Neil Manthorp in Birmingham Cricket
At last, some justice. The final moment of any significance, the last memory of the tour of England, was positive. Not just the victory, but the catch by Jonty Rhodes in the covers.
So often we see great feats of athleticism diminished by the television replay. Occasionally they remain untarnished, but rarely do they become enhanced.
Yet when Rhodes flew an impossible distance, and still more ridiculous height, to catch Robert Croft at extra cover, it happened so quickly that it was impossible to see with the naked eye. The press box, containing about 60 journalists, 54 English, was stunned into silence.
“He didn’t . he, he . what’s happening . ?” stammered The Daily Telegraph. “I don’t ‘king believe it, he’s ‘king caught it!” shouted the less restrained News of the World.
Even the most contentious umpiring decisions of the fourth and fifth Tests did not cause quite the clamouring for a close-up view of the television replay. Laptop computer cables were kicked out of their sockets as overweight men with stiff backs attempted to move from their too-small seats to head for either corner of the box to one of two TV sets.
All right, it was only a catch; and South Africa were going to win the match anyway, but the effect was like morphine for a broken limb. The big, boyish, silly grin that spread all over Rhodes’s face after he landed back on earth was the bandage. The broken limb, of course, was the Test series.
To be honest, sporting pain – not the physical kind, but the pain of defeat – is usually quickly soothed. But not for this team. It will take a lot longer than two weeks for any of them to be able to say “hey, that’s life” and shrug their shoulders as if they meant it.
So what does Rhodes, the man-of-the- tour (only just ahead of Allan Donald and Hansie Cronje) have to say about the Test series now, almost two weeks after his 85 had almost produced a 2-1 series win instead of defeat?
“Hey, that’s life,” says Rhodes with a slightly hollow version of the famous grin. “You know, I haven’t been sleeping too well recently; there’s been a lot on my mind. It’s difficult to stop thinking about how I got out, about `if only’ I had batted on then we could have won the game and how we would all be feeling now if that had happened.”
From 27-5, South Africa staged a wonderful recovery with Rhodes at the forefront, of course, but that provides the same consolation as a guilty slip fielder’s “sorry” to a fast bowler.
But come on, guys, it is only a game, right? Well, yes it is. It just doesn’t feel like “only a game” at the moment. When you sacrifice (or should that be dedicate?) three-and-a-half- months of your life to the sole pursuit of a single goal, then you come so close to achieving it that you can smell it, taste it, feel it, not once but three times, then you lose it, it hurts. Quite a lot.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s a good thing,” offers Rhodes. “Maybe it’s a good lesson for the younger guys who don’t value a Test win and a Test loss as much as the older players. We went to Pakistan and beat them, and the last two Tests we played before we came here resulted in excellent wins against Sri Lanka. At Lord’s we won massively. Maybe we just expected to turn up and win again?
“You know, despite an awful lot of bad luck, we still should have won the series. We were outplayed in the last two Tests when it really mattered. Anyway, I’m still going to wake up in the morning and I’m still hanging on the odd catch in the covers. Life does go on .”
Holding himself partly, or even largely, responsible for the last day’s defeat in the fifth Test is unfair, but Rhodes not only seems willing and able to carry the burden, but also to accept responsibility for lifting the collective spirit.
“We really can’t afford to be too down for too long. There is still so much cricket to be played this summer with the West Indies arriving in a couple of months time for five Tests and something like seven one-dayers. Hopefully we can learn from the experience – it would be a shame if we didn’t – but we mustn’t dwell on our mistakes and harp on about what might have been.”
Apart from Donald and Cronje (“. and I suppose I did OK”), Rhodes selects Jacques Kallis as having had a fine tour “coming along hugely as an all rounder”. He says Paul Adams bowled “really, really well” which proves the fairness of the man because mere mortals tend to remember the last few weeks when his form slumped, not the first few when Adams did, indeed, bowl well.
The wicketkeeper in any side is more important than the mere function of his job. Rhodes may, or may not, have referred to Mark Boucher in an oblique way in the comments above, but there is no doubt that the youngster, whose international career started with his bum in the butter, has learned hard, salutary lessons over here.
Assuredness and confidence (“cockiness”) has to be justified and, while his talent and potential are immense, he will benefit a lot by the way this tour’s metal boot has rearranged his teeth. He is still the man for the job.
For the West Indies, the team needs an opener – Adam Bacher will be given another chance if he is fit again, otherwise it should be HD Ackerman. Lance Klusener, as Rhodes pointed out, was missed more than anyone could have predicted and the team will be better and harder when he returns. (Any bets on figures like 10-0-78-6 against the West Indies?!)
For now, though, the team must, and will, rest. A couple of players are taking European holidays with their girlfriends or families, others are going fishing in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, while others just want to sleep in their own beds and do nothing for a couple of weeks except have their friends over for a braai on Saturday afternoon and watch the Currie Cup.
So let’s say goodbye to England and the England tour. It still really hurts, sure, and it wasn’t fair, but Rhodes has a warning for those who dwell: “There is a great expression in life: `If you keep looking over your shoulder all the time you’re going to miss the train coming straight at you.'”
ENDS