashed the bowling all over the park. Not to be as the Dolphins were put under pressure from the 2nd over.

Congratulations to the Titans on a well-deserved victory. They truly do have a complete package in the shorter format of the game. A solid top 4, good all-rounders in the middle, and then a superb bowling line-up that would intimidate any IPL team. The axing of Doug Watson apparently did not make headlines in South Africa according to iafrica.com writer, Dan Nicholls. Why should it? He’s just another first-class player to be dumped for no reason. But it should start to beg some questions regarding selection policies. Shaun Pollock and Andre Nel have felt the heat of such, but have at least had the support of those around the country. Doug Watson has just his small fan-base in Durban, Chatsworth and the Central Coast of California. “Good luck, Douggie. Go Kolpak and enjoy your last few years playing real cricket…cricket that is played with the heart”.

 

Super 14 of cricket

Every weekend for 16 weeks we are engulfed by the intense action of Super 14 rugby.  Franchises from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand compete in the most enthralling non-international rugby tournament in the world.  The competition is fierce as the best of the best from the southern hemisphere are pitted against each other.  The gap between provincial rugby and international rugby has been reduced due to this exciting competition and this gives greater satisfaction for the paying spectator as well as sponsors.

If Super 14 is the level between provincial rugby and international rugby, what would be the equivalent for cricket? 

We have franchise cricket that is certainly a higher step than provincial-amateur cricket, but the gap between the national team and franchise players is still too great because there is still not enough exposure for the local players at a higher level like the rugby players have. 

All six franchises from SA as well as the 6 teams from Australia and the 6 teams from New Zealand would be too complicated and allow for the tournament to lag on.  The key would be to have combined teams pitted against each other.

It would look like this: South Africa would field Coastal XI and Interior XI.  Australia would field a Western, Southern and Eastern (including Tasmania)team.  New Zealand would have North and South Island teams.  Zimbabwe would send a Select XI like they did with the MTN Domestic Championships.  Add Namibia and Kenya to the mix and you have a Super 10, 45-over tournament.

I would go for the idea of a round-robin rather than 2 groups of 5.  There’s the question of travel.  Week 1 would see all the Australasian teams coming to Africa and playing all their African-away matches.  The next week the Australasian teams would return home and the African teams would accompany them and then those fixtures being completed.  Then, the 3rd week will have the Australasian teams playing each other and the African teams playing each other.  The final week will be semi-final and final week.

If domestic fixtures are arranged correctly between all nations, this tournament can fill the month of April. 

Coastal Giants

1. Graeme Smith(c)
2. Herschelle Gibbs
3. Jacques Kallis
4. JP Duminy
5. Arno Jacobs
6. Mark Boucher(wk)
7. Vernon Philander
8. Johan Botha
9. Johann Louw
10. Charl Langeveldt
11. Yusuf Abdullah

Coach: Kepler Wessels

Interior Tigers

1. Loots Bosman
2. Goolam Bodi
3. Neil McKenzie(c)
4. AB de Villiers
5. Morne van Wyk(wk)
6. Roelof v/d Merwe
7. Albie Morkel
8. Ryan McLaren
9. Morne Morkel
10. Paul Harris
11. Dale Steyn

 Coach: Daryll Cullinan

Giving back to the game

For a cricketer who has had the privelege of playing first-class cricket for ten or more years, would they not want to give back to the game that has given them enjoyment for the past decade?

Many would say, “yes, they would”.  Coach at schools, do commentary, write in the newspapers, open up an academy…..these seem to be the most common methods for ex-cricketers to give back. 

I have a better idea, one that will strengthen cricket in this country by a great margin.  As part of their contracts, after a professional cricketer retires from franchise cricket, they should be required to spend the first 3 months of the following season playing provincial-amateur cricket (currently SAA-sponsored cricket).

Just imagine being an 18-year old, a hot prospect straight out of Kearsney College, but with absolutely no experience.  You walk to the crease and you’re batting with Errol Stewart or Doug Watson.  What kind of confidence will that “kid” gain from spending time at the crease with a veteran cricketer?  Behind the scenes, the youngsters or “B” players will learn what an international dressing room feels like or understand the intensity of practicing at higher levels when you have a guy like Andrew Hudson or Jonty Rhodes in your ranks. 

