Neil Manthorp in Amsterdam
In time South Africa’s cricketers may reflect on the decision taken three weeks ago not to read any newspapers in England as one of the better ones during the World Cup campaign. Despite performances so compelling that not even English journalists could be disparaging, their coverage remains steadfastly tinged.
The prevalent attitude was succinctly caught by Paul Weaver in The Guardian when he finished his summation of the destruction of England at the Oval last Saturday with the words: “South Africa really are so professional and well drilled. But it is hard, somehow, to love them.”
During the press conference after that match Hansie Cronje was asked about the mood in the dressing room during the match, when South Africa’s innings had become derailed, and the general approach to the tournament and to the “pressure” of being favourites.
“I’ve told the team to have fun and enjoy themselves, and if they do that then I’m happy,” Cronje replied. Among the many local pressmen who found that comment difficult to swallow was former England Test player Derek Pringle, now cricket correspondent for The Independent.
“Puerile” was his verdict. Pringle, it seemed, was unable (or unwilling) to accept or believe that the maniacal determination that has characterised the South African approach for many years, and the still-fierce facial thunder of the captain, could possibly be melted by his exhortations about having fun.
A former England Test captain, who is also now a newspaper correspondent, explained England’s apparent inability to love the South Africans like this: “In the 1980s we had athletes from Russia and East Germany who were completely characterless and won everything. They were the people we loved to hate.
“Since the Eastern Europeans have supposedly been `cleaned up’ we tend to look for replacements in their image and the South frican team fit the bill very nicely,” he said.
Big, strong and always winning in a bullyish manner without much of a smile. Well, yes, you’d have to go along with that. But characterless? Really? I don’t think so.
Lance Klusener, surely the greatest “character” in the squad along with Herschelle Gibbs, is also one of the least likely to reveal anything other than the top layer of his personality to a local journalist. He does not care for the English. It is common knowledge amongst South African writers that “Zulu” carries an old teddy bear in his cricket coffin. Having gleaned this innocuous yet precious morsel of information, an English feature writer quizzed Klusener. “No, I don’t,” was all he got.
For all their huffing and puffing, though, the English writers have missed the point about this squad as compared to previous teams. Manager Goolam Raja explains best: “We’ve moved away from the old attitudes and approaches that characterised us in the past. For years we had this work ethic and intensity that demanded 100% from everyone, all the time.
“Now we have days off, and when we say `optional net’ then it really is intended only for those who genuinely want to work on something, or those who feel out of form. We have organised much more free time and want the guys to be able to relax, unwind and genuinely get away from the feeling of being in a goldfish bowl all the time. It’s a strange thing to say, with this being a World Cup, but the new approach means there has been less pressure on this tour than on any other I’ve been on.” And Raja has been on every tour, home and away, since 1993.
Amsterdam has provided the perfect antidote to the probing disaffection of England; here the players were no more famous than Dutch speed skaters in Johannesburg and they have enjoyed the city hugely. Boland captain and former Western Province batsman Kenny Jackson has played club cricket here for many seasons and some of his favourite watering and eating venues have enjoyed brisk business.
“It’s important to loosen the reins a bit,” says Gary Kirsten. “Not on the field, obviously, but off it. To have a day off where we can explore the city, have a lunchtime beer and eat dinner at a cafe is fantastic. It completely takes your mind off the tour for a while and it stops you getting mentally stale. It’s no secret that we’ve suffered from that at the end of most of our overseas tours in the past,” Kirsten says.
So would it rankle with many of the squad should they become aware of their status as unloveable, steroidal bullies? Not enough to cause a loss of sleep, that’s for sure.
As every clever schoolboy learns, the 11th commandment is; “Don’t get caught.” South Africa’s decision to field an unchanged XI for the Kenya match was a risk and a gamble for two reasons. The obvious is that, should a change have to be made in the later stages, the newcomer will have had no match practice.
The second is less obvious: with the team ethic being the musketeers’ “one for all, all for one”, four players are in danger of feeling more and more isolated. If they collect a medal at Lord’s on June 20, they will do so in the knowledge that the grandchildren’s answer will be “nothing” when they ask, “What did you do in the World Cup, Grandpa?”
“I think it would be a pity if we don’t play a game,” Dale Benkenstein said after hearing he wasn’t playing against Kenya. “From a captain’s perspective [which he has been all his cricket playing life] I think I’d like to have the whole squad in form and ready to play if and when required.”
If the starting XI remains firm and in form, however, and South Africa win the cup, then they will have obeyed the 11th commandment and no one will ever be the wiser. The difference between previous tours and this one, Cronje says, is that the players have plenty of time to recover between matches. Peter Pollock’s reason for sticking to the same side was that he didn’t want to run the risk of “tripping up” against Kenya, which is hardly a glowing reference to the abilities of Benkenstein, Derek Crookes, Nicky Boje and Alan Dawson. It certainly won’t do much for their spirits.
Assuming they don’t get caught, though, South Africa seem virtually assured of a semi-final place, let alone the Super Sixes. If they beat Zimbabwe on Saturday they will be guaranteed the maximum “carry over” four points for the second stage meaning, effectively, they would only need one win out of three (against Pakistan, and two of New Zealand, Australia and the West Indies) to reach the last four.
Amazingly, India might still not reach the Super Six stage despite their record-breaking thrashing of Sri Lanka on Wednesday when they amassed 373-6. If they lose to England in the final qualifying match of Group A, they will miss out to Zimbabwe and the continent of Africa will have more cricketing reason to celebrate than ever before.