Neil Manthorp CRICKET
The only surprise the South African players have encountered in India so far has been just how predictable everything has been. Knowing what to expect is one thing, but you still expect some surprises in the land of people, chaos, enthusiasm and people. And more people.
Preparations for the first Test, which began yesterday, were absolutely perfect. The team did not have to endure any internal travelling, they stayed in one of the country’s delightful five-star hotels and they ate excellent, freshly prepared food.
Practice sessions were held on superb pitches and the nets did not have holes in them. There was no shortage of quality net bowlers, either.
All of these problems varied between constant and regular on previous Indian tours, but lessons have been learned by one and all. The man who made sure they did not resurface this time around is a man the players call “Ledge”, as in “legend”.
Team manager Goolam Raja is a fourth- generation South African but his ancestry allows him to fit in perfectly in a land of endless frustrations; his astonishing patience is an attribute the players can aspire to but will never emulate.
Raja visited India for a week in November last year armed with a bagful of diplomacy and tact. “The idea was to start the tour in the best possible frame of mind. The five one-dayers at the end of the tour are scattered all over the country, some in small venues, and the travelling is going to be hard, so with that in mind we needed to make sure the first couple of weeks were as relaxing as possible,” Raja said.
With a sixth of the world’s population living within India’s boundaries it is not surprising that Indian cricket officials wanted to spread the South Africans as thinly as possible. The only warm-up match of the tour was originally scheduled for Madras, 1E500km south-east of Mumbai (Bombay).
“The first prize was to get the match moved to Mumbai, which the [Indian] board agreed to three weeks before we arrived. So we are now in a situation where we catch one flight and stay in just two hotels for the first three weeks of the tour. That’s pretty good for any tour but for the subcontinent it is unprecedented,” Raja said with justifiable pride.
“He’s been incredible,” admits coach Graham Ford. “Everything has been checked out and organised beforehand, from the guy who prepares the nets to the guy with cold drinks to the guy who cooks our lunch at the ground. He has met them all and they all know what we need and what we would like.”
The overall result and effect of Raja’s pre-tour management is a squad of players who are behaving as though someone knocked the top off a cylinder of laughing gas. The senior players, who toured India in the days when nobody knew what to expect or when to expect it, have those experiences to help them appreciate how good things are now. For Nantie Hayward, Mark Boucher and Boeta Dippenaar – who toured India with the national under-19 team a couple of years ago and were grateful just for clean sheets, let alone clean water – life is heaven-sent.
“Yes, the guys are sharp and positive. They’re in good spirits,” said Ford. That may have changed pretty dramatically by the time you read this, of course, especially if the tourists were bowled out for 150 or the home side were 250/2 (Tendulkar 85 not out) at end of day one, but the point is, bluntly: no excuses!
Not even on the field of play can excuses be made. Everyone knows exactly what to expect. Ford looked at the match pitch several times before the Test began and knew exactly what to expect. A few years ago we might have said “expected the worst” but not now. There is nothing left for South Africa’s batsmen to fear.
“It was shaved pretty bare, especially at the ends. The groundsman spent quite a bit of time rolling green grass clippings into the strip but nobody will be fooled by that,” Ford joked on Wednesday. The clippings will soon dry and blow away, leaving a dusty, crumbly “turner”.
Former Indian opening batsman Kris Srikkanth, who now heads a five-man “pitches committee” charged with the task of breaking the habit of preparing spinner-friendly pitches at home and consequently encouraging the team to get mercilessly thrashed overseas, says the pitch will be “sporting”. Ah, yes. Depends on your idea of sport. People who shoot animals with high-powered rifles also call that “sport”. India must win this series after the humiliation of Australia.
“There is talk of them playing all three of their spinners,” mused Ford before the Test. “But that shouldn’t worry us. The ball will be turning and there will be men around the bat. The guys know what to expect, and we have some fine players of spin.”
Daryll Cullinan’s groin strain may have cost the team its most conspicuously talented batsman (Shane Warne is his problem, not spinners in general – he scored 270 runs at an average of 54 in India three years ago) but give the Indians the choice between bowling at Cullinan or facing Nantie Hayward and they would be willing to pay good money for the former.
“He bowled [against the President’s XI] very, very well,” said Ford. “Hit the deck hard, put them under pressure, really made them feel his presence. They were not comfortable. He continues to impress everyone, not just with his ability but with his attitude.”
At the time of writing Cullinan was given only a 20% chance of playing. “If he does play it will be a case of biting the bullet and playing through the pain,” physiotherapist Craig Smith said.
Opinion was incredibly evenly shared among the senior players as to who should play in Cullinan’s place. “We must stick to the ‘top six’ formula,” was the view of the senior batsmen. Dippenaar was their man. Six specialist batsmen.
The fast bowlers, mindful of the exhaustive overs of toil at well-set batsmen in unhelpful conditions, felt that Nicky Boje should play in order to help Clive Eksteen (and them). “It is the subcontinent, after all, and the ball’s going to turn sideways,” they reasoned. Boje could also bat at number six, or even as a makeshift number four.
But the captain has the major input during selection meetings (on tour), and he saw how Hayward made the president’s men jump. He may have been swayed by the more conservative men in the squad, but we can all be assured that Hansie Cronje – attempting to become the first captain to win a series in India in 14 years – was sorely tempted to add firebrand Hayward to an already impressive quartet of quick bowlers. It would certainly have been the bold choice.