It would run like this:  Shaun Pollock retires from all professional cricket in 2007/08 season.  He returns to Kingsmead in August 2008 to contribute to the pre-season training.  He teaches Darryn Miller how to get on the front foot with confidence, and advises Saidi Mhlongo on some good swing-bowling techniques.  He acquires the captaincy of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial team and leads from October through to December.  During this time, batsmen have improved, bowling has been strengthened, leadership skills have increased, discipline has been taught, training sessions have intensified and maturity has been fast-tracked.

What else?  A few more people showing interest in provincial cricket as some household names are amongst the “lower ranks”.  More active sponsorship deals for the provincial tournaments….meaning more money pumped in for training facilities.

These “seniors” will be paid as professionals, similar to the “overseas professional” agreement.  The money invested in such a venture will pay dividends as the feeder system is strengthened, franchise cricket benefits because the up-and-coming players are already prepared for franchise cricket.  The national team benefits because the preparations for new internationals are minimal as they have been learning from the provincial level of the intensities and structure of the national setup.

After the Christmas/New Year’s break, the provincial teams would be left on their own without the use of the “seniors” to see how their progress has transpired.

Let’s go back just 3 seasons when we lossed many players to retirement.  Imagine what the provincial system would be like now if the retirees were bound by this contract.  Let’s go through some of the provinces from 3 season ago and see who would be the beneficiaries:

KZN – Jonty Rhodes, Errol Stewart

Easterns – Daryll Cullinan, Derek Crookes

Border – Piet Strydom, Piet Botha, Mark Bruyns

Free State – Allan Donald, Gerry Liebenberg, Louis Wilkinson

Northerns – Rudi Steyn, Shafiek Abrahams

Boland – Henry Williams, Steve Palframan

WP – Gary Kirsten

This system will work if it is managed correctly.  This season we’re probably going to say good-bye to Andrew Hall, Andre Nel, Charl Langeveldt, Doug Watson, Roger Telemachus and Shaun Pollock.  If cricket has truly been at the centre of their hearts, they would IPL it during the winter and give back to SA cricket in the summer.

“When will you learn?”

It was announced today, probably unofficially, that Malcolm Speed, CEO of the International Cricket Countil, has been put out on paid leave for the remainder of his tenure as Executive Officer which concludes on 4 July 2008.

David Morgan explains: “This … is the result of a fundamental breakdown in the relationship between the CEO and a number of board members, including the president, over a variety of issues that include Zimbabwe”.

The funny thing about all of this is that it is a common occurence within the administrative offices of cricket heads.  Just cast your mind back to 2006 when Pakistan were touring England.  Yes, that infamous test match where Darrell Hair called “time” and awarded the match to England after Pakistan refused to return to the field after a break in play.  Do you think his employers - the powers of international cricket, the joint-keeper of the MCC Laws – stood by his decision?  Not a chance.  There is an unwritten law in cricket circles that if you make a decision that could humiliate your employer, enforcing a reduction in their paychecks, then you will not be protected.  Mr Hair was only following the laws of the game and he was humiliated and ousted for that…the very rules that his employers expect him to enforce when he wears the “white coat”.

Go back 6 years before that.  Hansie Cronje being taken before the King Commission to discuss the allegations of match-fixing.  Where was the UCBSA during this trial?  Nowhere, they had fired him and washed their hands of this tragedy. 

It gets better.  A year before the match-fixing scandal broke, Makhaya Ntini was arrested for rape charges and put in jail.  The charge came from a woman who said she was violated, which could potentially psychologically ruin the remainder of her life.  Who sits next to Ntini during his hearings, none other than Dr Ali Bacher, Managing Director of the UCBSA. 

Then, probably my most favorite of all.  Allan Badenhorst, a very unknown medium-fast bowler from Eastern Province was suspended from all forms of representative cricket for 2 years following making racial remarks towards a coloured player in a Bowl match between EP “B” and Griquas.  Sorry Mr Badenhorst, those words may affect this player for life, we will let you go now.  Mr Ntini, your charges of violation and rape are not as bad, we will represent you and ensure that you get off scott-free.

