Neil Manthorp in Wellington Cricket
Hansie Cronje and Bob Woolmer both emphasised that the tour of New Zealand had been a great success before the final three one-dayers were even played – winning the Test series was the priority.
“We approached the West Indies series with a different attitude, and that was to expect to play 25 hard days of Test cricket and not to worry too much about the scoreline until the end,” Cronje said after Tuesday’s final washed-out one-day match at the Basin Reserve.
“We had the same approach in this series and once again I was delighted with the way we played. The intensity never dropped and the concentration levels were outstanding. The players that stood out for me were Daryll [Cullinan], obviously, Jacques [Kallis] and Shaun [Pollock] but the player I’m most pleased for is Herschelle [Gibbs]. What he has achieved on this tour might have the greatest consequences in the future. His talent is fantastic; now he has added discipline and control.”
And, said Woolmer: “All the batting records were a pleasant surprise, we never expected anything like that. I knew the guys were capable of it, but the series win was made all the better for what they did.”
Outside of the Tests, in which Gary Kirsten’s record-equalling century has almost been forgotten thanks to the 200’s scored by Cullinan and Gibbs, Jonty Rhodes has had an extraordinary trip to New Zealand. Three undefeated centuries in first class matches and a total of 395 runs for just two dismissals makes you shudder to think what might have happened if we were still in the era of the timeless test. South Africa 1 232 for eight declared …
Lance Klusener, too, has had a spectacular time in New Zealand and while his team-mates and fans will remember his tour for one stunning blow, he places his one-day century at the beginning of the tour ahead of the final-ball six off Dion Nash that won the replayed fourth match in Napier.
The Test series was won brilliantly but, regardless of what Cronje says about the tour being a success, whatever happened in the one-day games, the build-up to the World Cup, would have been considerably less ebullient had Klusener’s fateful blow landed short of the ropes and the match had been lost. Facing an unwinnable series at 3-1, the chances are that South Africa might have lost 4-2 or even 5-1. Seldom can a single shot have changed the mood, outcome and spirit of a tour so profoundly.
So now attention turns, without distraction, to the World Cup. The squad will be announced this Saturday and, no doubt, the fragile subject of its racial composition will once again attract comment from insensitive politicians attempting to win cheap points from a helpless victim. Cronje, to his huge credit, attempted a smile when asked about the “policy” regarding selection.
“I don’t want to speak out of turn but I think we are probably going to go with 15 players!” Cronje has been hurt too much to bother trying to keep things “secret” and it is clear from his comment that the squad will comprise “the 13 players here plus one more spinner and one more seamer”.
The team of 13 at present in New Zealand does not include Paul Adams, clearly not a one-day bowler, and Victor Mpitsang. The players who can expect to be named on Saturday are Derek Crookes and Makhaya Ntini.
Cronje would love Ntini to play, and he would love him to be a match winner. Nobody would be happier than the captain if that happened. But, in case you hadn’t noticed, the World Cup happens to be a personal passion (healthy obsession, actually) of Cronje’s, and political expediency will have no place when the tournament begins.
“We are going there to win the first five games because you carry your points from that round into the Super Six round. It’s important to be well placed at that stage. I think we are going to have to use the whole squad, at some stage, in order to give key players a rest. Ten matches in a month, with travelling, will be quite hard. So we are going to have keep players fresh. But the approach is very much going to be `win every single game’ in order to get maximum points,” Cronje said.
In other words, if people begin to notice that Ntini hasn’t played, then Cronje will be absolutely certain, in his heart and his mind, that his absence was for cricketing reasons. In fact, the chances are very good that nine or 10 of the 12 teams will carry at least one man who doesn’t get a game.
“Yeah, you might get the situation where two players might not get a game, that can happen. There might be a player who only plays one or two games and there might be a player who doesn’t play at all. We must just be careful with somebody like Allan [Donald], for example. We might feel we can play a game without him and still compete, and still win, but if we’re talking semi-final then obviously you’ve got to pick your best 11 – that is what we must do, and will do,” Cronje said.
Much has been said about the amount of “pressure” that Cronje may place his own players under with his often-quoted ambition to win the World Cup. He speaks without the slightest inhibition of the subject, and with a huge amount of common sense.
“I said in ’95, in a lot of my player profiles, that my first ambition was to win the World Cup, or be part of a team that wins the World Cup and in ’96 we missed out. But we have another chance this year and I don’t think I’ll be around in 2003, so what should I say? `No, I don’t want to win it anymore?’ My ambition has not changed.”
“You’ve got to set yourself goals and targets. I’m not necessarily putting us under pressure, it’s more of a challenge. We are certainly going there full of confidence but also being realistic about how well we’ve got to play to win.” And may he get the support he deserves.
n Likely South African squad: Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan, Hansie Cronje, Jonty Rhodes, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher, Nicky Boje, Allan Donald, Steve Elworthy, Dale Benkenstein, Derek Crookes, Makhaya Ntini.