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April 15, 2008
Posted 4 weeks ago in Indian Cricket
Though he thinks the series ended with a fair result, Jacques Kallis is keen not to play in Kanpur for a third time. It was a gamble, he writes in the Hindu, to order such a poor wicket and it could have easily backfired.
I am a traditionalist when it comes to pitches and I believe that the surface for a Test match should have something for everybody. Some pace and movement for the quick bowlers, good batting conditions in the middle and then help for the spinners on the last two days.
Like India, we have been pretty dominant at home and have lost a series only to Australia on our own turf. But we have also been competitive away from home beating everyone (apart from Australia!) at some point.
India should be aiming for the No. 1 spot, too, but they will need to improve on ‘good’ pitches.
Neil Manthorp can't wait to leave Kanpur as well. He writes in supercricket website:
If the Proteas could be accused of leaving with indecent haste, think again. Given the fact that nobody in the world of cricket was thinking of a three day finish when the third day began, not a single bag was packed nor extras bill paid. Yet the home side were on a bus pulling out of the city within an hour of returning to the hotel. The best Goolam Raja could manage for Graeme Smith and the boys was a 6.00am departure the following morning. Is Kanpur really that bad? Yes.
The Indian team and media can't stand coming here and actively encouraged the South African media and players to highlight how unacceptable it is as an international venue and to lodge formal complaints, where applicable.
April 7, 2008
Posted on 04/07/2008 in Indian Cricket
If India take a few gambles in Kanpur to try and square the series, it might mean their playing three spinners and just one full-time seamer to share the new ball with Sourav Ganguly. This plan, Jacques Kallis thinks, could backfire for three reasons. He writes in the Hindu:
Firstly, South Africa really isn’t that bad against spin as our record over the last five or six years shows. Secondly, I believe the new ball is still the best way to take wickets and, with respect to Sourav, he isn’t a great threat. And thirdly, if the pitch is dry and uneven, then Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel will be just as dangerous as Anil and Harbhajan.
In the Hindustan Times, Mark Boucher writes that India missed Sachin Tendulkar in Ahmedabad.
March 25, 2008
Posted on 03/25/2008 in South African cricket
"Much has been made of us not playing a warm-up match before the series. To be honest, I don’t understand the fuss," writes Jacques Kallis in the Hindu on the eve of the first Test against India.
A couple of days ago I admitted that the selection problems and off-field controversies that have hung around South African cricket for the last month or so had adversely affected the team. I was asked the question and I didn’t see any point in not telling the truth it has been unsettling and emotions have run high at times. But let me be equally honest now: we are fully focussed and by the time we walk on to the field on Wednesday morning, the last thing on our minds will be selectors or administrators.
March 21, 2008
Posted on 03/21/2008 in South African cricket
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Charl Langeveldt in happier times
© Getty Images
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| Rodney Hartman, in the Star, gives his take on Charl Langelveldt's decision to withdraw himself from South Africa's side for the Test series against India after he was upset over the controversy surrounding the selection of the squad.
Langeveldt's reaction has caught everyone on the wrong foot. He has pulled out of the team, not so much in sympathy with Nel but in protest at the system as a whole.
Indeed, he becomes the first black sportsman to withdraw from a national team because he believes he has been picked for the wrong reasons.
In so doing, Charl Langeveldt has made a statement far more eloquent than anything that has spewed from the mouths of those officials and politicians who would use proud and sensitive players as their own little pawns.
Hartman's view is shared by the Mercury's Mike Greenaway, who feels Langevedlt deserves "our respect for reacting to racial discrimination in our sport and our sympathy for the humiliation he suffered at the hands of social engineers who use players as pawns."
Gary Lemke, the Cape Argus' sports editor, praises Langeveldt's decision.
He did the hardest thing imaginable and turned down the opportunity to play Test cricket for his country. Had he been born 30 years before, Langeveldt would have been denied the chance to represent South Africa because he is black. Now he was selected, because he is black. What irony.
So Langeveldt withdrew. He didn't want to be a quota player.
They should erect a statue in his honour outside the gates of Newlands, and every other cricket ground in the country.
It should remind officials and politicians that quotas in sport is a damaging system that's been abused by officials.
March 20, 2008
Posted on 03/20/2008 in South African cricket
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"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."
© Getty Images
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Charl Langeveldt's understandably distressed, if emotional withdrawal from South Africa's Test tour of India was a serious accident waiting to happen in the republic's sports system, writes Trevor Chesterfield in the Cricketnext.com.