In a free world, it’s all about loyalty and popularity.  Mr Ntini was popular amongst the SA selectors because he was the only black “good enough” to play for SA so the UCBSA had to protect their single prospect.  COSATU and others had a ball with Cronje, “Oh this white man that we trust so much is full of corruption.  Bring him to his knees”.  To protect the invested interest by Pakistan cricket in the international arena, the ICC decided it would be safer and far less expensive to just give Darrell Hair the rap on the knuckles for the spectacle. 

Then we have today’s news.  Malcolm Speed has been ejected for sticking up for his beliefs as well as choosing to do the right thing.  He has publicly declared that there is a financial crisis in Zimbabwe cricket and that ICC needs to step in.  Ray Mali disagrees, saying that ICC should just overlook the multitude of discrepancies that resulted from the KPMG audit.

How typical.  If you don’t follow the leader and what he says, whether right or wrong, you’re gone.  I applaud Messrs Speed and Hair for doing the right thing and for braving out the solitude of being the very few who choose to do such.

Well done to Imtiaaz Patel for making the correct decision by not joining the ICC as their new CEO.  Not sure what to say for Haroon Lorgat, but good luck to him.

The “Thando Bula” incident – April 15, 2005

Part 1 of one of the biggest farces in SA cricket, written by the one and only, Neil Manthorp.

In the years to come perhaps future generations of South African cricketers, supporters and administrators will look back on Sunday, April 10, 2005, and remember the Standard Bank Pro20 match between the Highveld Lions and the Goodyear Eagles as being the day on which South African cricket started its transition to normality.

For those who haven’t heard, it went like this:

Gauteng selected their starting XI and set about warming up for the game. They had travelled to Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom with a squad of 13 for their ‘home’ match and had met their transformation target of four black players with Garnett Kruger, Enoch Nkwe, Eugene Moleon and Ashraf Mall.

During a knockabout game of six-a-side soccer half an hour before the match started, Mall was hit in the face by the ball which broke his sun glasses. His eye lid was cut, the bleeding (like everything on your face) took an age to stop and he could not see adequately to take his place in the team.

With barely 25 minutes to go before the start, Lions coach Shukri Conrad realises that one of either Gerrie de Bruin or Juan le Roux, the 12th and 13th men, both right handed all rounders and both white, will have to play.

This will, of course, mean that the Lions will not be able to meet their transformation target for the game. Given the circumstances, Conrad is confident that the UCB will understand and forgive the Franchise. But he thought it wise to check with his boss, Gauteng president, Cricket South Africa director and member of the executive committee, Barry Skjoldhammer.

Remarkably, Skjoldhammer is not empowered to make such a decision so he started frantically telephoning the men who are. Their phones are either switched off or remain unanswered. Eventually, the president informs his coach that he will have to make a plan. He cannot afford to take the risk of censure.

Conrad’s horrified response about “what plan??!” were met with a sad, resigned shrug of the shoulders.

Then, just as he was considering a visit into the student-populated section of the crowd with the vague and desperate hope of finding a club cricketer to help meet the transformation target, he receives a request on his cell phone from a local cricketer for complimentary tickets to see the match.

His prayers answered, Conrad quickly arranges to meet the player at the gate. Then he tells him: “Never mind tickets, my boy, come to the change room – you’re playing!”

His name was Thandisizwe Andrew Bula, born in Whittlesea in the Cape on January 1, 1981. A wicket-keeper with a modest batting record, Thando’s day had taken a very sudden and very unexpected twist. He did not, of course, keep wicket and neither did he bowl. He batted at number nine and made a two-ball duck as the Lions were bowled out for 95 in pursuit of the Eagles’ record total of 225.

Transformation is good thing. Actually, it is a great thing and something all South Africans should be proud of. Those who remain in the game without a desire to share its joys and pleasures with the whole nation deserve to be weeded out and removed, be they players, supporters or administrators.

When targets were abolished two years ago we all knew that it was simply the word quotas that had been abolished, not the quota itself. And that was no bad thing. If the world of business has black empowerment targets imposed upon it to give equal opportunity to everyone in society, then shouldn’t sport?

But there has to be a degree of flexibility, some small key-hole through which common sense can slip ocassionally to remind us that we are all, afterall, the same. That black and white are, afterall, the same, when the centuries-old layers of prejudice are stripped away.

Mall, Bula and Conrad – the key players in this play of hilarious black humour – are all black and all thought it was madness of the highest order.

