Neil Manthorp in Wellington Cricket
It would be pretty funny if New Zealand won the third Test, don’t you think? Unlike the Rocky scripts that have the battered, bloodied hero dragging himself off his knees and onward to last-gasp, savage victory, this plot would have a dribbly- nosed, 50kg bookworm slapping the bully into submission with a wet handkerchief.
Is it right that South Africa could dominate the series so completely, and yet go into the third match with the chance to lose? Of course it is! That’s the beauty of Test cricket. The only way to win is to win. A Test win is the best feeling a cricketer gets and it would be trivialised by a points system.
Not that there can’t be glory in failing to win, far from it. Especially in New Zealand. The South African team attended a formal function at the British high commisioner’s residence on Tuesday evening where the “great” New Zealand team of 1949 was remembered, honoured and lauded. Nicky Boje, his attention firmly grabbed, turned to the journalist standing next to him during the speeches and whispered: “This team . what did they do?”
Well, the truth is they travelled all the way to England for a four-Test series and drew the lot of them. I don’t mean to denigrate the New Zealand team of 1949 for there were some brilliant players and characters on board, but Tuesday night’s function might have explained the extent of the host side’s ambition during the current tour.
“This team has got to decide whether they believe they can win the Test, or whether they will be happy with a drawn series,” says former captain Martin Crowe. “In order to win it, they need 20 wickets. So far they have taken six in 362 overs. To take 20 wickets, they need five specialist bowlers. They have picked four.”
South Africa have won eight Test matches on foreign soil since 1991, all on separate tours. Winning overseas is much harder than most people realise. Rain notwithstanding, match pitches are understandably doctored and life on the road probably reduces a touring team’s effectiveness by at least 5% a week. And in this case, the opposition’s attitude will make victory even more difficult.
Hansie Cronje bore the brunt of some fairly severe criticism from local journalists after the second Test, which lost 212 overs to the weather, finished in a draw. He should have been more “positive” they said. Although Cronje’s decision not to declare on the fourth day was based, entirely sensibly, on the fading light that would probably have spared New Zealand from batting, he also – very surprisingly – indicated that the pursuit of victory was not dominating his game plan to the exclusion of all else.
“Sometimes, very occassionally, you can sacrifice a Test for an innings like that. What it might do for him in the future, and for South African cricket, could make it worthwhile,” the captain said of Herschelle Gibbs’ unbeaten 211.
There will be two new faces, one in each team, at the Basin Reserve. Left-arm seamer Shayne O’Connor will never frighten anyone with pace, but because he swings the new ball he is dangerous. He took 4-20 in 10 overs against South Africa for New Zealand A earlier in the tour before fading at the same pace as the shine on the ball to finish with four for plenty. At least he may ensure that Jonty Rhodes and the lower middle order might get a bat, which is more than Geoff Allott has achieved with figures of 1-262 in two innings.
For South Africa, a second Test cap for Steve “Shots” Elworthy, who takes Allan Donald’s place, is thoroughly deserved. There are some men on tour – not many – whose humour, humility and sense of reality just make everything feel all right.
During a particularly dull period of the first Test (of which there were many) the press box received a phone call from the South African dressing room: “I need definitive answers to these questions,” he said in a mock-serious voice. “What is the top speed for Indy cars, and is couscous a pasta?” Elworthy’s answers were both right and he ended the call with “Ha! Pay up boys, thank you.”
Four years at varsity – during which he actually did some work and didn’t play serious cricket – set his playing career back as many years (“I’ve actually just turned 30 in cricket years”) but the time was well spent and he has an excellent job as an account manager with Eskom to return to when the game has finished with him.
He rejected several approaches from his former countrymen in Zimbabwe to play international cricket well before he was given the opportunity with South Africa and, interestingly, might have been a professional golfer instead of cricketer in the early years. “I was a scratch golfer as a teenager but golf club membership was a bit much for my dad to pay so I played cricket instead!”
Elworthy, like most observers here, does not need to think very hard in order to work out that New Zealand, happy to draw, will be especially hard to break down because of it. If there is any rain, and Basin Reserve ground staff move as lethargically as they did at Lancaster Park, it will be even tougher.
But don’t imagine Elworthy didn’t have a good night’s sleep worrying about it. He knows exactly what he’s capable of, and the team have every reason to believe that they will take their post-isolation tally of overseas wins to nine. You can’t hang on for a draw forever. This isn’t 1949.