Sources tell of how Langeveldt and Nel were in tears in the room of the team's captain - Graeme Smith, after the squad to tour India was announced. It left a decent man such as Langeveldt embarrassed. The controversy, fired by additional unthinking media reportage, left the Cape Cobras bowler with a sense of humiliation. It is quite understandable while those in Asia view such selection policy as abhorrent as it cuts across race lines, the South African media have already indulged in the contemptible callow error of categorising such as Langeveldt and Nel by colour.
Neil Manthorp looks back at an incident that occured three years ago in South African cricket which he believes was the turning point. Read it at Supercricket.co.za.
Gauteng ... 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 ... 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?!"
March 19, 2008
Posted on 03/19/2008 in South African cricket
On paper, South African cricket is at the top of the world. But Alex Parker of the Johannesburg daily the Times, feels ICC rankings are rendered dodgy by Bangladesh.
I do fear that being catapulted into the position of “world’s best”, courtesy of Bangladesh’s ineptitude, is more of a cross to bear than a trophy to brandish.
Certainly, the Indians will have much to say on the matter — both with their bats and with their new- found gobbiness. Aussie opener Matthew Hayden recently got into trouble for calling Indian offspinner Harbhajan Singh an “obnoxious little weed”. This was the best description of Harbhajan I’ve ever heard — I find his epithets are better than his offbreaks — and I wonder who his South African target will be: “the best batsman in the world, captain of the best team in the world”, perhaps?
March 15, 2008
Posted on 03/15/2008 in South African cricket
Dale Steyn brings an uncommon freshness to his profession of fast bowling, a sense that he is a human being of normal height and build at once amazed and disturbed by his ability to take someone’s head off with a shiny, stitched orb, writes Telford Vice in the Johannesburg-based Mail & Guardian.
Not for him the mustachioed madness that Merv Hughes and Dennis Lillee brought to cricket along with all that biker leather and the brazenly bared chests and big hair that, 30 years ago, might have been a hit at your friendly neighbourhood gay bar.
Steyn is certainly no English fop in the way of Graham Dilley, but rather that than the Poms’ modern yob squad, represented by the likes of Andrew Flintoff -- who else would answer to the nickname of a prehistoric cartoon character? -- and Steve Harmison, who, in the words of former England coach Duncan Fletcher, “gets homesick when he fetches the paper from his postbox”.
There is nothing remotely Ambrosial about Steyn, a fact that might melt Curtly’s permanent glare just a touch, and he is probably not in danger of waggling his noggin in the way that Waqar Younis would when a screaming yorker veered from outside off-stump all the way to the fine leg boundary.
No matter, because what connects all these fine bowlers is a dash of the quick stuff: speed, and not the kind that will get you arrested.
Also read Vata Ngobeni writing in the Independent Online on the Andre Nel issue.
March 13, 2008
Posted on 03/13/2008 in South African cricket
"By the end of this week South Africa will be the No1 one-day team in world cricket, if all goes according to plan," writes Archie Henderson in the Times, the Johannesburg-based daily.
Please note, the Proteas could be No1 in the world by Friday lunchtime, not necessarily the best in the world. Not until they can convincingly beat the Aussies at home, defeat England in the one-dayers later this year and take care of India, the hottest team in the world right now, can they be considered the “best”. Nevertheless, we should enjoy our team’s progress while it lasts.
March 9, 2008
Posted on 03/09/2008 in South African cricket
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Neil McKenzie’s innings was, for him and a few others, an innings of great significance
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There is little worth reflecting over in South Africa’s massive second-Test victory against Bangladesh, says Ray White of the Witness. After the slight embarrassment of the first Test, the home team was disposed of in a suitable manner with regard to the respective status two participants in an unequal struggle.
But what White does pick out is comeback man Neil McKenzie's maiden double-century, in any form of the game. Having survived all the shenanigans that preceded the selection of this particular squad together with his failures in the first Test, says White, it was vital for McKenzie that he make the most of his remaining opportunity before the team to tour India was chosen.
From the team’s perspective, it is important that McKenzie continues to prosper at the front of the batting order because it is now clear that Gibbs has not been able to revise his technique to enable him to cope with skilled new-ball bowlers who are keenly aware of his technical frailties. There are also disturbing rumours that Gibbs has become gun shy at the prospect of dealing with determined pacemen such as Brett Lee. No other opening batsman in domestic cricket suggests that he is ready for promotion so McKenzie may be the only card left for the selectors.
