Time for Change

The Protea’s have announced their squads for the two ODI games against Zimbabwe, the two T20 games against England, and the first three ODI games against England. While not exactly making surprise selections, they have made some brave, proactive choices after South Africa’s failures in the Champions Trophy.

South Africa have been the most consistent, and perhaps the best, ODI team over the last few years, but their record in ODI series has not been transferred to ICC events. As the team looks to rectify this problem, and build towards the next T20 World Cup next year and the ICC World Cup in 2011. With this entire in mind the selectors have dropped stalwarts Makhaya Ntini and Herchelle Gibbs, while uncapped Heino Kuhn and Ryan McLaren get call ups, and Loots Bosman, Alviro Peterson, and Charl Langeveld earn recalls. Robin Peterson also misses out from the squad that did duty in the Champions Trophy.

The exclusion of Ntini is noteworthy but hardly surprising. The fast bowler has been in most Protea’s squads in recent times, but has not been part of the full strength ODI team, losing his place to the young talent Wayne Parnell. His ODI form has been on the decline in the last 18 months, and the man who was once the spearhead of the attack, and formed a formidable opening bowling partnership with Shaun Pollock, could be seeing his ODI career take a natural death. He is still however part of the Test plans.

The dropping of Gibbs is a little different. Gibbs has lost his Test place a year ago and now finds himself out of the ODI and T20 squads too. At 35 it will be hard for him to force his way back into the team, but he is still supremely fit, still one of the best fielders around, and if he develops consistency with his batting, he could still earn a recall. That’s been the problem with Gibbs – a lack of consistency. Flashes of his old brilliance have been punctuating low scores and the selectors would prefer it the other way around. His performance in the Champions League for the Cape Cobra’s sums up his form over the last couple of years. He scored 1 run in his first three innings before smashing a superb 42 in the semi final; where he gave his wicket away instead of going on to lead his team to a winning target.

Changes to the personnel aren’t the only ones the Protea’s have unveiled for the upcoming matches. With Gibbs missing out the thought would be that Hashim Amla or Alviro Peterson would open the batting with Smith. The selectors though have decided that Kallis will open, something he has been doing in T20 matches for both South Africa and Bangalore, with AB de Villiers and JP Duminy each moving up one place to 3 and 4. Peterson, an opening batsman, will then be asked to bat at 5. The inclusion of Peterson sends all the right messages to those in domestic cricket, as he has been rewarded for his run scoring with the Lions and with South Africa A. That natural progression is one that all local players need to see rewarded. Amla could come into the team anywhere from 1 to 5 if need be and Peterson could move to his natural opening birth if the Kallis move doesn’t work out. The changes do however give more responsibility to de Villiers and Duminy, and allowing them to come in a little earlier could be just what the batting line up needs.

Another interesting change is with Albie Morkel. The all rounder is set to be used as a pure batsman, coming in at number 6 and not 7 or 8 where he has been used for much of his international career. Many South African fans feel his big hitting has been wasted so low down the order, and his top score, and only international ODI 50, a 97 against Zimbabwe, was scored batting at 3. The move has been prompted by his dip in bowling form rather than recognising his batting. The pressure to bowl 10 overs will be taken off him and he will be free to concentrate on his batting. Batting at 6 will allow him more time to play himself in, something he needs, then the lower order afforded him, but it will be good to see the selectors allow him to float higher on occasion.

The bowling, badly undercooked in the Champions Trophy, has been strengthened with the recalling of Langeveld, a death bowling expert, as well as all rounder Ryan McLaren. With Dale Steyn the only bowler assured of a starting place, Langeveld and McLaren will battle with spin twins Botha and van der Merwe, Tsotsobe and Parnell for the remaining three places. The bowling options are good and varied and all should be given a chance in the two series.

The inclusion of Kuhn, the Titans opening batsman/keeper, for the T20 games against England, where he will make his international debut, gives an inkling into the selectors plans for a post Mark Boucher era for South Africa, with AB de Villiers deciding he wants to be purely a batsman and not the next Protea’s keeper.

South Africa A teams have also been named to play against England in 50 over and T20 warm up games. The A teams see squad players like Amla and Tsotsobe from the ODI squad, and Bosman and Abdulla from the T20 squad, chosen along with the new caps McLaren and Kuhn, players who have been part of the Protea’s squads and looking to play themselves back in, such as Morne Morkel, Ontong, Robin Peterson, and Thandi Tshabalala, and a good mix of young and form players knocking on the door of selection, such as Eagles players CJ de Villiers and Rilee Russouw. The A teams seem to be the players just outside the Protea’s squad, and that’s the way it should be, as a bridge to the full squad.

