The Proteas have a reputation of dropping the ball at the
final moment. The team hope to make important changes as they prepare for the
Cricket World Cup.



South Africa’s search for what is becoming their ‘Holy
Grail’ will continue in May when they contest the Cricket World Cup that is to
be played in England and Wales, providing another shot at a trophy that has
frustratingly eluded them in the past.



The Proteas have entered World Cup tournaments as heavy
favorites in the past, indisputably the best team on the planet at the time,
yet found unusual ways to be eliminated, leading to the tag of ‘chokers’ that
has haunted the team for two decades now.



In 1999, they got themselves into a winning position against Australia in their semi-final, yet gave up their final wicket to a crazy run-out needing just a single run for victory.



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Four years later, on home soil, they misread the
Duckworth-Lewis par score after rain in a pool match against Sri Lanka and did
not realize they needed one more run than they had.



In 2007, they folded in the West Indies when too many of
their top players could not find form, while four years ago, they gave up a
commanding position to lose a semifinal to New Zealand, made all the more
galling as South African-born Grant Elliott proved the match-winner for the
Kiwis.



The failures of the side have almost become part of cricket
folklore, with opposing fans delighting in throwing the choker tag at South
Africa at every opportunity.



So what chance of a change in 2019? It is the first time in perhaps 27 years that South Africa do not go in as one of the genuine pre-tournament favorites, with England and India many people’s top tips, and with good reason as both have been outstanding in 50-over cricket of late.



An evolving South Africa could have as many as 10 players in
their 15-man squad who have never been to the World Cup before, and while that
lack of experience could be a hindrance, it could also be a help in that they
will not carry the ‘baggage’ of past failure. 



Captain Faf du Plessis will go to his third tournament and
he knows what to expect in terms of media and fan pressure over past failures
on his players.



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“As soon as you get to the tournament, you get to hear about
it,” Du Plessis tells FORBES AFRICA. 



“When you chat to the media that is all people want to talk
about, when you play against opposition, they will bring it up.



“For me now, it is about making players aware of it and
giving them ways to deal with it, to mentally preparing for it, so that when we
do get to England, it is not a surprise.”



Du Plessis believes that managing key moments in games
better than they have in the past is the key to success, as well as making sure
the players stick to their game-plans and don’t try to be ‘supermen’.



“For the last year or so we have been dealing with different
aspects of that. Hopefully, when we get there, we will manage those situations
better than we have previously.



“We have played some really good cricket at tournaments in
the past, but we have always had little moments in the game where pressure got
the better of us. 



“How do you fix that? How do you deal with it? How do you
cope in those moments?



“I hope that by talking to players, by giving them a ‘how’
of dealing with those moments, they will handle them better than we have in the
past.”



The make-up of the South African side has been the subject
of much debate, but the picture is clear for Du Plessis –&nbsp; if everybody is fit. Three fast-bowlers, a
spinner and seven batsmen, which includes an all-rounder, is the preferred
make-up, with the swinging ball likely to dominate the bat.



When all are available, the South African side generally
picks itself, but the return of fast bowler Lungi Ngidi from injury is key. 



“If you have a very good bowling attack that can get
wickets, then you put yourself there or thereabouts,” Du Plessis says. 



“India have got a really good bowling attack at the moment
and are bowling teams out constantly. 



READ MORE | <a href="https://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2019/03/05/super-rugby-in-sin-bin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" aria-label="Super Rugby In Sin Bin (opens in a new tab)">Super Rugby In Sin Bin</a>



“If we have a full-strength team, we also have a very good bowling attack. We have missed Lungi recently. I feel that if you have Lungi, Dale [Steyn] and KG [Kagiso Rabada] together, it makes our bowling attack a lot stronger. 



“They are all wicket-takers and that is what winning in
white ball cricket is about.”



With Andile Phehlukwayo having moved ahead in the race for
the all-rounder spot and JP Duminy likely to return from injury in time for the
tournament, giving a -part-time spin option, South Africa’s&nbsp; first choice side looks strong.