One wonders what went through Jacque Kallis’s mind as he watched the long partnership between his captain and McKenzie. So often in the recent past he has had to rescue his team from the direst of starts. He may have enjoyed putting his feet up for a time but as the day progressed he must have begun to wonder at the unfairness of the situation. His bowling had saved the team in the first Test but now he had to watch as two lesser batsmen filled their boots. Still it is a team game and Kallis has not always put his team’s interests ahead of his own.
March 7, 2008
Posted on 03/07/2008 in South African cricket
"Until Graeme Smith can produce against Australia, some pundits might see him as a flat-track bully who can plunder two double tons against minnows Bangladesh, but when it comes to the finest opposition, is found wanting. However, that's also the magic of being Graeme Smith," writes Gary Lemke on iol.co.za.
While there is no debate as to the merits of Eddie Barlow, Barry Richards, Graeme Pollock and Mike Procter among The Selected's top 25 players of all time and even the presence of Allan Donald, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Makhaya Ntini can't be disputed Smith's appearance ignites discussion. For, at the end of a career a player is judged by his statistics. Not on his ability as a captain, or the fact that he has to wear several other hats, in dealing with the tricky issue of transformation and captaining a team that may include some players who aren't in the Test XI entirely on merit.
February 13, 2008
Posted on 02/13/2008 in South African cricket
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Should a coach control selection?
© Faras Ghani
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The problem with Norman Arendse, Cricket South Africa's president, vetoing the squad to Bangladesh and producing his own squad was not one of transformation but of selection, writes Neil Manthorp in supercricket website.
The two changes that he made to the 'official' squad to form the 'Arendse squad' were quite possibly the least radical anybody in South Africa could have come up with. Herschelle Gibbs in for Neil McKenzie and Charl Langeveldt in for Andre Nel. Gibbs and Langeveldt? Herschelle has over 300 international caps and Langers has been established international cricketer for five years and has earned over 50 one-day caps. Where was Lonwabe Tsotsobe and Yousuf Abdullah in Arendse's squad? Where was Henry Davids and Ahmed Amla? At the beginning of the week Arendse spoke of "giving the youngsters a chance...if not against Bangladesh, then when?" His solution was to recall two 33-year-olds, one of whom - Herschelle - is the oldest nationally contracted player and will celebrate his 34th birthday on the 23rd of this month.
In the Johannesburg-based Times Archie Henderson writes that it appears the real battle is for control of the team.
Arthur and his anonymous comrades believe they should have complete control over the team. The captain even has a say in the selection of the team, which is outrageous ... When the Proteas coach objects to “interference” by the president, what is he implying? That Arendse should meekly sign off on the team (like some notorious cabinet minister did in the apartheid era)?
In the same paper, Alex Parker puts forth his idea of transformation where in eight black players should be included in a South African XI.
And iafrica.com's contributing editor Dan Nicholl writes a letter to Arendse backing Herschelle Gibbs' selection in to the squad for Bangladesh as Nicholl has Gibbs in his Cricinfo fantasy squad.
February 10, 2008
Posted on 02/10/2008 in South African cricket
The current selection row in South Africa between Norman Arendse and Mickey Arthur has raised some interesting points, like the issue of the quota system supposedly being a thing of the past, writes Tony Becca in the Jamaica Gleaner.
Over the years, for many, many years, selectors, most of them, have believed that they are the sacred cows of cricket. Maybe it is because the job is usually reserved for ex-players and most times for ex-great players why most of them, behave so.
February 5, 2008
Posted on 02/05/2008 in South African cricket
South Africa’s home international series is over, but not everyone is happy with what they have seen. Writing on the 24.com website, Arthur Turner says that the expansion of the game has led to too many poor sides, and he blames the ICC.
Over exposure has also made a big contribution towards the weakening of international cricket as a product. The ICC has totally lost the plot with regards controlling its product at the source. The simple principle of supply and demand has been ignored for greed.
January 31, 2008
Posted on 01/31/2008 in South African cricket
Despite a thumping return to his best form in the second half of the summer, Graeme Smith still struggles to shake off his critics and the sceptics, writes Neil Manthorp on Independent Online. He spoke to Smith on various subjects such as the imminent Bangladesh tour, his favourite memory of Shaun Pollock, and the best delivery that has dismissed him.
I would like to be rested for that [Bangladesh] tour! It's a tough one, but I think we should definitely consider resting players, particularly for the three one-dayers after the two Tests. The wickets will spin square, they are going to make life as difficult as possible for us, and rightly so! It'll be a wonderful opportunity for some of the up-and-coming players to learn (laughter). It is being discussed now. I can't see that guys like Jacques [Kallis] and Mark [Boucher] will benefit from playing those games, but other players certainly could benefit. If we want players like Jacques to be around for the next World Cup, then we need to start managing them.
