CRICKET:Jon Swift
THE problem with England’s cricket at the=20 moment is not so much the whining which=20 emanates from the benighted isle over its=20 failure to succeed, but that beating the=20 Poms gives very little real compass point=20 with which to judge the true value of the=20 sides that do so and, it must be added, do=20 so with increasing regularity.
That said, there can be few doubts left=20 after the past week that Zimbabwe’s=20 cricketers are worthy opponents in any=20 arena. They left the Centurion Park field=20 against Hansie Cronje’s South Africans on=20 the wrong end of the scoresheet but honoris=20 intacto.
In the cold analysis of hindsight, it took=20 a truly stirring unbeaten innings of 87=20 from Cronje, married to the 73 Daryll=20 Cullinan weighed in with, to achieve the=20 211 the visitors from north of the Limpopo=20 set the home side, after the Zimbabwean new=20 ball bowlers had scythed through the South=20 African top order to leave them reeling at=20 seven for three.
And once again at the Boland Bank Stadium=20 in Paarl it was only a tremendous fight- back from the Indian tail which left the=20 Zimbabweans with an astonishing tie, in a=20 match which had been theirs for the taking.
It is well to reflect on these results both=20 jointly and individually when looking=20 towards the eventual make-up of the final=20 scheduled for February 12 at Kingsmead in=20 Durban, for they signalled that the=20 Zimbabweans have grown immeasurably as a=20 side – certainly on the pacy southern=20 hemisphere wickets – from that which=20 contested the last World Cup on the Indian=20 sub-continent.
In the case of the match against South=20 Africa, there was the sight of Eddo=20 Brandes, a veteran who owes as much to=20 chicken farming for a living as he does to=20 seaming, and John Rennie, whose mild,=20 bespectacled countenance belies his ability=20 to make the ball duck in every bit as=20 sharply as Mike Procter ever managed.
Together they produced the ideal start for=20 Zimbabwe and, it could be added, in the=20 process shattered any illusions that South=20 Africa has any cause for complacency in=20 this triangular series at the top of the=20 batting order.
In doing so, Brandes, Rennie and, it must=20 be added, Heath Streak, did Cronje’s side a=20 distinct favour, forcing the innings which=20 has been so long in coming from Cronje and=20 opening the gate to a revival of his=20 batting fortunes that he has always been=20 capable of producing but has struggled to=20 find of late.
That initial onslaught also enabled=20 Cullinan to continue to graft the=20 responsibility of having to make a score on=20 to his vast and, as yet, not fully tapped=20 talents at the crease. Both innings might=20 have been forced on their creators, but in=20 this the South African side must take=20 delight in the fact that their=20 inspirational skipper has started to lift=20 the mantle of gloom which had seemingly=20 descended on his shoulders each time he=20 strapped the pads on.
This assessment of the pressure Zimbabwe=20 put South Africa under is equally true of=20 Cullinan. He has so often flattered to=20 deceive at the brink of a great innings=20 and, while he has remained central to the=20 thinking of the selectors and coach Bob=20 Woolmer as one of the true class players in=20 the side, this aspect of his game and=20 nature has been a source of constant=20 concern.
It is cause for rejoicing that Cullinan=20 seems finally to have come good under=20 pressure and can now be counted on each=20 time he strides to the crease.
Against the Indians, rapidly getting into=20 their stride as a team after the joint=20 frustrations of losing the Test series to=20 South Africa and then seeing the rain, the=20 recalcitrant umpires and Cullinan at his=20 very best deny them the third match of that=20 rubber, Zimbabwe showed all that is good=20 about the team under Alistair Campbell.
Campbell’s 61 was the lynchpin of an=20 innings that built to a more than useful=20 236 and set Sachin Tendulkar’s men a target=20 that never looked an easy one to pursue.
Ironically, it was Brandes, rightly named=20 Man of the Match for a five-wicket haul=20 which included Tendulkar, Mohammad=20 Azharuddin, pinch hitter Javagal Srinath,=20 Ajay Jadedja and Anil Kumble, who was the=20 villain of the piace as much as the hero,=20 allowing Robin Singh the width – and the=20 no-ball – needed to tie this intriguing=20 match.
It was a rare slip from the Zimbabwe side,=20 who have attacked the whole process of=20 being involved in this three-way contest=20 with the exuberance and fighting flair that=20 so typified South Africa’s re-emergence as=20 a cricketing power.
They are, as player-coach Dave Houghton so=20 rightly points out, not a side of stars but=20 a well-meshed unit where every member does=20 his level best. This is doubtless true.=20 Houghton has been around the game far too=20 long for any mere commentator to attempt to=20 second guess his judgement. And most of the=20 men are, after all, only part-timers in the=20 most recognised sense of the word.
But the side Houghton has helped to mould=20 and nurture owns what very few others do=20 … a depth of batting and a long line of=20 players both willing and able to take the=20 ball and have a go at the opposition.
Add to this an all-round ability in the=20 field that the South Africans would not be=20 chary of, and the picture becomes more=20 complete.
More importantly from a spectator’s=20 perspective though, Zimbabwe seem to be=20 genuinely enjoying what they are doing. In=20 this, win, lose – or even stretching=20 credibility to the limits and tying once=20 more – cricket owes the side from the tiny=20 landlocked cricketing nation a sincere debt=20 of thanks.
And both South Africa and India can learn a=20 little from the men who have made the game=20 fun for all of us out there.
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