I was uber chuffed when an email popped up in my in-box from Vincent Hofmann inviting me to the SA Cricket Awards Gala Dinner. As a blogger I don’t often get invited to official events and it’s very difficult for me to get access to the players. Vincent and I were accompanied by Mike Stopforth for the evening festivities.

It’s fantastic to see a sports organization like Cricket South Africa embracing social media, their #CSAawards campaign on Twitter was a creative value add to the evening, and it showed how social media can compliment a live event. When writing this article I counted that there were 1024 tweets with the #CSAawards hashtag, which is an awesome level of interaction. CSA has encouraged the players to join Twitter which is a great step forward in giving their fans access to the players on an individual bases.

The various sponsors of the event also made use of social media to cover the event, Standard Bank, Cricket South Africa and KFC Fangaea we’re all tweeting like crazy and posting Twitpics in an effort to include the general public. They even had the presenter Ryan O’Connor reading out tweets from an iPad!

Cricket South Africa have a great Facebook page another sign of the integration of Cricket and social media, now if only we could find more cricket bloggers….

Mark Boucher, me, Graeme Smith and Roelof van der Merwe at the CSA Awards

South Africa will soon head to the West Indies for a tour that will include three test matches. This will give Hashim Amla the opportunity to polish off an impressive season with his chance of over taking India’s Virender Sehwag to hopefully move to number 1 in the Reliance Mobile ICC test rankings.

Hashim Amla is currently 21 points behind Sehwag, in the Test rankings, fellow South Africans in the top ten include Jacques Kallis at 8 and Graeme Smith at 9. Jacques Kallis also holds the number 1 position for All-rounders.

In the bowling department we still have Dale Steyn ranked as the number 1 Test bowler. Morne Morkel has entered the top 10 Test bowlers in 8^th position. Makahya Ntini is still in 9^th place, he’s sure to drop down the rankings soon as the fast bowler comes to the twilight of his magnificent career.

The Proteas team are still ranked 2^nd behind India and ahead of Australia, the Aussie’s are only one point behind so we’ll pretty much need to win everything to remain in second, and if we win the series we should go to number 1.

Graeme Smith completed a year of huge achievement when he was named both SA Cricketer of the Year and Castle Test Cricketer of the Year at the glittering 2009 SA Cricket Awards Gala Dinner held at the Sandton Convention Centre on Tuesday evening.

The other major winners were AB de Villiers (Standard Bank One-Day International Cricketer of the Year and SuperSport Fans’ Cricketer of the Year) and JP Duminy (Standard Bank International Pro20 Cricketer of the Year, SA Players’ Player of the Year, and KFC Taste the Action Performance winner).

The awards were all hotly contested after a year of stunning achievement that surpassed all previous successes and nowhere was this better illustrated than in the category of SA Newcomer of the Year where Roelof van der Merwe managed to beat off the challenges of Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe.

Also indicative of this competition was the fact that there were no fewer than five finalist nominees for the supreme award of SA Cricketer of the Year compared to the customary three.

The awards cover the period from the start of the tour of England up to the end of the home series against Australia and thus do no include the recent ICC World Twenty20.

Gerald Majola, CSA CEO, said “We are most grateful to sponsors Standard Bank, Castle and MTN for playing such an integral role in this prestigious awards function, and for their contribution to the prowess of the Proteas.

“These awards mark a golden era in the history of South African cricket. “It is most fitting that the SA Cricketer of the Year award goes to Graeme Smith, who led the Proteas to their best season ever.

“The awards also take note of an impressive crop of young stars whose outstanding achievements on the international stage have ensured the continued success of the Proteas.”

Smith had an outstanding year both as leader and player. He led the Proteas’ Castle test squad to away test victories over both England and Australia — something that had never been achieved before — in the space of six months and, although injury ruled him out of much of the ODI programme, his guiding hand was very much in evidence as the Standard Bank squad dethroned Australia as the No 1 ODI combination in the world.