November 12, 2007
Posted on 11/12/2007 in South African cricket
Wonder why Jacques Kallis has not managed to score a double century yet? Blame it on the media, writes Neil Manthorp in the Supercricket.co.za website.
It should suprise nobody that the media's obsession soon became his with the result that he concentrated his efforts on doing everything he could to raise his average. It meant, of course, that he could not get out. Not outs were the bricks and cement required to build a proper average. It meant that not only did a couple of potential double centuries go abegging, but even some centuries. Kallis was determined to cement his place in the team and if that meant scoring slowly and playing so far within his limits that even his fabled cover drive was limited to sporadic displays, then so be it.
November 7, 2007
Posted on 11/07/2007 in English cricket
South Africa's success in last month's rugby World Cup, with only three black players in the squad, has apparently triggered the end of the quota system in South African cricket. David Hopps writes in the Guardian that the decision could be beneficial to English cricket as it will help stem the flow of white South African cricketers taking the Kolpak route to county cricket.
The England and Wales Cricket Board is so concerned about the number of South Africans in county cricket under the so-called Kolpak agreement that Giles Clarke, the ECB's new chairman, discussed the issue at an International Cricket Council meeting in Dubai last week with Norman Arandse, Cricket South Africa's president.
"What South Africa chooses to do is a matter for them, but the ECB has made it clear that we do not encourage county cricket to take the Kolpak route," said Clarke. "It is healthy for the game that England and South Africa both remain strong."
October 28, 2007
Posted on 10/28/2007 in South African cricket
Taschica Pillay profiles Dolphins fast bowler Ugasen Govender in the South Africa based Sunday Times.
Also check out Colin Brydon's weekly round-up in the same newspaper.
October 20, 2007
Posted on 10/20/2007 in South African cricket
When it’s life and death you’re talking about, runs and wickets don’t carry quite the same allure, writes Neil Manthorp in the Supersport website.
Meanwhile in News24.com Kass Naidoo believes a perfect opportunity exists for sponsors to help revive the flagging fortunes of domestic cricket in South Africa.
There is a huge opportunity for a sponsor (or an inspired group of them) willing to look further than 2010, personal gain or corporate strategy, to bring a version of a well-loved game back into our lounges, to create a buzz big enough to guarantee the interest of the national broadcasters.
October 17, 2007
Posted on 10/17/2007 in South African cricket
When the incomparable, deeply respected and much admired CSA official statistician, Andrew Sampson, announced that he had started a blog, there was much 'logging on' amongst South Africans in Pakistan writes Neil Manthorp in Supersport.
Check out Samson's blog here :
Jacques Kallis likes batting in the 3rd innings of a Test when South Africa are setting up a declaration. His 107* in South Africa’s 2nd innings against Pakistan at Lahore yesterday is the 5th century that he has made in the 3rd innings of a match in which South Africa has declared. In all, he has batted 19 times in these situations and scored 1264 runs with 5 centuries and 6 fifties. With the help of 10 not outs, he averages 140.44 in these innings.
Also see Charles Davis' stats blog here.
October 3, 2007
Posted on 10/03/2007 in South African cricket
The overwhelming support that India received in the World Twenty20 event has triggered a raging debate on racism in South Africa, reports the Press Trust of India .
Kass Naidoo, the South African broadcaster, puts forth her view in the News24 website:
Everything is hunky-dory, until we lose. When we win, we pump out our chests and feel so proud to be South African, and when we lose, we start fighting over quotas, the captaincy, and chewing gum.
September 12, 2007
Posted on 09/12/2007 in South African cricket
South Africa's thrilling victory in last night's opening encounter against West Indies at Johannesburg has given the ICC World Twenty20 the perfect start. But, says David Hopps in The Guardian, it will take more than just moments like that to arrest the alarming disintegration of South Africa's national team, with every day bringing another disgruntled player into the headlines.
Even success for South Africa in Twenty20 would not remove the feeling that an aged side is growing old gracelessly. Jacques Kallis has resigned as South Africa's vice captain after he was omitted from the Twenty20 squad and Mark Boucher was fined for criticizing his omission. Andrew Hall has announced his retirement and is heading for the breakaway Indian Cricket League. The ill feeling does not stop there.
