Steve Whiting CRICKET
The “back from the brink” one-wicket win over England at Canterbury last Sunday gave South Africa’s women cricketers more than a glimmer of hope in a five-match series that seemed to be slipping into oblivion after they lost the first two – it also gave them a hope of being taken seriously on the male-dominated domestic scene at home.
As Helen Davies and Yulandi van der Merwe scrambled the winning run with two balls to spare, coach Rodney Willemburg could almost be heard to say: “That one was for you, Ali. I hope you have been watching.” The 38-year-old from Western Province has gone through this tour painfully aware that under the original schedule this series should have been played in South Africa with England as the visitors, not the hosts.
“There just wasn’t the money available,” he says. “Yet we have the World Cup in New Zealand at the end of the year and with the right sort of preparation we could at least reach the semifinals. Australia are at the top, then come New Zealand. But there isn’t much to pick beween us, England and India. But what chance do we have if there isn’t enough money for us to even have proper get- togethers at home? Some of the girls hardly know each other and when they do meet up they have to find the money out of their own pockets.
“It’s only thanks to the efforts of Tim Lamb at the England and Wales Cricket Board [ECB] that we have been able to come for this series.”
At one stage South Africa might have been wishing they hadn’t gone to England. Except for two days in June – Willemburg was told to make the most of it, that was the English summer – the weather has been cold and blustery. And South Africa were well beaten in the first two matches, by 20 runs at Chelmsford and an embarrassing nine wickets at Trent Bridge.
“We are grateful to the ECB for helping us get here,” said Willemburg. “We have to admit to a touch of envy when we see the sponsorship and encouragement that other countries, especially England and Australia, are receiving. The England team are backed by Vodafone, who are also funding the England men’s team, yet at home the sponsors don’t want to know.
“I have it on good authority that the cellphone company which sponsors the Western Province men’s team has a clause written into their contract specifically forbidding any of the money to be spent on women’s cricket and Dr Ali Bacher doesn’t seem to care. I hear Tim Lamb had to talk him into letting this tour take place at all. We South Africans are a proud sporting nation – surely it is in everyone’s interests that any teams going abroad in the name of South Africa should be given the best possible chance to do well.”
They also have to be on their best behaviour – Hansie Cronje has seen to that. “We are the first South African team to play overseas since it all blew up,” says Kim Price, the personable 38- year-old captain from Cape Town. “All I can say is that we feel cheated – yes, that’s the word for it – cheated.”
n South Africa had a setback when England won by eight wickets in the fourth one-day international at Taunton on Wednesday, taking an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.