But do Quinton de Kock, Hashim Amla, Reeza Hendricks, Du
Plessis, Duminy, David Miller, Phehlukwayo, Rabada, Steyn, Ngidi and Imran
Tahir have the look of world champions? Time will tell. 



The Proteas open their campaign against England at The Oval on May 30, with all 10 teams playing each in a round-robin format. The top four sides then advance to the semi-finals, with the decider to be played on July 14.



&#8211;Nick Said

cricket

Can The ‘Chokers’ Reclaim Glory

You would be hard-pressed to find a cricketer who does not see the five-day format as the ultimate test of skill in the game, but despite this status it is also beginning to lose its luster to the high-octane, and high-money stakes, of limited overs cricket.
AB de Villiers’ decision to ditch the longer format, for now, in search of limited overs glory says much about where his priorities lie. He has other career objectives away from Test cricket, which is fair enough, but where players previously did everything possible to play the longest format of the game, that is now palpably no longer the case in many parts of the world.
Challenges to Test cricket are not new; there was a time when One-Day Internationals (ODIs) were thought of as the future of the game, before its smaller cousin, Twenty20 cricket, was born and has now placed the 50-over format under threat.
In our pursuit of cramming more action into a shorter period of time, as attention-spans wane and we have ever more entertainment buzzing about to distract us, five days of cricket can seem just too long, for players and fans.
And therein lies the danger for Tests, even as the ‘purest’ form of the game. It is a format that is fighting to hold attention as we are bombarded with more convenient entertainment choices.
And it is not just the fans who feel that way. De Villiers earlier this year became the latest cricketer to put a halt to his Test career in favor of the shorter formats.
<div id="attachment_31459" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31459" class="wp-image-31459 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506413576-1024x727.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="727" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506413576.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506413576-300x213.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506413576-600x426.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506413576-768x545.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />AB de Villiers of South Africa walks off at close of play during day two of the 4th Test at Supersport Park on January 23, 2016 in Centurion, South Africa. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)</div>
Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, to name just a few, are other big-name players who quit Tests to concentrate on the shorter format and they continue to feature in lucrative leagues around the world.
Gayle was earning $100,000 per year playing for the West Indies when he retired from Test cricket in 2014. It is estimated, as no official figure exists, that he earns up to $3.5 million per annum playing the Twenty20 circuit that these days includes the Indian Premier League (IPL), as well as tournaments in Australia, England, Pakistan (hosted in the UAE), West Indies and Bangladesh, as well as a new competition to be staged in South Africa this November and December, for which Gayle is a marquee player.
Much more money for much less work, less strain on the body and less time away from home sounds like a no-brainer and as precedents continue to be set, the genuine fear is that Test cricket may battle even more to hold onto the game’s star names in the future.
De Villiers was paid $1.1 million for playing in the IPL in 2017, and he can look forward to more of that in the future if he can stay fit.
Is it worth it for him to risk another serious injury like the elbow problem that kept him out of the game for seven months in the second half of last year and put that income in jeopardy?
We can stand on our perches and suggest allegiance to the country’s flag should come first, but that is unrealistic with the amount of money floating about the Twenty20 circuit, and possibly unfair on De Villiers.
The swashbuckling batsman says he will be back for the home Tests against India and Australia in the 2017/18 season, but cynics have suggested that has more to do with his commercial obligations than any real desire to keep playing the five-day format.