As a player he was the leading runs scorer in test cricket in the calendar year of 2008, becoming the first South African to score more than 1 600 runs in a 12-month period.

He also played one of the memorable test innings of all time when his unbeaten 154 at Edgbaston in the fourth innings clinched the series against England.

It was one of the top ten fourth innings scores of all time in a successful runs chase.

His century at Perth also laid the foundation for the Proteas’ epic 414 runs chase in the first test in Australia.

It is significant that these two victories are two of South Africa’s four highest successful runs chases of all time, the 414 being only three runs shy of the world record.

Although he failed to score a century in either of the key Australian ODI series, De Villiers had a wonderful year with the bat, averaging 63 in Australia (strike rate 87) and 60 at home (strike rate 95). He also confirmed his reputation as the best fielder in world cricket.

Duminy played two innings of innovative genius in the Pro20 matches in Australia. He finished the summer with a career average of 31 and a strike rate of 133 that was only beaten by Albie Morkel (139) and Van der Merwe (160).

Van der Merwe was a story of remarkable success. He made his debut in the Standard Bank International Pro20 at SuperSport Park and never looked back after a man-of-the-match debut that earned him a permanent place in the Standard Bank ODI squad as well.

Both he and Parnell will be strong contenders to be named ICC Young Cricketer of the Year at their awards ceremony in Johannesburg in September.

In the domestic professional category the three main awards went to Van der Merwe (MTN Domestic Championship Cricketer of the Year), Charl Langeveldt (Standard Bank Pro20 Cricketer of the Year) and Imraan Khan (SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year).

In the Operations category there was recognition for Nashua Titans’ Richard Pybus (Coach of the Year) and Marais Erasmus (Umpire of the Year).

2009 SA CRICKET AWARDS WINNERS

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS
OPERATIONS

Coach of the Year: Richard Pybus
Groundsman of the Year: Louis Kruger
Scorers’ Association of the Year: Gauteng
Umpire of the Year: Marais Erasmus

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS: DOMESTIC

MTN Domestic Championship Cricketer of the Year: Roelof van der
Merwe Standard Bank Pro20 Cricketer of the Year: Charl Langeveldt
SuperSport Series Cricketer of the Year: Imraan Khan
Domestic Newcomer of the Year: Dane Vilas
SACA Most Valuable Player: Claude Henderson
Domestic Players’ Player of the Year: Claude Henderson

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS: SA TEAM

SA Newcomer of the Year: Roelof van der Merwe
Standard Bank One-Day International Cricketer of the Year: AB de
Villiers Standard Bank International Pro20 Cricketer of the Year: JP Duminy
Castle Test Cricketer of the Year: Graeme Smith
KFC Taste the Action Performance: JP Duminy
SA Players’ Player of the Year: JP Duminy
SuperSport Fans’ Cricketer of the Year: AB de Villiers
SA Cricketer of the Year: Graeme Smith

Source: SuperSport

Poor planning or the blooding of a youngster? That’s my question. Graeme Smith left the final over to Wayne Parnell, in the nail biter last ball finish against New Zealand on Tuesday night. Needing 15 runs from the last over Graeme Smith called up Wayne Parnell (19) to bowl, but as he called him up he seemed to check with Parnell that he had one more left to bowl.

That couldn’t have been much of a confidence boost ahead of a pressure over for Parnell, nor the previous over by his senior Dale Steyn which went for 12 runs. The pressure seemed to get the better of Steyn; his last over was filled with wides and bye’s . Perhaps Graeme Smith wanted to give Parnell some exposure to death bowling, whatever Smith’s reckoning Parnell delivered. Bowling to Jacob Oram and Scott Styris he managed to keep the runs below the required 15.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man

My boy Roelof van der Merwe who so many people wrote off before his international career even got started delivered when needed. Van der Merwe stepped up and bowled his four overs for just fourteen runs, taking two wickets, including the wicket of Brendon McCullum stumped for 57 off 56 balls in the 17th over. In the end it was another quality bowling and fielding performance from the Proteas, great to see the boys respond when they were under pressure.