August 15, 2007
Posted on 08/15/2007 in South African cricket
Neil Manthorp recalls the messy episode that Cricket South Africa had got into when it rested Lance Klusener for a tour to Bangladesh in a piece on the SuperCricket website. He says the mistake has been repeated again with Jacques Kallis' omission from the Twenty20 squad. Manthorp believes a player of Kallis' stature should have been given the nod, though many may consider his batting style undesirable for the format.
Who is South Africa's leading six-hitter in both test and one-day cricket? Klusener, Justin Kemp? Shaun Pollock? No. Try someone else. Someone who isn't suited to 20-over cricket. Maybe Kallis really isn't suited to this game. But surely his status means he was worth a chance to prove it, a chance to bat without the constant threat of collapse at the other end weighing him down.
August 3, 2007
Posted on 08/03/2007 in South African cricket
Neil Manthorp writes in his SuperCricket column that South Africa coach Mickey Arthur has taken a gamble by rubbishing fitness trainer Adrian le Roux's report that states the "use of alcohol is a problem in the national team"
But what if it [Arthur's comments] made some of le Roux's many, many friends really angry and they decided to defend his honour and integrity by providing some evidence of what le Roux observed at close quarters for four years?
Manthorp also feels that denial of the problem is fine if "it is used to buy a little time and privacy to address the issue" but not if "it is used to brush the issue under the carpet."
March 3, 2007
Posted on 03/03/2007 in South African cricket
Neil Manthorp, writing in the Supersport website, lists South Africa's potential pitfalls during the World Cup.
Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince score runs in a similar fashion and a similar pace. They both know that and, in fact, are sick and tired of hearing about it. Nonetheless, they need to be perfectly clear about how they will approach their partnership in whatever circumstances they find themselves batting together.
Meanwhile, in the Natal Witness Ray White, former president of the South African board, profiles his four favourite teams to reach the World Cup semi-finals.
If pressed, I fancy five teams for the semi-finals. If pressed further, I would eliminate Australia on the basis that their team lacks even one world class bowler now that McGrath looks past it and Lee is injured.
January 18, 2007
Posted on 01/18/2007 in South African cricket
Writing on the Supersport website, Cricinfo's Neil Manthorp gives the alternative angle on the Gibbs controversy, and wonders just how much provocation a player should have to put up with.
Let's just say, for example, that a player happens to be...at third man. During a test match. You can't just walk away. So you stand there, for most of the day, being told that your sexual orientation leans towards sheep, and members of your own family, and that you are racist. And more.
January 10, 2007
Posted on 01/10/2007 in South African cricket
Defeat in the Test series against India would have been catastrophic for the careers of a few senior South African players and the level of interest of the supporters in the country, writes Neil Manthorp in Supercricket. While Shaun Pollock received the accolades for his allround performance, his side's come-from-behind win was possible largely due to the mental strength of Jacques Kallis and Ashwell Prince.
Though it may sound dramatic in the warm afterglow of a magnificent, against-all-odds triumph, it is worth remembering that the line between triumph and disaster has probably never been finer in South Africa's cricketing history.
January 9, 2007
Posted on 01/09/2007 in South African cricket
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South Africa needn't sweat once Pollock retires for Ntini has already taken over the role of the lead fast bowler
© Getty Images
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When Allan Donald retired and Shaun Pollock slowed down his his pace, a void was created in South Africa's fast bowling. But that has now been well and truly filled by Makhaya Ntini, writes S Ram Mahesh in Sportstar
There is something inherently dark, borderline masochistic, about quick bowlers. Courtney Walsh cloaked it with a raised, philosophical brow; Andy Roberts rarely spoke — his choice of expression was the sadistic smile; Ray Lindwall, a man of great charm by most accounts, had his ugly moments; others, Jeff Thomson and Sarfaraz Nawaz among them, unabashedly chose to let it all hang out.
Ntini's run-up, while splendidly athletic, is earthy and grounded, not airy and ethereal as Holding's was — but now he meters how wide he leaps in delivery stride. Wasim Jaffer's hopeless pull at Durban from outside the off-stump was a consequence of this angle: those watching might say the Indian opener should have left it on line, but Jaffer was suckered into it because of the illusion that the delivery was straighter than it actually was.
January 4, 2007
Posted on 01/04/2007 in South African cricket
Graeme Smith speaks to the Telegraph's Lokendra Pratap Sahi just a few weeks before completing four years as South Africa’s captain:
My decision making as a 22-year-old probably wasn’t as good... As captain, I trust my gut feelings a lot more now... Today, there’s more conviction in my decision making... Then, for example, I wasn’t sure about giving Polly (Shaun Pollock) an extra over or two or getting (Jacques) Kallis into the attack... Things like that.