That is also perhaps harsh. De Villiers has stated openly that beating Australia in a home Test series, something South Africa have failed to do since 1970, remains a career goal, though perhaps not one at the top of the list.
Whether he does return or not, De Villiers has now entered a stage of his career where he can cherry-pick his assignments based on financial considerations and career goals.
Test cricket has become, for him, too hard on the body, too much time away from family and, it would appear, too much hassle. The lure of a potential Test century at Lord’s, which might have captivated him as a youngster, is simply no longer there. And he makes no bones about it.
But there is a goal that De Villiers does still have that appears to have consumed him – winning the 50-over World Cup in 2019.
De Villiers took the semifinal defeat to New Zealand in 2015 hard and while his legacy as one of South Africa’s greatest ever cricketers is secure, to bow out by lifting the trophy in England in two years’ time would be the defining moment of his incredible career given the disappointments South Africa have endured in the competition in the past.
“Over the last few years something has come to mind, which is the fact that we haven’t won a World Cup yet. And for me to make it to the 2019 World Cup, I can’t really be serious in every format,” De Villiers admitted earlier this year.
“I’m definitely not retiring from Test cricket because I have plans to come back at some stage. For me, for now the most important thing is the 2019 World Cup. I want to make sure we get there. I want to make sure we lift that trophy.”
“Obviously there are other factors that play a role, like family and time away from home, but the main reason for me is that World Cup and I feel that if I play all formats all the time, then mentally and physically I won’t be at my best.”
<div id="attachment_31458" style="width: 669px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-31458" class="wp-image-31458 size-large" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506228672-deep-etch-659x1024.jpg" alt="" width="659" height="1024" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506228672-deep-etch.jpg 659w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506228672-deep-etch-300x466.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506228672-deep-etch-600x932.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506228672-deep-etch-193x300.jpg 193w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-506228672-deep-etch-768x1194.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 659px) 100vw, 659px" />AB de Villiers of South Africa walks off after Stuart Broad of England took his wicket during day one of the 4th Test at Supersport Park on January 22, 2016 in Centurion, South Africa. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)</div>
That World Cup is the reason why South Africa’s, and De Villiers’, participation in the ICC Champions Trophy in England this June is so important.
Even two years out, it is the perfect preparation for the South African side to hone their game-plan in those almost unique English conditions, for the bowlers to learn their line and lengths, and for the batsmen to be able to counter prodigious English swing.
The South African ODI side is unlikely to change much between now and the World Cup, injuries aside, and so it is a dry run as they meet the sub-continent trio of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in their first round pool phase that starts with a match against the latter on June 3.
But having given up Tests to follow his dream of the World Cup, there is perhaps now even more pressure on De Villiers to perform and lead from the front. He has put his eggs in the ODI basket and South Africa will expect a return.
“It’s not easy for me. I have always been the go-ahead guy, the team man who never wants to miss a game for South Africa. But [with] the schedules these days, it’s really tough to play all formats, especially at the age of 32, when most cricketers don’t go past the age of 35.”
“If you do the math, it takes to me to 2019, 2020 at the most. Hopefully by then I will still be fit and be there to lift the trophy with the boys.”
De Villiers has royally entertained in his career, has played a major role in Test series wins in England and Australia, and generally been a superb advert for South African cricket.
Maybe he has earned the right to prolong his career in the way he sees fit.