Image Source: Flickr

So, the phoney war of the first group stage of the Twenty20 World Cup is over and the real business of the tournament is about to start. Despite the efforts of the organisers to remove the element of surprise from the Super 8s there have been a couple of shocks. Firstly, the fall of Australia at the first hurdle and secondly Ireland usurping Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, South Africa managed to negotiate their opening fixtures successfully, trouncing Scotland before squeezing past the Kiwis. I doubt if Graeme Smith will want too many of his side’s matches to go down to the last ball, but having survived the scare and defended a small total there will be plenty of positives for the Proteas.

The danger of an easy win over Scotland followed by a match against New Zealand that didn’t mean anything to either side was that South Africa would be severely undercooked going into the Super 8s.

The batsmen were able to fill their boots against Scotland they were made to work a lot harder for their runs against the Kiwis. The bowling and fielding has really shone though dismissing Scotland for 81 and restricting New Zealand to 127.

Moreover all the reasons that caused the bookmakers to have South Africa amongst the favourites at the outset of this World Cup still apply.

Many of the team have excelled in the recent IPL, which is where the finest Twenty20 exponents have been sharpening their skills for the last two seasons. AB deVilliers, Herschelle Gibbs, JP Duminy and Jacques Kallis were all in the IPL’s Top 12 run scorers while left-armer Yusuf Abdulla was in the Top 10 bowlers with 14 wickets.

Smith will continue to lead from the front and can has a full range of bowling options including the pace of Dale Steyn or the spin of Johan Botha. And it has been spin that has been crucial in bringing down run rates so far in this tournament.

South Africa line up in the tougher of the Super 8 groups alongside England, India and the West Indies. For my money it looks like three teams fighting over two places and net run rates could turn out to be the key if everyone else beats the West Indies and then each other.

First up for SA in the Super 8s will be the host nation. The two teams should know each other well after last summer and although it was the Proteas who came out on top in the Tests it was England who fared better in the shorter forms of the game.

After the disaster of the opening game against the Netherlands came a fine performance in the must-win game against Pakistan. The comprehensive victory hinted that England might finally be finding their feet at Twenty20.

But which England will show up?

Australia’s place in the Super 8s was taken by the West Indies after Chris Gayle put them to the sword. And it is Gayle on who the West indies hopes rest upon. As he showed at his best he can flay any attack in the world, but if he fails to fire there is serious doubt over where the other match winners in the side are.

Even if Gayle and the batting line-up fire there is the danger that their good work will be undone by profligate bowling and woeful fielding.

Both South Africa and India will be hoping to have secured their semi-final places before meeting next Tuesday in a possible dress rehearsal for the final. If that is the case it could be a case of how to approach the game?

Do you rest key players and try and deny the opposition a glimpse of your main men. The risks are obvious, loss of momentum if the match is lost and a missed opportunity to scout the opposition.

The alternative is to pick your strongest side and send a message to India, as well as the other remaining teams. It will be an interesting conundrum for Mickey Arthur to wrestle with, but only if his team take it one game at a time to that point.

By: Tim Evershed
Twenty20Blog

Well Ricky Pointing said it, I didn’t agree but after watching those last few over in the field on Friday night, I have to agree now, the South African team have a very different dynamic under the leadership of Graeme Smith. The different dynamic is confusion. Smith had the field placements changing every ball towards the end of the innings, at one point he swapped the entire off side and onside fieldsmen around.

The last few overs of the Australian innings lost the game for South Africa, the additional 40 or so runs that were conceded put massive pressure on the South African batsmen, which they couldn’t handle. Australian’s total of 287 was the second highest total posted at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead in Durban, which puts our bowling and fielding effort into perspective.

