The much vaunted development programme is paying dividends on the Under-19 tour to England
CRICKET: Rupert Cox
WHEN West Indian batting star Brian Lara interrupted his busy schedule for a whistle-stop visit to help with the development programme last September, he confessed to being stunned by the raw talent he observed at cricket clinics throughout South Africa.
And, at the same time, Dr Ali Bacher and his colleagues at the United Cricket Board of South Africa continued to reiterate their bold belief that a black cricketer would represent this nation by the turn of the century.
Yet what substance is there to this philosophy?
The South African Under-19 cricket team, currently half-way through their English tour, is, as we are constantly reminded by the tour management, a squad selected purely on merit. ”Forty percent of this squad are from the development and disadvantaged group and have benefitted from the development system. The progress that has been achieved on the tour already is testimony to their ability, character and resolve,” says tour manager Morgan Pillay.
It is a sad indictment of English mentality that, almost without exception, the tourists were initially written off as sub-standard. No supposition that perhaps England had played well in the one-day internationals, simply the South Africans were poor opponents. Whatever happened to credit where credit is due? But much has changed and words now need to be
After those galling defeats in the two youth internationals, the tourists have stirringly fought back with three convincing victories over regional opposition at Under-19 level: defeating the South, which included Ian Botham’s highly-rated 17-year-old son Liam, by seven wickets; the North by 48 runs; and the Midlands by six wickets.
They were also very competitive in the first four-day ”Test” match at Taunton, which ended in a draw. One-day cricket is evidently not their strongest suit. But at Taunton, barring some profligate fielding in the early stages of the match, they may even have forced victory.
Integral in this reversal of fortunes have been many of the development players and especially Ahmed Omar, a talented wicketkeeper/batsman, whose sparkling and chanceless 123 in the first ”Test” enabled the South Africans to gain a first innings lead. Pillay, though, singles out Ashwell Prince as being the top batsman on the tour to date: a left-handed batsman, under supervision at the University of Port Elizabeth’s Cricket Academy, who has shown glimpses of a precocious talent. His Achilles heel is that he is prone to indiscretions, but this is a ”learning tour” and he has time on his side — he will return to South Africa an improved cricketer.
But it is in the bowling department that the greatest strides have been made, and in the face of adversity, with the leading seam bowler on the tour, David Tergrugge, having flown back to the Transvaal with a stress fracture in his lower-back. The extra responsibility has rubbed off healthily on Makhaya Ntini, a wiry and natural 18-year-old quick bowler from Mdingi, close to King William’s Town, who generates deceptive pace from a springy action. He had hardly played cricket before 1992, but he is now attracting interest from Border.
‘Makhaya turned up for nets before this tour with no cricket boots. He bowled for two hours without a break, we told him to rest but he just wanted to keep bowling….it says much about him,” recounts Pillay. Graham Saville, the England Under-19 team manager and former Essex batsman, also admits to being impressed by Ntini. ”I’ve seen him bowl in most of the matches on this tour and he has been improving all the time. He has good pace but it is the fact that at 350-odd for two he still runs in like a good ‘un … he has heart. There is still much for him to learn, but it is not beyond him to reach the top.”
Six wickets for 76 against the Midlands at Oundie School thrust Ntini into the limelight and confounded his opponents, as well as persuading many good judges that he was the find of the tour. This was followed by a venomous spell, in receptive conditions, on the first morning of the Taunton ”Test” that ultimately reaped three for 83 — figures failing to do justice to some fine bowling. And with two other seam bowlers, Pierre Joubert and Malan Morkel, exacerbating injuries, it left Ntini and Walter Masemola to admirably shoulder the work-load.
Masemola, from Alexandra, is perhaps the best-known of all the development cricketers and, with Ntini, admits to sharing a common and rigid ambition: to represent South Africa. They are both relatively new to the game and still have plenty to learn but, with the development programme at their beck and call, this tour could be an historic stepping-stone. However, the millennium is fast approaching.
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