CRICKET-SRI-RSA

In Pursuit Of Gold

South African cricket legend Makhaya Ntini believes racial quotas in the country’s cricket are “long overdue” and hopes to play the mentor’s role for up-and-coming black players to ease their transition into the international game.
Known as ‘The Mdingi Express’, Ntini was one of the finest fast bowlers of his generation, taking 390 test wickets in 101 matches, behind only Shaun Pollock (421) and Dale Steyn (416 and counting) on South Africa’s all-time list.
But now in a new phase of his life post-retirement, he is searching for ways to give back to the game and feels he has an almost unique role that he can play in the complex South African fold.
“I have always seen cricket as a fun game, something to be enjoyed before anything else,” Ntini tells FORBES AFRICA from Harare, where he has been helping Zimbabwe Cricket as acting coach of their senior national team.
“But it has also become an opportunity for young rural boys like myself to build a career and create opportunities for themselves that they might not find elsewhere. That is something we must take very seriously.”
<div id="attachment_5442" style="width: 213px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5442" class="size-medium wp-image-5442" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/000_Par3701327-203x300.jpg" alt="" width="203" height="300" />South African cricketer Makhaya Ntini gestures after the Twenty20 match between India and South Africa at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on January 9, 2011. The match marked the last international appearance of South African fast bowler Ntini, who got a rousing reception from a crowd of about 47,000 but conceded 46 runs off four overs without taking a wicket. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE / AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE</div>
“I used to play Baker’s Mini-Cricket as a boy because it was something new, we never knew the game before it was introduced into the rural areas by [former Cricket South Africa president] Ali Bacher and [administrator] Khaya Majola.”
“The sport was not played in school; we had no television to see it. It was not a game that was part of us. But when given the opportunity to play, it was new, it was exciting.
“There were a few role-models that we could really look up to though. Omar Henry was there when we returned to international cricket in 1991, and he was a wonderful player. Obviously there were wonderful cricketers out there playing, but we did not get to see them.”
Ntini says he feels that had official quotas been introduced at the time he was starting out with the national team, the Proteas would have had a wider pool of players to choose from and been stronger for it.
Cricket South Africa (CSA) has recently announced that an average minimum of six black players, of which two must be black African, will be selected for matches across all three formats of the game over a season.
This is in keeping with a decision years ago to enforce the same quotas at provincial level.
“From my take, it has been long overdue,” says Ntini. “If it had happened at the time of myself, Monde Zondeki, Victor Mpitsang, Garnett Kruger, Geoffrey Toyana, our cricket would have never have gone through the troubles it has.”
“The talent was there, but the quotas were only in the schools and provincial sides.”
“The likes of myself, Herschelle Gibbs, Ashwell Prince and Paul Adams – we had to work harder than anybody else to get recognized. We had to perform in every game to stick around [in the team].”
“We could not have a ‘bad day in the office’ like many other players or suddenly we would be under big pressure. We were looked at in a very different way.”
“I had to wait four years to play in England. I kept being told by [former captain] Hansie Cronje and [ex-coach] Bob Woolmer, ‘you are on a learning curve, you must wait for your chance’.”
“It seemed impossible that I could take the place of an Allan Donald, Jacques Kallis, Brian McMillan, Shaun Pollock or Lance Klusener. These were great players, but I think if I was born seven years later I would have achieved a lot more in the game.”
“Because of that I think we had a responsibility to perform. We had a responsibility in how we trained, how we played, how we gathered ourselves off the field. We needed to make sure that when we went on that field, we had the tools to give our best.”
No-one in their right mind would suggest that new young firebrand fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has benefitted from the recently introduced quota system, he has let his prodigious talent do the talking. The son of a doctor and schooled at the prestigious St Stithians College, Rabada did not have any of the early disadvantages that Ntini endured as a young boy.
But the latter insists he still needs to be mentored and guided along the way.
“He has chosen a narrow road as a career, but he has a wonderful family around him to ensure he does not get big-headed and to offer guidance. He keeps himself grounded,” says Ntini.
“But I can see he is hungry to achieve more than what I did and is not satisfied with what he has done already. He looks as though he is challenging himself all the time.”
But Ntini cautions that international sport is an unforgiving place and says he will always be a sympathetic shoulder for Rabada or any other cricketers making their way in the game, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Sometimes they need people to sit them down and talk to them as brothers,” Ntini says. “I have realized that we lack that in our coaches. They can teach everything about cricket, but our brothers do not have someone that they can easily open up to with their struggles off the pitch.”
“I feel like I can offer advice, because these things can have a major impact on your career. We have coaches to teach cricket, but when the player is off the pitch and in his hotel room, they don’t have people to knock on the door to see how they are doing.”
“Can I open up to an [captain] AB de Villiers as a black cricketer and say, ‘I am struggling with this or that, my girlfriend has just left me, I am going through a divorce’, things like that which have a huge impact on a person?”
“AB will not be able to guide them, I don’t think, but I feel like I can be that person with all that I have been through. If I had the opportunity to be involved on that level, I would jump at it because I see it as a way of giving back to the game and to South African cricket.”
Ntini says he has enjoyed his stint with Zimbabwe Cricket, even if the side did receive some criticism during his tenure for crushing losses to India and New Zealand.
It is, perhaps, unfair to lay the blame for those defeats at the door of Ntini given how little cricket the Zimbabwe national teams plays. Whatever the result, he continues to flash his trademark smile.
“Enjoyment is an understatement, I am loving it [coaching],” he says. “I put my whole heart into it. Look at Zimbabwe cricket and cricketers, how much they have changed from where they were since I got here.”
“They tend to enjoy themselves now, they open up to us, they have the freedom of being able to be you, not the restriction of trying to impress me.”
But he says his heart remains in South Africa and if the right opportunity came to return home, he would jump at it.
“South Africa is my country, I will never run away,” he says.

