Injuries, bans and retirements have caused a high turnover of personnel, but the new Proteas have blossomed Peter Robinson A few years ago BC (Before Cellphones), cricketers would take themselves off to the golf course for a few hours to get away from it all. For better or worse, this is no longer the case. “I thought the guys played remarkably well,” said Shaun Pollock this week. “Hang on a minute. (Swoosh. Crack.) Ja, South African teams have always been fighters. The South African teams I’ve played in have always had that sort of spirit (Swoosh. Crack.)”
Then again, you have to say he probably deserves it. It’s a little more than a month before South Africa are off again, this time to Kenya for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Knockout Trophy. South Africa are already seeded quarterfinalists after reaching last year’s World Cup semifinals and need only to win twice to reach the October 15 final. Five days after the Nairobi final, however, South Africa will be in Potchefstroom for the opening Standard Bank one-day international against New Zealand. Pollock had better get in as much golf as he can, while he can. But as he potters around on the 17th green, Pollock can reflect on a team which has shown encouraging signs of regeneration. For a variety of reasons, the team which beat Paki-stan in the Singapore final on Sunday contained just five of the side which tied with Australia in last year’s World Cup semifinal – Pollock, Gary Kirsten, Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan and Lance Klusener. By any standards this is a massive turnaround in not much more than a year and it goes at least some way to balancing the fears about the lack of depth in South African cricket. This is a concern that was underlined this week when Northerns fast bowler Greg Smith threw in his lot with Nottinghamshire and England from next year. Smith, sharp and lively, is also a left-arm quick, a species not exactly overabundant in South African cricket with Western Province’s Charl Willoughby the only realistic contender apart from Smith. Since injuries forced Brett Schultz and Aubrey Martyn out of the game, South Africa have had to make do largely with right-arm, over-the-wicket seamers with the only variation coming from left-arm spin. In this respect Nicky Boje has clearly overtaken Paul Adams as South Africa’s leading spinner but there will be times during this summer’s Test matches – at the Wanderers, for instance, and at Kingsmead and Centurion – when South Africa will have to choose between playing a spinner or choosing an all-seam attack. With Muttiah Muralitharan in the Sri Lankan attack, don’t be surprised to see a fair bit of grass around on South Africa’s Test pitches this summer. Smith appears to have become fed-up with hanging around unnoticed and has gone off in search of an England Test cap. At the very least, he might have expected more South African A team recognition and the country can ill-afford to allow players of his calibre to slip off elsewhere. It is widely suggested that Smith has been a victim of affirmative action; that because he is not demonstrably a better bowler than, say, Makhaya Ntini or Roger Telemachus, he has been overlooked as the latter pair have been afforded a number of opportunities.
In the case of Smith, this may or may not be true, but it does focus attention on the United Cricket Board’s selection policy once again, a policy which is likely to be sorely tested in this summer’s Test matches.
With Herschelle Gibbs banned until next year and Paul Adams desperately out of form, there are no obvious players of colour waiting to step into the Test side. Telemachus, along with Nicky Boje, Andrew Hall, Boeta Dippenaar and Neil McKenzie, was named as one of the players who made the most strides on the recently completed tour, but with Allan Donald returning there might be no place for him unless South Africa leave out the genuinely quick and abrasive Nantie Hayward. It’s likely to be a no-win situation for the selectors. From this vantage point Telemachus looks the best bet, certainly he did well in the Singapore one-dayers, but is he to be preferred to an out-and-out quick such as Hayward? Still, whoever is chosen, the young South Africans who did so well in the latter stages of Australia and Singapore have demonstrated that they have enough heart and spirit to compete with the best of them. That’s something to keep Pollock happy if his golf game (Swoosh. Crack. “Shit!”) falls apart. Peter Robinson is the editor of CricInfo South Africa