The day 23 wickets fell at Newlands

The Newlands Test has become an annual cricket trip for me, it’s usually the boxing day Test but I decided I would rather come down and watch our boys take on “the old enemy” Australia instead of Sri Lanka in the new year.

I caught the first day on T.V. from behind my desk at the office and then made my way down to Newlands all the way from Joburg. I arrived at the stadium just in time to see the wicket of Michael Clarke fall. Australia were all out for 284. Things were looking good…

It was fantastic to watch Jacques Rudolph open South Africa’s first innings, he’s traveled a long journey to rejoin the Test team and I’ve been supporting him for a long time. He got off to a great start but was soon bowled by a perfect delivery from Harris. Not to worry I thought, we had the might Hashim Amla in next.

Then Amla fell for 3, followed by Kallis for a duck, with the pressure mounting Smith lost his wicket to Harris and the next ball Prince was trapped lbw … South Africa were 73/5. By this stage I was getting grumpy, I had shelled out a bucket of cash to get down here, sacrificed sleep and this is what I got in return. It got worse.

We went from 73/5 to 77/6, 77/7 and were eventually all out for 96. Heartbreak. Australia had a first innings lead of 188, Shane Watson returning figures of 5-2-17-5, and 11 of those runs came from one over. How were we every going to compete from here, with three and a half days to play I thought it was all over, but Graeme Smith and the boys had other ideas.

Almost immediately we started the fight back, Steyn trapped Watson lbw in the first over, a few overs later Philander trapped Ponting lbw and was given out after a review by the batsman. In the next over Morkel struck twice in two balls removing Hughes and Hussey. Then Philander took another, the big wicket of Clarke who scored 151 in the first innings. Australia were in trouble, deep trouble at 15/5. The crowd was alive with anticipation of a wicket from every delivery.

By now I was trying to find out what Australia’s lowest Test score was, I was sure it would fall on this day, turns out their lowest total is 36 in 1902. The collapse continued, Haddin was out caught behind off Philander as he played a suicidal shot, 18/6, then Harris edged one to Smith at first slip, 21/7, the next over Johnson hit a delivery from Philander to Amla he was out caught, 21/8. Two balls later Philander trapped Marsh lbw giving him a five wicket haul on debut, Australia were 21/9. There was buzz around Newlands, we were watching history being written, records breaking and no one really knew how we had got to this point.

Luckily for Australia Siddle and Lyon strung a partnership together to save them from total embarrassment and were able to push the score past their lowest total to 47 before Steyn wrapped up the innings.

Australia were bowled out for 47 in 18 overs, the innings lasted only 95 minutes. A bowling display of note, one I will never forget.

By the end of the day, I was so glad I had made the mission down to Newlands, I got to witness a day of cricket that will be talked about for years to come, the day 23 wickets fell at Newlands.
At close South Africa were 81/1 needing 155 for victory.

The start of the international and domestic cricket season is upon us, I thought I would take a look and review what is on offer this season.

SuperSport Series:

First up the domestic season is already under way with the SuperSport series two rounds in. We’ve had an early indication of form; the might Hashim Amla opened the season with a double-century (218) and in the same game Alviro Petersen (186) fell fourteen short of his double-century. Other players that scored early centuries include Ryan McLaren (133*), Stephan Cook (131), Obus Pienaar (119), Jacques Rudolph (118), Neil McKenzie (110*), Dale Deeb (101*) and Temba Bavuma (100*).

There has also been some impressive bowling, five bowlers have taken five wicket hauls, Robbie Frylink and Johan van der Wath both took six wickets. More noticeably, the two spinners from the Titans Paul Harris and young Shaun von Berg both took five wickets against the Dolphins in Pietermaritzburg in a game that Imran Tahir missed due to an injury precaution.