The Role Model Waiting For A Role

On a warm Thursday afternoon, at the Wanderers cricket grounds in Johannesburg, he looks like a high school fan seeking autographs.
Look again; this is Temba Bavuma, a history-maker with a quick eye and a broad bat. The 5.47-foot tall cricketer was the first black South African to score a century in a test match.
Where he made history is part of his story. The century came at one of the most pristine cricket grounds in the world, watched by some of the richest people in Africa at Newlands in Cape Town. Bavuma looked like he was born there; he wasn’t. He was born just 10 kilometers away, in the impoverished Langa township. Two worlds that could hardly be further apart.
On the walls of Langa, the heroes of the streets are celebrated in paintings. Bavuma is up there among the likes of South African music icon Brenda Fassie, sporting heroes Thabo Mngomeni and Thami Tsolekile.
“Inspiring the kids is important because they need to see that there is a brighter future outside the streets of Kwa-Langa,” says Bavuma.
The 26-year-old batsman says in achieving his maiden test century in January, there was no greater feeling than being recognized  by the youth in his township and the young children running up to him, seeking batting advice.
“Life has changed quite significantly since my milestone at Newlands. I spent a couple of days back home at Kwa-Langa and not only the elderly, but the youngsters were really proud of what I had done. The media also was flocking [after] me afterwards,” says Bavuma.
As he speaks, it is clear that the young batsman has his head firmly on his shoulders despite all the media hype.
Bavuma came from a family of sportsmen; inspiration came from his uncles. As a boy he would attend their cricket matches. His sports journalist father also loves the sport.
Bavuma’s talent was already evident in his early years at one of the oldest schools in South Africa, the South African College Junior School. When the family moved to Johannesburg, because of his father’s career, Bavuma would consolidate his cricketing career even further at St David’s Marist Inanda.
Now, he is one of a new generation of sought-after black cricketers that teams are prepared to pay top dollar for.
“Naturally you’ll find that franchises are going to end up paying more for your black African players because they need to field a certain number. It’s like in any market, you have bread and you have milk. Milk might cost more than bread and there’s a reason that milk costs more, maybe there’s a bit more demand for milk you know,” says Bavuma.
“I never actually saw myself competing with a fellow African brother or a black guy, I saw myself competing for six spots with all the other guys batting. That’s helped me to keep me much more motivated and to feed my competitive edge.”
Apart from the financial benefits he gets for being a black African cricketer, Bavuma says he has never experienced any form of racism from his teammates. He says he was welcomed warmly at the Proteas camp and he feels a part of a brotherhood. Bavuma notes, though, that he did receive some chirping on the pitch from English all-rounder Ben Stokes during the test series.
“He walked up to me while I was on the crease and he basically told me that I didn’t belong in the team. I guess chirping is part of the game,” says Bavuma.
The significant impact Bavuma’s 102 not out could have on children, especially to the majority of South Africa’s population was not lost on the young man who had grown up in the township.
“When I made my debut, I came to be a bit more aware of the significance behind it. It’s not just me making my debut for South Africa but it’s being a role model and inspiration for other kids, black African kids in particular. So this milestone solidifies this achievement,” says Bavuma.
Powerful words from a small man, with a big heart, born and bred in Langa.

