Telford Vice and Neil ManthorpCricket
South Africa’s indifferent form during the current triangular series has lead to understandable criticism. Twice in four matches the top order has batted with an apparent desire to be back in the pavilion as soon as possible, and the bowling has been unreliable.
When a team lose their best bowler, senior opening batsman, best middle-order batsman, and their emotional “soul” (Jonty Rhodes, for two matches) it is not surprising that they struggle.
When the remainder of the side play poorly to boot – and still win 50% – they should not be a cause for celebration but neither should they be vilified. The argument that says “if we can’t beat England and Zimbabwe then just how low have we sunk?” is profoundly irrelevant.
Never judge a team on what might have been or what might be. The entertaining two- wicket defeat by Zimbabwe this week was achieved by a ferocity of team spirit produced all too frequently by South Africa when they, too, were minnows in the world game.
The reasons for the current dip in performance levels are obvious. No Daryll Cullinan, a badly jaded Gary Kirsten and Shaun Pollock, and no Allan Donald.
Once the integration of the new men has been completed with a couple of dozen caps each, the team’s form and reliability will return. Donald’s return for the tour of India could hardly have come at a better time. Without the champion fast bowler the attack has included willing warriors but the man to whom they have looked for leadership – by example – has been missed.
Pollock, Mornantau Hayward and Henry Williams all have the right to claim a place at the top table. Pollock is a world-class performer, Hayward could be one in the making and Williams has garnered hope for late bloomers everywhere.
But Donald is not one of the finest bowlers of his generation for nothing, and his absence has been felt. The squad for the two Tests in Bombay and Bangalore will be announced in Port Elizabeth this weekend and the 14-man unit, including Donald, Cullinan and Kirsten, will once again bear the face of familiarity and security.
The only sign of “adventure” is the possible inclusion of Eastern Province left-arm spinner Robin Peterson, who is on standby in case Paul Adams’s broken finger does not heal in time.
After the Tests Donald and Cullinan will return home and a measure of their status can be gauged from the fact that four players will be sent to replace them. A 16-man squad for five one-dayers might be seen as excessive but if common sense prevails then Pollock, primarily, should be rested. He badly needs it. His mind may deny it, but his body cannot lie. He is shattered.
Pieter Strydom would be hard done by not to be on the trip. The Border captain’s servicable slow left-arm bowling could solve Rushdie Magiet and company’s dilemma of who to select as the second spinner.
The worst mistake the selectors could make would be to toss aside Dale Benkenstein. He is a fine cricketer whose poor one-day matches in this series have been taken more seriously than they should have been.