Domestic Pro20:

For a while I’ve been saying that we need international players in our domestic competitions, I’m of the opinion that it will draw crowds as well as give young players the opportunity to learn from some of the experienced international stars. And at long last we seem to have attracted a few of big names; The Dolphins have signed Shaun Tait and Chris Gayle two players that should have a massive impact. The Lions managed to sign the Pakistan pair of all-rounders in Shahid Afridi and Abdul Razzaq so there will be an international flavour to our domestic cricket can’t wait for the Pro20 to get under way!

Australia in South Africa:

Our new look Protea’s management and leadership open their journey together with the toughest possible start to their tenure with two T20’s of which both are already sold out, three ODI games and two Test matches against the Aussies. It’s a pity that there are only two Test matches which is due to the dispute between CSA and the Australian cricket board in which neither wanted to give up their December Test series. I would personally like to see the T20’s and ODI’s scrapped in place of a four or five match Test series, but that would mean our administrators would be putting their love for cricket above the will to make a profit.

I’ve got my tickets to the first ODI in centurion which should be awesome, I’ve also arranged my now annual trip down to Newlands for the first Test match and will not doubt be taking some extra days leave to attend as many days as possible of the second Test at SuperSport Centurion.

We also have a full series at home against Sri Lanka, a tour down to New Zealand early in the new-year and an end of year tour too England.

So as the old Benson & Hedges T.V. commercial coined; Come on summer, come on, come on! 

The worst kept secret in South African Cricket was officially announced this afternoon; Gary Kirsten has been appointed coach of The Proteas on a two year contract. Allan Donald will be the bowling coach and Russell Domingo the assistant coach.

It was further announced that AB de Villiers will captain the T20 and ODI teams with Hashim Amla as his vice-captain. Graeme Smith retains the Test captaincy.

Awesome, Cricket South Africa has got it spot on!

Spare a thought for Vincent Barnes, previously the Proteas bowling coach. Under Banes the South African bowling attack has matured to become one of the best in the world with bowlers like Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe all within the top ten international rakings.

For all the announcements the appointment of Kirsten and Donald are particularly pleasing for me. Both these guys are legends within South African Cricket. They both broke all sorts of South African records for batting and bowling respectively.

At the RAM breakfast with Gary Kirsten which I attended last week, Gary mentioned that “… it’s the performances of the past players that have contributed to the stereotype that the current players are labelled with”. Allan Donald has been a major contributor to the tag and now the past players have the opportunity to lead the current players away for the tag to new heights in world cricket.

Interesting times lay ahead for cricket in South Africa; money couldn’t buy us better leadership than what we have today.  Congratulations Gary, hope you’re around for a long time to come.

When Pro20 cricket came onto the scene all the pundits had their say about how it would affect cricket as we know it. We’ve heard it all, is ODI cricket dead? Will the format of ODI cricket change  and the absurd arguments about Test cricket fading away into obscurity. Did any of us consider the impact that Pro20 would have cricket administration and management within South African cricket?

Making it to the final of the domestic Pro20 competition secures the franchise a place in the Champions League T20 (CLT20), and the CLT20 is a lucrative place to be. Just playing in the CLT20 earns a franchise US$200 000, that’s more money than the total sum on offer for winning the Standard Bank Pro20, MTN 40 and SuperSport Series combined. In the 2010 edition of the CLT20 the Warriors made US$1,550,00 for being the losing finalist (US$1,300,00) and earned US$200 000 for allowing RCB the services of Jacques Kallis.

Those are massive figures for any South African domestic franchise, and it seems the pursuit of that money has got to the heads of local administrators.

Today it was announced that the board of the Eastern Titans has chosen not to renew the contract of Chris van Noordwyk, the Coach of the Titans, as a loyal Titans supporter I was shocked by the announcement. van Noordwyk was appointed in August 2009, that’s just 20 months as the head coach…. When you analyze how the Titans have performed in those 20 months you really do have to wonder why his contract was not renewed.