Langa’s Little Big Man

The cricket ball made fast bowler Mfuneko Ngam a star. The first time he got hold of one, he was in short trousers and was not allowed to bowl with it. The future South African bowling sensation used to retrieve balls for seniors in the nets at Motherwell Cricket Club, near Port Elizabeth, one of the many township clubs in the country’s cricket mad Eastern Cape.
Ngam served a tough apprenticeship in the gentleman’s game. From the age of seven, he was out in the townships on rough ground, with a tennis ball, trying to dismiss batsmen leg before oil drum.
<div id="attachment_2495" style="width: 211px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-2495" class="size-medium wp-image-2495" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/TL_508959-201x300.jpg" alt="" width="201" height="300" />PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; 28 October 2004, Mfuneko Ngam during the Supersport match between Titans and Dolphins at Supersport Pack in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo Credit : © Lee Warren Gallo Images</div>
At Christmas, he would represent his village, near Middledrift, in the annual five-day tournament in King William’s Town. The competition was tough and the prize was half a sheep. This was also where South African fast bowling great Makhaya Ntini delivered his first bouncer.
Many saw Ngam as the next Ntini and in many ways he was. He made the South African team at the age of 21 and took 11 wickets in three test matches. Ngam had big shoes to fill when he replaced his role model, Allan Donald, who was sidelined by injury. Donald was the world’s leading fast bowler at the time.
A young Ngam had the ability to swing the ball at searing pace and took three wickets for just 26 runs against Sri Lanka, on his debut, in 2001. In the same year, Ngam was voted the national cricketer of the year, the first black player to earn the honor.
Ngam may have overcome humble beginnings, but he could not beat the injuries that snuffed out his career in 2006. Now, he runs his own cricket school in Port Elizabeth and works for Cricket South Africa (CSA) as a coach at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape.
“The project is a feeder to the Border and Eastern Province cricket unions. Since we started we have seen at least nine players contracted to the teams,” he says.
Softly-spoken Ngam, whose voice belies his nickname, Black Thunder, lived a short fairy tale followed by a rapid fall into obscurity. Does he feel the system has failed talented young black cricketers like him?
“I don’t think the system failed me as a cricketer, I had a choice to continue playing or become a coach. I opted for the latter because I felt obliged to plough back where I come from,” says Ngam.
“After I quit playing, I observed things were not looking right with development; hence I decided to play my role in the development of players from underprivileged communities. Initially I was critical of Cricket South Africa,” he says.
Ntini, known as the Mdingi Express, was the first black cricketer to play for South Africa. He does not think CSA is doing enough.
Upon retirement in 2010, Ntini tried to open a cricket school at an estimated cost of $2 million. Old Mutual helped Ntini draw up a plan, but the money did not materialize.
“That’s my frustration with cricket in South Africa. Every day, I cry my lungs out to every department for the support of my academy but no-one seems to care or to listen,” says Ntini.
So far, Ntini managed to raise a mere $1,900 for the school.
Ngam agrees, grassroots cricket in South Africa is not where it should be, but he acknowledges attempts to improve the situation.
“For cricket to be a success in the country, we need all parties involved to work diligently. This is a battle CSA cannot achieve alone. Teachers and coaches, as agents of the game, have to rise to the occasion,” says Ngam.
“We are still going to struggle as black people to break into professional cricket if things continue like this. I am still struggling with my cricket academy plan, but I am not going to get discouraged. I am hoping someone will come up and fund the project,” says Ntini.
“God will punish me if I don’t do anything to develop cricket because I had been helped to get where I am. God will say, ‘You have forsaken your call to help others,’” he says.
The sport’s governing body in South Africa, CSA, is struggling to correct the imbalances of the past.
“I understand the frustration of Ntini and Ngam that we are not quick enough in responding to many challenges in the sport. It is a moral right to give people fair opportunities. But the playing field is not equal because of our political past,” says Corrie van Zyl, CSA’s general manager and the manager of the High Performance Centre.
Van Zyl, a former national bowler and coach, says they have plans to involve Ntini as a high performance consultant in the Eastern Cape. They already have Edward Khoza as a development consultant at the Northern Cricket Union, which caters for northern parts of South Africa.
“It is a no brainer that we need the services of Makhaya in our high performance program. He proved himself to be the most popular across racial lines and was the best cricketer in his day. We are looking at how we can partner with our associates in assisting Makhaya’s indoor center getting off the ground. On our side there’s willingness to assist a guy like him,” says van Zyl.
CSA’s Talent Acceleration Programme (Tap) was established in 2006 to turn teenagers into professionals. The program targets excelling under-17s and 19s.
“Since its inception, this program delivered players like Wayne Parnell, Reeza Hendricks, Mangaliso Mosehle, Rilee Rossouw, Marchant de Lange, Jonathan Vandiar,” says Altaaf Kazi, CSA’s public relations and communications manager.
Van Zyl says they are spending $9.6 million a year getting more than two million youngsters to play the game.
“Research was conducted because there are a lot of black cricket players in the schools but we didn’t understand how they got lost in the system,” says van Zyl.
“A mistake we have done is we have not been telling the good stories about what is happening on the development front. It is unbelievable what is happening at Fort Hare. The world should know about the progress we are making there. We are building on it. The University of Johannesburg is next in line and then Limpopo province.”
Van Zyl admits, despite these programs, the look of the national team is worrying. Whites dominate with 17 players in the squad, while there are nine colored players, two blacks and two Indians.
South Africa may currently have the best team in the world but it has yet to reach the end of the great rainbow debate.