December 17, 2006
Posted on 12/17/2006 in South African cricket
South Africa had a horrid second day at Johannesburg. Their batsmen collapsed for 84 and their bowlers allowed India to stretch their lead to 311 with five wickets in hand. One of the reasons for "South Africa's dismal batting performance and considerably below par bowling effort, Shaun Pollock excepted" is the lack of first-class cricket played by the national squad, writes Neil Manthorp on supercricket.co.za.
"If India win, it will be a fascinating human drama that Rahul Dravid’s team will owe so much to that inspirational knock from Ganguly, a man who had been given up for lost by them," writes Kadambari Murali in The Hindustan Times.
Greg Chappll said that India needed just one innings to turn their fortunes around, Bobilli Vijay Kumar says that "it's just so ironical that it had to come from Ganguly's blade".
December 13, 2006
Posted on 12/13/2006 in South African cricket
Will Sachin Tendulkar get out of his lean run and score valuable runs in South Africa? Yes, feels South Africa batting great Graeme Pollock, in an interview to Mumbai-based tabloid Mid-Day:
He hasn’t been playing enough. He has not looked confident and convincing as he was years ago. But once the talent is there — you see it with Lara all the time — disappointing in a few innings and suddenly he puts it together — I think you will see that Tendulkar will be a contributor in this series.
December 2, 2006
Posted on 12/02/2006 in South African cricket
It’s been 15 years since Dave Callaghan was cured of cancer, but memories of those scary months in 1991 cannot be erased, writes Mid Day's Clayton Murzello.
'I lost all my hair through chemotherapy sessions. Everyone was very concerned about my health. People used to ask me how I was and when I said I’m fine, I could see that they were not convinced. But as a cancer patient, you are always positive and you always believe that you will live.'
November 1, 2006
Posted on 11/01/2006 in South African cricket
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Minki van der Westhuizen, Graeme Smith's girlfriend
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We've all heard far too much about Footballers' WAGs (Wives and Girlfriends, for those not in the know), but the cricketers wives are an elusive bunch. Stick Cricket, that marvel of time-wasting during office hours, have been running a poll to ascertain the most popular WAG - and Minki van der Westhuizen has come out on top. More in The Corridor.
September 16, 2006
Posted on 09/16/2006 in South African cricket
And here's another South African cricketer in the arms of a model. Herschelle Gibbs and his fiancé, Tenielle, are considering a wedding ceremony on the idyllic island of Antigua during next year's World Cup in the West Indies. Read the full piece in News24.
It was unusual to see Gibbs - well-known for his late night gallivanting - up and on the go before breakfast. And to see Gibbs out of bed that early and in the presence of a member of the opposite sex could only mean one thing - he was smitten.
September 1, 2006
Posted on 09/01/2006 in Miscellaneous
In The Times, former Wisden editor Tim de Lisle highlights the fact that cricket's international merry-go-round is not only hard on the players, it's also pretty environmentally unfriendly. He recalled that while editing Wisden Cricket Monthly a few years ago, he commissioned an investigation into the mileage of top players:
"We named the first winner — Australia's Ian Healy, who had done, from memory, about 70,000 miles. Within a few years, the winner (by then Stephen Fleming, of New Zealand) was doing 100,000 miles. International cricket’s total emissions, for a relatively small sport, must be colossal."
He then points out that the English county circuit is strewn with sponsored cars flying up and down the country's motorways. And then there is Asia.
"Open an Indian magazine and the chances are you will see Sachin Tendulkar sharing a little of his personal cachet with a motorbike. And administrators in the subcontinent still think it’s OK to give the man of the match a bike or even a car. Not even the umpires are immune. Fly Emirates, say their shirts, which is demeaning to them and damaging to the planet."
August 31, 2006
Posted on 08/31/2006 in English cricket
Kevin Pietersen could be in hot water for branding Graeme Smith, the South African captain, "an absolute muppet" in his new book, Crossing The Boundary, feels the Mirror's Mike Walters. With a poor run of form in recent one-day internationals, Pietersen's jibe at Smith looked ill-timed, believes the writer.
"Kermit, Miss Piggy and the Swedish chef have so far kept their counsel, but firebrand Smith is unlikely to let the matter rest if England cross paths with him at the World Cup in seven months."