• MTN40 – 2009/10 – Titans finished top of the log, lost to the Dolphins in the semi-finals.
• Super Sport Series – 2009/10 – Titans finished second on the log.
• Standard Bank Pro20 2010 – Titans finished second on the log, lost to the Lions in the semi-finals.
• MTN40 – 2010/11 – Titans finished top of the log, lost to the Knights in a rain affected game.
• Super Sport Series – 2010/11 – Titans finished second on the log.
• Standard Bank Pro20 2011 – Titans finished second on the log, lost to the Cobras in the highest successful run chase in Pro20 history.

The performances speak for themselves, the Titans were contenders in every competition played under van Noordwyk’s leadership. Sure they didn’t win a trophy under his tenure but take a moment to consider the opposition. The Cape Cobras have been the leading four day team in South Africa for two years they didn’t lose a game in 2010/11 season and the Warriors are practically the Proteas team.

I have to wonder, if the Titans made it to the 2011 Standard Bank Pro20 final would van Noordwyk still have a job? I think he would. The Eastern Titans administrators have lost the plot, they have let the pursuit of money persuade their cricketing decisions…..

The innovation of Pro20 cricket and the associated money seems to be having a wider affect on not only the future format of the game, but on the careers of the very people that play and coach it.

When we were knocked out of the World Cup by New Zealand, I too was very upset and frustrated with our team. They did let us down, and yes the run chase was very poor but please think about what you say or tweet before you slate your own team.

I’m not going to bore you with the details of the game or criticise the selection of the team or squad, but again what I ask is that you remain a supporter and not just a fan.

So much has been written about the ‘chokers’ tag in the media ad nauseam, regular readers of this blog will know I detest the term, and here is why. If you call the Proteas chokers, you are part of the problem within South African cricket, you re-enforce the stereotype and stereotypes are extremely powerful labels.

Dan Ariely a researcher in behavioural economics, in his book Predictably Irrational, defines what a stereotype is and notes what effect it has on people.

“Expectations also shape stereotypes. A stereotype, after all, is a way of categorizing information, in the hope of predicting experiences. The brain cannot start from scratch at every new situation. It must build on what is has seen before. For that reason, stereotypes are not intrinsically malevolent. They provide shortcuts in our never-ending attempt to make sense of complicated surroundings. This is why we have the expectation that an elderly person will need help using a computer or that a student at Harvard will be intelligent. But because a stereotype provides us with specific expectations about members of a group, it can also unfavourably  influence both our perceptions and our behaviour.

Research on stereotypes shows not only that we react differently when we have a stereotype of a certain group of people, but also that stereotyped people themselves react differently when they are aware of the label that they are forced to wear. (in psychological parlance, they are “primed” with this label.)”

Further to this, the Proteas coach, Corrie van Zyl said upon his return from the World Cup; “It’s important that everyone in South Africa sees the extra burden that is put on their team. The opposition see every opportunity to use the word ‘chokers’ on and off the field for one reason: to get at us mentally.

“But when our own fans keep reminding us of the past, it doesn’t provide motivation, it just brings extra pressure. We need to deal with this in a different way as a nation, we need to stick together. “ source.

It’s up to you to help change the perception of our cricket team, some journalists won’t be helping, they will simply add fuel to the fire and keep promoting the ‘chokers’ tag, it helps them sell papers and attract readers to their sites. They thrive on the failure of your team.

Yes the rest of the world will still use the ‘chokers’ tag against us … but it hurts the most when it comes from home. Support your team when they are down, don’t kick dirt in their faces, show some respect but most of all, show your support.

If you had looked at the World Cup fixture list before the tournament got under way you would probably have picked India to beat South Africa in their group stage match. India have been tipped as a front runner to win the World Cup and it was inevitable that the Proteas would lose one on their way to the quarter-finals.