In the process of losing the first MTN ODI on Friday evening, South Africa also gave up the  number 1 spot in limited overs cricket to Australia. Which is a particularly painful experience.

Graeme Smith will have to show some composure, the senior members of the team also need to stand up and be counted. I haven’t heard what the team will be for the second ODI, I’m sure Jacques Kallis will return if he’s fit.

The South African public have supported the Protea’s team with pride over the last four months of cricket against the Australians, it’s time for the Protea’s to give back, give us an ODI series victory boys, you can do it.

The Rajasthan Royals finished the 2008 IPL on top of the round robin table and then went on to win the tournament. The only team to have a player/coach, who also happens to be the only non-Indian captain taking part. SA players: Tyron Henderson, Morné Morkel, Graeme Smith Other star players: Shane Warne, Justin Langer, Munaf Patel,Shaun Tait, Shane Watson, Mohammad Kaif Coach: Shane Warne

Franchise fee: $67 million

Most expensive player: Mohammad Kaif – $675,000
Full squad: Shane Warne, Abhishek Raut, Ahad Malek, Amit Singh, Anup Revandkar, Ashraf Makda, Atul Sharma, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Dinesh Salunke, Gajendra Singh, Graeme Smith, Kamran Akmal, Lee Carseldine, Mahesh Rawat, Mohammad Arif, Mohammad Kaif, Morne Morkel, Munaf Patel, Naman Ojha, Niraj Patel, Paras Dogra, Paul Valthaty, Pratmesh Salunke, Pushkarraj Chavan, Raiphi Gomez, Ravindra Jadeja, Robert Quiney, Shane Harwood, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Siddharth Chitnis, Siddharth Trivedi, Srideep Mangela, Swapnil Asnodkar, Tyron Henderson,  Yusuf Pathan, Shane Warne (AUS) (Coach)

Ricky Ponting is at it again, he’s had a go at the change in captaincy for the MTN ODI series. Pointing questioned the SA selectors for the change, saying “It will be interesting to see how the dynamics of the South African team changes with Graeme at the helm,”.

Pointing reckons that the Proteas team dynamics changes under the captaincy of Smith, which is a direct shot at Smith. Having said all of that, trying to get under the skin of Smith he moved onto the duel between Mitchel Johnson and Graeme Smith. Having been injured twice by Johnson the bowler does seem to have the upper hand. Smith is going to get bounced plenty from Johnson in today’s game, only time will tell if Smith is up to it. I have no doubt that Smith will take control and lead his team to victory.

Proteas team for first ODI: Graeme Smith (capt), Johan Botha (vice-capt), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini. 12th man: Roelof van der Merwe.

Standard Bank Pro20

South Africa has gone cricket mad in the past few days, with the announcement that the IPL will be hosted in South Africa. We’ll also be hosting the ICC Champions Trophy, but before we get into all of that we have two Standard Bank Pro20 games and a five match MTN ODI series to play again Australia. The first Standard Bank Pro20 game gets under way at the Liberty Life Wanderers Stadium this Friday evening with the second match being played on Sunday evening at SuperSport Park. I’ll be at both these games. Remember to follow us on Twitter from some live updates.

Graeme Smith is still side lined with his injured finger, but it seems that he’ll be ready for action against Australia in the first MTN ODI at Sahara Stadium Kingsmead next Friday.

The squad for the first game:

Proteas’ team for first Pro20: Johan Botha (captain), Herschelle Gibbs, Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Mark Boucher, Albie Morkel, Robbie Peterson, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn. 12th man: Justin Ontong.

Cricket South Africa announced on Wednesday that it had decided to stand Ashwell Prince down as captain to allow him to concentrate on his new position of opening batsman.

Jacques Kallis will now captain the team on a one-off basis in next week’s third Castle Test against Australia at Sahara Park Newlands.

Kallis also captained the Proteas in the final Test of the previous Australian tour to South Africa when Graeme Smith was injured.

Source: Cricket Tweets