Here’s a few morsels to chew over: ”Where’s the attitude and arrogance now? [Are] you guys doubting yourselves now?” — Kumar Sangakkara, Centurion Park, November 19 2002.
”Here’s Ashwell, the scapegoat of the side.” — Sangakkara, to a kind of Greek chorus chanting ”Scapegoat, scapegoat” in the background.
Or: ”Why don’t they like you? Do they think you’re not good enough? Are you good enough?” Yes, you’ve guessed it, Sangakkara again, and no prizes for picking the luckless Ashwell Prince as the target.
There was much, much more of this on Tuesday afternoon, courtesy, it seemed, of a television producer who decided to crank the volume control of the stump microphone up a notch and leave it there. At times Sangakkara all but drowned out the commentators.
Of course, some might argue that this is an improvement, but, oh my word, that would be a harsh judgement. What Sangakkara did provide, though, was spice to an already fascinating Test match. If you were asked to provide a scenario for a classic Test match, a game that went into the last session on the fifth day before being won by three wickets probably wouldn’t be too far off the mark.
And just in case there is any misunderstanding, none of this is intended to admonish Sangakkara. The South Africans have earned themselves an unfortunate reputation of going heavy on the verbals when they’re on top or against opposition they deem to be inferior. This may or may not be the case, but the point is that if you dish it out, you have to be prepared to take it without complaining.
The one area of concern, however, is when bowlers start grabbing at or putting their shoulders into batsmen. Rule number one is that you don’t touch the opposition physically. You’ve got a ball, he’s got a bat with which to defend himself and it stays at that level.
Two seasons ago Shaun Pollock was disciplined after a spat with New Zealand’s Craig McMillan along very similar lines to the incident with Mahela Jayawardene on Monday. There is one very good, practical reason for Pollock to desist from grabbing at batsmen, in jest or otherwise: if he carries on doing it, one of these days someone’s going to fetch him one with a bat.
The Test series, then, came to an enthralling conclusion with the one-dayers to come. We can’t leave the Tests, however, without some mention of Neil McKenzie. If there is such a thing as a match-winning or series-saving 39, then McKenzie played it on Tuesday.
Although he finally contrived to get himself out almost comically, he had batted with skill, resolution and common sense (with valuable help from Andrew Hall and Mark Boucher) to dig South Africa out of a hole and take his side to the point of victory.
Despite his superstitions, McKenzie has no little bottle and although he copped his share from Sangakkara, there was almost an affectionate tone to the sledging when he was on strike. This, you would guess, was no more than a response to his generally sunny disposition. You don’t always have to wear a frown on your face to prove that you’re taking things seriously.
If his little cameo has not earned him a more regular spot in both the Test and one-day teams, the selectors need their heads read. If nothing else, McKenzie is proof that nice guys don’t have to come second.