And after 20 overs you would have been patting yourself on the back for your accurate assessment, as the Indian openers Sehwag and the legend of Sachin Tendulkar quite simply murdered the Proteas bowling attack. Sehwag scored 73 (66), Tendulkar 111 (101) and Gambhir 69 (75)… the writing was on the wall.

However when Tendulkar lost his wicket the Indian batting line-up collapsed under the pressure of Dale Steyn. Steyn wrapped up the Indians quickly taking 5 wickets from 16 balls. The Indians losing 9 wickets for 29 runs. 297 set to win, it was still going to be a massive run chase.

The Proteas kept us on the edge of our seats during the run chase, Amla was again an awesome contributor to the innings while Smith continued his poor run of form 16 (39). Kallis’ innings signalled a return of form not one game too late with this 69 (88) eventually run out.

AB de Villiers added haste to the inning with his more than a run-a-ball half-century. There was still plenty of runs to be scored and this time the middle to lower order delivered in style. Faf du Plessis partnered with Botha 23 (15) and Peterson 18* (7) to bring the team to victory. Needing 13 runs from the last over, Peterson hit 16 from the first four balls.

What a game of cricket, The Castle Larger Proteas Super Fans really got their full value, this game will go into the history books. What a privilege is must have been to have been there.

The elation from the dressing room was fantastic, a massive fight back from the criticism and negativity of the loss to England the week before. The Proteas fought with passion, even when they were getting smashed in the opening stanza of the match.

This is the Proteas we’re used to seeing, the boys with the never say die attitude, it was a pleasure to watch and oh how sweet it must have felt to have silenced the critics.

It’s no secret that I have been critical of Albie Morkel’s performances of late, he went through a poor run of form with the bat and ball for the Proteas, and I wasn’t surprised when he was dropped by the national selectors ahead of the World Cup.

As we’ve all heard form is temporary, class is permanent… Having been dropped, Morkel has returned to his franchise and put in the hard work, the commitment a player shows after being dropped by the national team is a real show of character.

The hard work has paid off, as of the 9^th of March these were Morkel’s stats (after the second semi-final, which was the last for the Titans):

Morkel was the third highest runs scorer, the players above Morkel are Jacques Rudolph and Owais Shah. Morkel had amassed 214 runs from 6 innings; both Rudolph and Shah have played 7 innings.

Albie Morkel’s 214 runs came at an average of 214 thanks to five innings where he was not out. Add to that those runs were scored off the highest strike rate (178.33) in the competition to date. There are a few higher strike rates but the batsmen have scored less than 50 runs in the competition.

Morkel also tops the table for the most 6’s 1n the Pro20 with 19, 9 more than second placed Loots Bosman.

Those are some impressive stats from a player who has had a dismal run with the bat in ODI cricket.

Albie Morkel’s bowling statistics in the Pro20 are not as flattering as his batting statistics, he has however bowled well and has taken 5 wickets at an average of 18.60 conceding 6.26 runs per over, as I said not the best but decent in Pro20 cricket.

It’s great to see a player fighting back to find form, let’s hope Albie can continue his improvement with the ball and hopefully regain his place in the national side… As we’ve seen the national team is lacking the big hitter who can also put in some overs with the ball, the imminent retirement of Jacques Kallis makes Morkel’s return to the national team all the more important.

When a team loses a low scoring game in the World Cup fans will read deeper into the result than is justified. When the Proteas lose a low scoring World Cup game the daggers come out…. Which by now is expected.

We should analyze the game and draw our opinions, but I urge you to remain loyal to your team, be a supporter not a fan.

For me the decision to drop Mark Boucher was exposed in the 6 run loss to England. I believe in and have been whiteness to the tactical awareness of Mark Boucher. Often I’ve noticed Boucher having a chat to a bowler or having influence over a field placement achieving an immediate result.

