Neil Manthorp CRICKET
Having made one of his gutsiest half centuries of a pretty gutsy career during the triangular final last Sunday, Hansie Cronje had just a single day at home before joining the rest of his squad for the the flight to India on Wednesday.
What a triumph it was. When Steve Waugh gloated in 1998 “it’s the winning that counts” Hansie felt the dagger of defeat more than anyone can imagine. Now, finally, after many “we can be like the Australians” comments that were more full of vigour than belief, the truth is clear.
Winning in any circumstances is fantastic. The fact that Cronje’s batting and Shaun Pollock’s bowling astonishingly won the final of a competition that should have been lost has had an astounding effect on team morale.
Cronje has begged and implored his team to give 100% ever since he took charge, but for most of that time he simply expected the best. Playing for your country meant that you gave blood, sweat and tears, and if the captain asked for more, you gave that, too.
Now, with the absence of Allan Donald, Gary Kirsten and Daryll Cullinan, the captain has struggled to recognise the difference between leadership and “domineering”. Cronje is an astoundingly strong man, capable of withstanding many personal slurs, but no man is an island. With Pollock offering sporadic comment, and convenient nods of support from Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis, the captain of the national side has been like man with a lead but no dog.
Having played below their collective best and having failed to “thump” both Zimbabwe and England as expected, the wrath of the South African public was a genuine concern. Cronje, his own worst enemy, has always said that “winning to the best of your ability” was the be-all and end-all of team performance. Now, finally, he can smile with the sincerity of a Waugh – “So what [if we played badly], we won,” said Waugh after Australia had won the second and third World Series finals two years ago.
Cronje knows, of course, that his team did not play as well as they should have done to win the Standard Bank triangular series, but with the extortionate pressure of his leadership credentials landing in mini-bombs around the outfield of his life, the mere fact of triumph was enough to turbo-charge the engine for the next challenge.
“Winning the Test series and the triangular [with England and Zimbabwe] was the first target of the summer but winning the Test series against India was always the number-one priority. No one has won there in recent years – even Australia came unstuck. It is the hardest overseas tour to win. If we can win there we can all look back on an achievement we can be proud of for the rest of our lives.”
So can Cronje and his team genuinely hope for success, given the hopeless odds? India, after all, are as as indomitable at home as they are hopeless away. Sachin Tendulkar apart, the sight of a green (or grassy) wicket is enough to make an Indian batsman call for a nappy. OK, bowing again to pressure, Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly are magnificent cricketers, and Tendulkar is as far ahead of the batting world as Tiger Woods is of the golfing world, but apart from those three men the home team seems desperately thin.
Javagal Srinath is a genuine “top- tenner” among the world’s seam bowlers but he lacks support now that Venkatesh Prasad has lost a yard of pace after a shoulder operation. Debasish Mohanty received rave reviews when he burst on to the scene three years ago but only because he was the classical Indian rarity – a quick bowler. The Indian pace bowlers should not trouble the middle order, especially with Cullinan back.
As clever as we like to get when planning overseas tours, the opposition are bound to be one step ahead. Or are they?
Even “thin” investigation of India’s tactics leads to the overwhelming conclusion that home-town tactics revolve around home-town spinners. “South African batsmen can’t play spin because they never play against decent spinners at home,” says Bombay-based cricket writer Sirish Debonish. “Look at your best batsman – Daryll Cullinan has an average of 43 but he has never scored a run against a decent spinner.” More than a glint in the voice, despite the crackly line from India.
The fact that a single first-class day game, lasting three days, is played before the two back-to-back Tests makes South Africa’s chances even more difficult but, as with so many sporting tours, adversity brings out the best.
An old golfing phrase goes, “Beware the sick golfer.” If the golfer is unaware that he is sick he is no threat to the field whatsoever. Should he happen to be aware of his disability or misfortune, though, then the playing partner is in for a terrible time.
India’s top order is in a terrible state. Without an established opening batsman the home side are likely to be 20-2 in both first innings and then, with their entire fate depending on a hundred from Dravid, Ganguly or Tendulkar, the pressure is likely to tell. India’s spinners are more common than bad water but if Anil Kumble remains in tired form, which he is at the moment, then South Africa’s chances are good.
Kirsten is likely to have to score 200 runs in the two Tests if South Africa are to win. Donald will almost have to take the 10 wickets he needs to reach 300 if South Africa are to win the series.
The wicket will be low and slow in Bombay with a tendency toward low but sharp turn in the second innings. The home authorities have earmarked the first Test for a batsman’s draw.
The second Test, however, will be played on Bangalore’s famously green and bouncy track. No doubt lots of effort will be made to flatten the pitch but this time the famous Indian governmental politics that govern the game (and ensured this as a venue for national election purposes) will aim a solid blow at the country’s cricketing feet.
As long as Donald’s feet remain in full working order …