While it now seems that Tshwane is as far north in Africa the New Zealand cricket team is going to get during the World Cup tournament, the city rolled out its zebra-striped carpet for the squad on Sunday night.
”We hope you are going to be bowled over by the hospitality of the people of Africa in general, and Tshwane in particular,” said mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, inviting them into his kraal at a braai held in their honour at the Rietvlei nature reserve east of Pretoria.
Tshwane is the team’s host for the duration of the tournament, with Supersport Park in Centurion their adopted home ground for a few weeks.
According to team manager Jeff Crowe, the team was glad to have been allocated the Centurion venue, since more teams had been eyeing it. He was happy that the SA cricket authorities ”did not succumb to the power of the English pound”.
Ironically, the team were not scheduled to play at Supersport Park even once during their group level matches, Crowe said.
”But when we play a Super Six match there we’ll feel at home.”
The evening was off to a slow start, with the team failing to show up at 6pm, when the function was supposed to begin.
One might have thought they could have been somewhat time-warped. After all, due to the time difference, in New Zealand last Sunday at the same time they would have had about two hours’ snoozing time left before their early-morning run.
Another factor one should not forget is that driving along streets named after apartheid architects Hendrik Verwoerd and John Vorster, and even a few signposts still referring to Centurion as Verwoerdburg, one might lose track of the time completely. The excuse was much simpler: a broken bus.
The sight of cheetah and rhino in the game reserve made up for the inconvenience though. African drums signalled the arrival of the Black Caps — who incidentally wore no caps at all. Fires were ablaze and the smell of meat sizzling over the coals hung in the air.
The soft drinks were exclusively those of a World Cup sponsor. But when the blue-shirted brigade from the Pacific made their turn at the bar, one after the other appeared with the beer most South Africans favour, and a few more tried out a local red wine.
Helping himself to another local delicacy, one of the older team members asked a younger one: ”Do you know what biltong is?”
Crowe, addressing his hosts, did not refer to New Zealand Cricket’s decision last week that the team would not honour its fixture against Kenya in Nairobi due to safety concerns.
He just said: ”We certainly hope that politics will not play too much of a part (in the tournament), but that we can see some electrifying, high-quality cricket.”
Crowe thanked the ”numerous police who keep a watchful eye over us”, and referred to ”the marvellous manoeuvres of the metro police each day when we go to Supersport Park”.
To add to the hospitality, each of the squad received a gift pack from the city council, containing, among others, a small cricket bat made out of wire.
But they should have picked up the subtle signs that in two week’s time, when they take on South Africa at the Wanderers, it will be war: table decorations of spears, and flower arrangements dominated by gladioli — named after the swords which they resemble.
There were chicken kebabs — a feathered, diced and skewered bird, even though it was not kiwi — on the menu.
Mkhatshwa said partnerships were important in cricket.
”Tshwane is going to be your godmother over the next few weeks.”
But he added: ”Whilst we welcome you so warmly we’re going to beat you.” – Sapa