The decision to open the bowling with Peterson was well thought out, I think however that, after the first ten overs we lost our way with our bowling tactics. Perhaps Boucher would have offered a different perspective on the situation. Boucher’s experience was sorely missed when we got into trouble at 7 down…. With all due respect to Morne van Wyk, while I was watching the events unfold I was thinking of how good it would have been to have had Boucher and his ten odds years experience out there.

An area for concern is the continued lack of form from Smith and Kallis, having said that, I think Smith was on the receiving end of a crap decision by the third umpire…. Kallis seems to be struggling to find form after his injury. South Africa will need both these players to get into the runs if we’re to advance in the World Cup.

Let’s not forget that England was under massive pressure to come up with a victory against our boys, they were in a tight spot and fought hard to keep their World Cup aspirations alive. The naysayers over looked the pitch, a spinners delight that crumbled as the game progressed.

A loss that we could afford, a lesson learned and an opportunity to re-evaluate our position in the tournament, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

Forever Proteas.

I meet Mike Sharman about 8 months ago at Spatt’s Summer Party, we found that we were both extremely cool guys with a passion for cricket and online, so we committed to discuss important matters further.

Sharman managed to get his car stolen a day or two before our first date, so I picked him up and off we went to one of Johannesburg’s fine eateries… to my surprise Sharman had made plans for me to meet his parents… it’s complicated.

We discussed many things, top of the agenda was how we were going to get ourselves to the Cricket World Cup. Sharman already had his plan of action, he was going enter the Castle Lager Proteas SuperFans competition by dressing up as a nutter at the 1^st Test between India and South Africa at SuperSport Centurion.

Unfortunately for Sharman  he didn’t win, still fully committed to his mission to get to India, off he went to Durban for the second Test where both Sharman and the Proteas lost… Sharman had one last chance… the New Years Test in Cape Town.

Having picked up some tips and tricks in his previous two endeavours, Sharman plotted his plan of attack… On the first day of the final Test he gathered his crew (Snow White and the seven Morphs) and garnered some support from the locals.

Sharman took his dress-up to the next level with his rendition of “Draught Man” painted head to garden path in body paint Sharman become the centre of attention. “Draught Man” won the dress-up on the day and so it came to be that Sharman and 26 other Castle Lager Proteas SuperFans booked their tickets to India.

Draught Man and Hobbo

Castle Larger, the beer behind our boys, has also become the beer behind the fans, they leave for India on Wednesday and will attend the match between South Africa and India on 12 March at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur.

There was a lot of speculation about the team selection going into the first Cricket World Cup match against the West Indies, most of which revolved around the possibility of playing three spinners.

I was doubtful we would field three spinners, it seemed to much of a gamble against some of the big hitters of West Indian cricket in Chris Gayle and Kieran Pollard. The selection of the third spinner also then sacrificed a batsman,  which would mean that the top five would have to perform with the bat. I also thought that the third spinner would be made up by JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis.

I had it all wrong.

The Proteas did pick three spinners, and The Proteas even opened the bowling with Johan Botha, only the sixth time this has happened, and Botha achieve success with the wicket of Gayle from the second ball of the innings.

Imran Tahir bowled fantastically in his debut game for the Proteas, returning figures of 10 overs, 1 maiden, 41 runs, 4 wickets at 4.1 per over. Tahir’s bowling performance is a comforting factor, great things are expected of this man.

The Proteas needed a menial 223 runs for victory against a mediocre West Indies bowling attack that suffered the loss of one of their main bowlers, Dwayne Bravo early in the innings with an injury to his knee.

The might Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis departed early, leaving captain Graeme Smith and AB de Villiers with the responsibility of getting the team home. The chase seemed easy for de Villiers as he went onto score his second World Cup century and the fastest by a South African at the World Cup. This is again an important performance for the Proteas, de Villiers struggled in the series against India this innings of 107* (105), but more importantly the middle order performance including JP Duminy’s  42* (54) will continue to allow the national selectors to pick the extra bowler in the team.

The Proteas are off to the perfect start, now onto Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh to play Netherlands.