August 16, 2006
Posted on 08/16/2006 in South African cricket
Amid the tension in Sri Lanka, Neil Manthorp writes on the security situation:
... the problem with an 'upgrade' of security for the team to 'presidential' level is that presidential security is reliant on the military which is, of course, not just a target for the Tamils, but the primary target. So does surrounding the South African team with high numbers of primary Tamil targets constitute an increase in their safety, or a significant decrease?
August 13, 2006
Posted on 08/13/2006 in South African cricket
The secret of England's famous Ashes coup last year was attention to detail, which was missing in South Africa's defeat in the two Tests against Sri Lanka, feels Ray White. The writer also laments the decline of Shaun Pollock.
The margin between victory and defeat is often tiny but regular winners make a habit of getting past the post first even in the tightest of finishes.
Read the full piece in The Witness.
July 20, 2006
Posted on 07/20/2006 in South African cricket
Prince didn't choose or ask to be captain, Arthur didn't arrange for Kallis to have elbow surgery or encourage his captain to go a little over the top on his pre-tour holiday in Knysna. Whether South Africa head to Sri Lanka to face a carnage or not remains to be seen. Neil Manthorp in Supercricket recommends they just smile through it all, no matter what.
In fact, many of the chief protagonists in the French Revolution (before the common people started to win) were led to the guillotine with a smile, a cheer and wave to the crowds. There was something very noble about having your head sliced off in front of a crowd of colleagues.
June 10, 2006
Posted on 06/10/2006 in South African cricket
Few cricket coaches in this country know anything about finger spin let alone the mysteries of wrist spin as practised by the likes of Murali and Shane Warne. The touchstone of knowledge is the ability to teach. If the knowledge of spin bowling is absent in our coaches who will impart it to the young?
I cannot agree with the modern tendency to crowd our schools’ cricket fixtures with so much limited over cricket.
Ray White, former UCB president, analyses the reasons why spin bowling is a dying art in South Africa.
May 22, 2006
Posted on 05/22/2006 in South African cricket
Tom Eaton, in the Mail & Guardian, pays tribute to Ntini, who has almost singlehandedly carried the South African attack in the recent times.
The numbers tell the story. Ntini took 34% of all South Africa's wickets, and bowled 41 overs more than his nearest colleague, the apparently indefatigable Pollock. Most teams rely on spinners, whether specialists or part-timers, to wheel through overs while the speedsters rest. This summer six slow bowlers were tossed the ball. Ntini bowled 85 overs more than all of them combined.
In other words, any discussion of South Africa's bowlers, and what they might have done without Ntini, must invariably end in allusions to disastrous canoeing trips up excremental creeks. The sheer weight of his burden took us into Muttiah Muralitharan territory and, although Dale Steyn did an admirable impression of Chaminda Vaas, Sri Lanka's one-ring circus is not a show we want to emulate
May 7, 2006
Posted on 05/07/2006 in South African cricket
Makhaya Ntini has matured into a fine bowler. He made the most of his opportunities. Others came and went, passengers unwilling to pay the fare, but he persisted, writes Peter Roebuck.
April 24, 2006
Posted on 04/24/2006 in South African cricket
Herschelle Gibbs, the South Africa batsman, was dropped for the remaining two Tests against New Zealand. "Gibbs knows all the flaws and pitfalls of his life and lifestyle. He knows what he needs to do," writes Neil Manthorp. Click here to read the supercricket.co.za article.
April 22, 2006
Posted on 04/22/2006 in South African cricket
Ray White, former president of the South African board, talks about the rise of Makhaya Ntini, the decline of Shaun Pollock and the emergence of some new players. Click here to read the Witness article.
I would like to see Friedel de Wet given a go against the New Zealanders before this series is over. He bowls at over 145 km/h from a good high action and will run in all day. Some say De Wet does not do enough with the old ball but I think that the amount of wickets he has taken this season require that the national team take a long look at his potential. One wonders which of the selectors, if any, have ever seen him bowl?
April 15, 2006
Posted on 04/15/2006 in South African cricket
How do the Australians show their appreciation when they see a good cricketer? Name a racehorse after him.
Read about how Makhaya the racemare produced the run of the night at Shepparton.
Archie Henderson celebrates the honour and says that for for South Africans seeking solace from a 5-0 drubbing, Ntini provides the answer.
March 25, 2006
Posted on 03/25/2006 in South African cricket
Peter Roebuck watches Michaelhouse and Durban High School contest in a semi-final of a local night tournament in South Africa:
Apart from their positions as school captains, they stood out in only one respect. Both captains had brown skin. Both were of Indian origin. They have risen to the highest point possible in their school's cricket and clearly command respect among their peers ...