God Will Punish Me  If I Don’t Help Cricket

It was not that long ago when South Africa’s most celebrated cricketer, Jacques Kallis, could not be persuaded to do much more than show off his superior ability with bat and ball. Always a reluctant leader, he did not want that responsibility. Kallis typified the South African cricketer: self-absorbed with his own excellence above all.
If someone had said then that Kallis would make a goon of himself in front of his teammates, at a fancy dress function, people would not believe it—on South Africa’s tour to England, that is exactly what Kallis did. For an improvisation theater session—the brainchild of South Africa’s performance director, Paddy Upton—Kallis chose to dress up as a hotdog. He was the star act of the night. The team man had emerged.
The progress of Kallis is a small, but telling, example of the progress South African cricketers have made in their bid to dominate world cricket. The team has usually bubbled under when it comes to taking the top spot. True, it has maintained a steady hold of the number two position in test cricket and is usually a World Cup favorite, which bows out when it gets tough. This year the team believed it was time to scale the summit and stay there.
South Africa’s change in form can be traced back to the series win in England in 2008. Although the team had been successful away from home before, that victory was a major breakthrough because it was the first since readmission in 1991. Furthermore, it was achieved against an in-form England side on territory considered tough to conquer.
Then the side went to conquer where others had failed for 15 years—Australia. Between 1993, when Australia lost to West Indies, until 2009, the national team had not been defeated at home. For South Africa, to be first team to win in Australia for 15 years was powerful.
Those two tours formed the foundation of six years in which South Africa did not lose away from home. Even though no other team had a record like this, South Africa remained second.
The truth is, South Africa lacked a knockout punch. A jab would have been enough if the team had won at home more often or whitewashed a team away. Against this backdrop South Africa took on England this year in the hope of something special.
Preparations were made with that in mind. Instead of a training camp at one of the usual venues in South Africa, the squad went to Switzerland for an adventure escape with explorer Mike Horn. Famed for circumnavigating the globe without any motorized transport, Horn is a tough guy in every sense of the word.
He made the squad ride up on bicycles and walk for kilometers with heavy backpacks, all on the same day. There was no cricket at all. It was only about being mentally and physically tough.
Wicketkeeper Mark Boucher, who was forced to retire after the first day on tour when he suffered a lacerated eyeball, was one of the outstanding athletes on this grueling journey. He rallied the troops when times were tough. Boucher transformed into a father figure and some of that may have rubbed off on Kallis. When Boucher was injured, Kallis stayed at the hospital for most of the night after his surgery. Kallis also stayed back at the hotel with Boucher the next day and did not go to the ground for a practice match. The next day, Kallis was at captain Graeme Smith’s side when he read out Boucher’s statement.
Kallis scored a century in the first Test, which South Africa won, and dedicated it to Boucher. In so doing, he also improved a record that had been magnificent everywhere but in England. He helped AB de Villiers, who had to take over Boucher’s wicket-keeping role, from his position in the slips and provided Graeme Smith with support due to his experience.
After seventeen years as an international cricketer, Kallis has blossomed late, in his own way. On this tour, Kallis contributed as a person as well as a cricketer. South Africa needed these contributions to go from good to great and the conduct of Kallis is a sign that the team is getting there.

Tag: Proteas

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