In fact, everyone I’ve spoken to thinks it was madness and nobody has even suggested a person or principle that can have benefitted from what happened. But then, I’ve tried calling the same people Skjoldhammer called – and I can’t get through, either.

So remember this day, ladies and gentlemen, and remember Thando Bula as the man who first pointed important heads and hearts in the right direction.

It’s Thando Bula time again – March 19, 2008

Part 2 (3 years later) of one of my favorite articles by Neil Manthorp.

I don’t mind getting things wrong.  In fact, I’m pretty good at it.  The important thing is to ‘have a go’, to give something your best shot.  The old expression about spades and shovels comes to mind.

Almost exactly three years ago an incident occurred in South African cricket which I believed would be a turning point.  And I wrote several articles in which I suggested that, in future, players, administrators and supporters would look back on April 10, 2005, and see it as the day the madness peaked – and started to die.

In fact, nobody even seemed to notice, let alone care.  South African cricket made a spectacular arse of itself and deeply humiliated a promising young cricketer but nothing changed. For those who missed it, or can’t remember the details, here’s a summary.

Gauteng selected their starting XI for a Standard Bank Pro20 game against the Eagles and started their warm-ups.  They had travelled to Sedgars Park in Potchefstroom with a squad of 13 for the match and had met their transformation target of four black players with Garnett Kruger, Enoch Nkwe, Eugene Moleon and Ashraf Mall.

During a knockabout game of six-a-side soccer half an hour before the match started, Mall was hit in the face by the ball which broke his sun glasses.  His eye lid was cut, the bleeding (like everything on your face) took an age to stop and he could not see adequately to take his place in the team.

With barely 25 minutes to go before the start, Lions coach Shukri Conrad faced the stark reality that one of either Gerrie de Bruin or Juan le Roux, the 12th and 13th men, both right-handed allrounders and both white, would have to play.  And yet, the possible political ramifications of making such a decision were so intimidating that not even as forthright a man as Conrad was able to make that call.

Just then, the cricketing gods sent a messenger – his name was Thando Bula.  A promising prospect with the North West province, Bula had brought some mates to watch the game and thought he’d try his luck with Conrad for a few free tickets.  “Never mind the bloody tickets,” was the gist of Conrad’s reply, “what’s your bloody shirt size?!”

And thus did Thando Bula make his one and only appearance for the Lions.  A wicketkeeper but not required as such, he batted at number ten.  I believed that such shoddy treatment based on skin colour would offend many people and maybe even embarrass the politicians.  But it did not.  Perhaps it was because Thando Bula was a ‘nobody’ in cricket terms.

Charl Langeveldt, however, is most certainly not a nobody.  An accomplished international cricketer of at least five years standing, his decision to stand down from the test tour of India was one of the bravest and most significant taken by any individual South African sports person since unity.

Make no mistake, the politicians will accuse Langeveldt of ‘betrayal’ and some of those who fought a long and lonely vigil during the Struggle years will feel they have reason to question what they did it for.  But the Struggle is over and the unavoidable truth is that more and more South Africans, in all walks of life, now want to succeed through their own endevours.

Some politicians, no doubt, will ask why it took six days for Langeveldt to withdraw once the squad had been announced.  They may even suggest that wicked people had influenced him.  Wrong.  It took six seconds for Langeveldt to make up his mind and he didn’t just choose to withdraw from the squad, he decided to retire immediately.  Such was his anger and humiliation at being labelled a ‘quota player’ at the age of 34 that he decided he would never play for his country again.

The next six days were spent trying to change his mind and calm him down, which, fortunately, has happened. But what will never be eradicated is the feeling that he was shamed and humilated by his employers.

If 1 000 South Africans entered a road race, it would be incumbent on the organisers to ensure that everybody had decent shoes, that everybody had access to water stations, physio points and everything else that goes with road running. And it would also be right to set aside the majority of the 1 000 places for disadvantaged runners, most of whom would be black – say 700. But the one thing you can’t do, if you want to preserve the race’s integrity, is stipulate how many black runners must finish in the top ten.

And the top ten, in cricketing terms, is the national team.  Langeveldt’s stand will start the long and weary process of helping the politicians to understand that sport and sportsmen, like politicians, want to be the best.  But they want to know it in their hearts.