Never forget that, not so very long ago, it could not have happened. Oh yes, and one of the youngsters is a Muslim.
January 6, 2006
Posted on 01/06/2006 in South African cricket
Robert Craddock says in The Courier-Mail it’s time for Australians to dip their lids to Graeme Smith, a feisty captain and unifying influence.
Smith may be an occasional trash talker but the game is the richer for that. Most rival captains who visit Australia keep their tongues tied and their eyes down and end up being brutally nailed to the canvas.
Smith was aware of this and made a promise to himself he would go down swinging, or should we say sledging. It did not work but it certainly helped to generate a robust, competitive vibe among his team. World cricket is lucky to have him.
January 3, 2006
Posted on 01/03/2006 in South African cricket
Mike Coward praises Ashwell Prince’s century on day two in The Australian, his finest moment in Test cricket.
Prince did not just score a century. With great pride and conscientiousness he validated his nascent Test career, realised a dream he had dared to dream from boyhood and gave heart to those who have been criticised, if not ridiculed, for their unflinching commitment to fundamental change in South Africa's cricket in the new democratic republic.
Peter Roebuck also looks at Prince’s performance in the Sydney Morning Herald after detailing Australia’s “rash” response.
Not the least remarkable aspect of his batting was the calmness of his manner. Most batsmen enduring bad patches and dogged by ill-fortune bring baggage with them to the crease. Prince's approach is simple. He does not attempt things beyond his repertoire.
January 2, 2006
Posted on 01/02/2006 in South African cricket
The current series between Australia and South Africa has certainly not been short of a word or two. Graeme Smith has made more of an impact off the pitch with his pre-match talking than he has at the crease with the bat. Now Kepler Wessels, the former South African captain, has warned him his tactics could leave him looking rather foolish if Australia continue to dominate the visitors. I think it's a dangerous style. I think cricket history has shown that somebody like Tony Greig has been made to grovel and eat his words against the West Indies when he did the same thing. He was totally humiliated.
December 23, 2005
Posted on 12/23/2005 in South African cricket
The Surfer stumbled upon an interesting piece that talks about Brian Jerling, the South African umpire, being involved in a storm with the Dolphins side in the domestic competition.
The Jerling-centric incidents also resulted in a situation where Lance Klusener may now face a two-match ban.
December 4, 2005
Posted on 12/04/2005 in South African cricket
Neil Manthorp introduces the four new faces in the South African side, currently touring Australia:
A former prison warder, a guitar-playing songwriter, a farmer's boy fined for smoking marijuana in Antigua and the man who did most to officially end race quotas in domestic cricket - these four head the new faces in Graeme Smith's South African squad that landed in Perth yesterday. >
November 26, 2005
Posted on 11/26/2005 in South African cricket
Owen Slot writes on the latest biography of Hansie Cronje and adds:
... a fact that may frustrate British readers because Cronje’s story has sold so well in South Africa that the publishing company — which happens to belong to his brother, Frans — cannot print copies fast enough.
November 19, 2005
Posted on 11/19/2005 in South African cricket
Ray White, a former UCB president, goes to watch a top of the table clash between the Highveld Lions and the Cape Cobras at the Wanderers and writes about the quota system in action
November 18, 2005
Posted on 11/18/2005 in South African cricket
Neil Manthorp writes on South Africa's red hot run:
South Africa's commanding victory in Hyderabad has put the Australian media and public on high alert ... Thanks to the clinical efficiency of the Iceman Kallis in Hyderabad, Australians are also starting to look ahead with a sense of caution, even nervousness.
Meanwhile Harsha Bhogle feels that the loss at Hyderabad would have taught the Indians some valuable lessons early in the series.
November 2, 2005
Posted on 11/02/2005 in South African cricket
Neil Manthorp bemoans the fact that Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje will not be touring India for the forthcoming ODI series:
A certain section of South African society remains obsessed with its own superiority complex and, even more sadly, convinced that most foreigners outside Europe are lawless, untrustworthy savages. Do they really believe that the Indian police are not governed by law? Apparently so.
October 26, 2005
Posted on 10/26/2005 in South African cricket
Franz Cronje, Hansie's elder brother, has said a film is to be made of the former South African captain:
"We started on the script more than a year ago and a lot of work has been put into it..."
His book has been flying off the shelves in South Africa.
October 1, 2005
Posted on 10/01/2005 in South African cricket
Is Graeme Smith the best man to lead the World XI side? Read Peter Roebuck's take in Natal Witness.
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