CRICKET: Jon Swift
IT is of crucial interest that the national selectors are at last sticking to their much publicised “horses for courses” theory, one that has not meant much more than a throwaway line at times in the recent past.
And equally of note is that the Man of the Match awards in both the victory over Pakistan at the Wanderers and the triumph over New Zealand at Centurion Park went to players not considered frontliners.
That Mike Rindel, often criticised for being too loose, should show such disciplined application with both bat and ball in Johannesburg would give credence to this contention.
Rindel is un-questionably still inclined towards the more flamboyant with a bat in his hand. It is part of both his appeal and his value as an exponent of the limited overs game.
But he has the vital ingredient in his make-up of wanting to get on with things. This is backed with an ability to get the ball over the ring of fielders and make the scoreboard move — something which has been largely left to Jonty Rhodes to use in breaking up the established rhythm of an innings in the past.
But it is wise not to discount the line and length Rindel achieves with his left arm wobblers. He bowled exceedingly well — albeit to orders — in both of his first outings at international level.
The Cinderella story of Dave Callaghan has been documented almost to the point of exploitation. His innings of 169 at Centurion Park will be one long remembered and cherished. But it must not be forgotten that after his mammoth unbroken stay at the crease, he still managed to pick up three wickets for 32 off his six overs.
What the performances of these two — and the dropping of Brian McMillan from the one-day squad — realy means is that we have woken up at last.
A while after jetting out of isolation in 1991, the realisation has finally struck home. The one-day and five- day sides are different animals even if they come from the same basic throughbred bloodlines.
Here, much credit must go to the experience in the international limited overs goldfish bowl of coach Bob Woolmer and the change in emphasis which has accompanied his appointment. It cannot have been an easy task — or one without pressure from on high — for Woolmer to have had to sit through the agonising disappointments of the trip to Pakistan which produced a virgin scoresheet in terms of matches won.
To come back from that humiliation and manage to instil both the desire to win and the belief that victory is indeed possible must have been equally difficult.
Woolmer has been aided in this by the zest for the joyous business of playing the glorious game which shines out of Hansie Cronje. Poker faced he may be but the sheer joy which lit up the skipper’s smiling features when Callaghan reached his century was proof positive that behind the brooding facade does indeed beat a heart more inclined to dance than despair.
The experiment with Callaghan as an opener was both inspired and innovative in the light of the inner conservatism which has marked both our selections and approach of late. It was almost as if the glitter had rubbed through showing the bare steel of the continuing grind of competition beneath.
Suddenly, almost as if without effort, the sparkle came back. Callaghan’s disdainful sweeps and cross-handed flicks with the bat showed that the dictum of Sir Donald Bradman still holds true. Sir Donald believes that a batsman’s major responsibility is to dominate the crease for as long as possible before the inevitable slip in concentration occurs. Nowhere was this more finely illustrated than in Callaghan’s record-breaking innings.
More important, that superb knock forged a new link in the chain of cricketing events, opening the way to a host of young — or even not-so-young — talent to force an entrance to the international arena.
It will be interesting to see how Steven Jack — drafted in for McMIllan — follows through on the path this country’s cricket has, one hopes irrevocably — set itself to follow.
Jack is potentially a fine seam bowler. It shows most clearly when he shortens his over-long run-up and ceases trying to live up to the fire and pure pace of Dennis Lillee. For one thing must surely be evident to the 24- year-old: it takes great control and immense accuracy to bowl into a batsman’s body.
True it represents a bigger target than three puny stumps, but the margin for error is so much greater. Take Rindel’s control and line as a case in point during the current B&H series, and Jack has something to set his sights on.
Jack’s not inconsiderable batting ability — it is hard to argue with 107 off just 75 balls from the New Zealand attack for Transvaal — is an added bonus.
In all, it would seem that the thinking of prove winners in the limited overs game like Pakistan, England and Australia, is indeed right. They have worked on the premise that while the nucleus of your test side normally represents the kernel of talent in the one-day line-up, the personel almost always alters.
In short, you bring in the specialists. It is a mindset which has taken this country some time to adjust to. Again credit here to Woolmer and his enthusiastic captain, Cronje. Between them — and with the support of a squad at present riding a crest — the old order has changed beyond recognition.
What now remains to be seen is if this huge upsurge in both performance and drive can be carried through to the more lastingly important area of test cricket.
This we shal not really know until the end of the second test which starts on Boxing Day at Kingsmead in Durban.
With South Africa one down in the three-test series, Cronje will be counting on the bridge under cnstruction n the hurly burly of the Mandela Cup being strong enough to bridge the chasm to a full five-day international.