The full squads are: South Africa ODI squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Hashim Amla, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Charl Langeveld, Ryan McLaren, Albie Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Alviro Petersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe

Twenty20 squad: Graeme Smith (capt), Yusuf Abdulla, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher (wk), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Jacques Kallis, Heino Kuhn (wk), Charl Langeveld, Ryan McLaren, Albie Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe

South Africa A 50-overs squad: Hashim Amla (capt), Henry Davids, CJ de Villiers, Dean Elgar, Heino Kuhn (wk), Ryan McLaren, Morne Morkel, Robin Peterson, Rilee Rossouw, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Vaughn van Jaarsveld

South Africa A 20-overs squad: Justin Ontong (capt), Yusuf Abdulla, Loots Bosman, Henry Davids, CJ de Villiers, Rory Kleinveldt, Heino Kuhn (wk), Morne Morkel, Rilee Rossouw, Rusty Theron, Thandi Tshabalala, Vaughn van Jaarsveld

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Finely!

The South African cricket management seem to finely be learning from repeated past mistakes and have arranged to play two ODI games against Zimbabwe on the eve of their T20/ODI/Test series against England. Better late than never.

The Protea’s have in the past, time and again, failed to arrange adequate preparations for past tough series and major championships. Recently, after beating Australia in Australia they went into the home series cold, buoyed by confidence at beating the Aussies for the first time in a Test series since readmission, they decided against match time to ready themselves for the home series. They promptly lost the first two Tests before winning the final dead rubber by an innings. That was the first time South Africa had gone into a Test series against Australia as favourites. Some think the favourites tag was their undoing, but a lack of match preparedness is more likely. Just before the T20 World Cup in England the Protea’s players had come off a successful limited over series against the Aussies and then the majority of the squad took part in the IPL. They arrived at the T20 World Cup in great shape and until they lost to Pakistan in the semi final, their only loss of the tournament, had looked like the best team on show by miles. They then had a break for a few months with no cricket at all, domestic or club, before the Champions Trophy, on home soil. South Africa’s limited over performances over the last couple of years had seen them rightly ranked as the world’s top ODI team, and they entered the Champions Trophy as favourites. While every other team had played some cricket in the weeks preceding the competition the Protea’s did not. They should have found some way of ensuring some competitive cricket was played to fine tune and fully condition the players. Training matches and fitness camps are great, but nothing beats competitive game time. Zimbabwe or Kenya would have served far better than nothing at all. Lessens from the Aussie home series weren’t learned. The Protea’s lost two of their three group games and were knocked out early. Their bowlers in particular looked undercooked, conceding over 300 in two of the three matches.

So finely some lessens have been heeded and a Zimbabwe team that is more competitive then the one that last played the Protea’s, in 2007, will serve as a warm up to Test the readiness of the Protea’s before them embark on a long series against England. Let’s hope that this is the way forward for the team and that past mistakes will never be repeated.

The Protea’s will play Zimbabwe on November 8 in Willomore Park, Benoni, and on the 10th in Pretoria.

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Lessons Not Learned

South Africa has once again entered a major ICC tournament as favourites, and once again crashed out. The alarming regularity of this occurrence has home fans cringing and exhausted with excuses. Just what is going wrong?

The Protea’s have over the last 15 years or so been in the top two in both ODI and Test rankings at the end of almost every year. When stats are compiled after each season South Africa regularly tops the consistency charts yet their record in big games has had them labelled chokers for some time. Is their something symptomatic in the South African set up or mind that has led to this alarmingly predictable and painful demise that they put themselves through and their fans through at each big tournament? The period that these events lay between is so far apart that the faces involved have changed many times, yet the results have not. Can they handle pressure?

On paper, and results wise, this last week not withstanding, this is the best South African team produced since readmission. On paper this is the best balanced team in world cricket. There performance and consistency at the T20 World Cup in England was evident of that, until they come unstuck against Pakistan in the semi finals. Their home and away ODI series wins against Australia do so too. The Test team managed to do what no other South African team has done since readmission, and no other world team had done in almost two decades, win a series in Australia. And they did it the hard way, under intense pressure where their character and will was tested as much as their skill. Once again this tournament, the ICC Champions Trophy, was seen as their opportunity to put right the many wrongs that have befallen them in major tournaments before. This time they would put things right. This time they’d win. Yet again, just as it happened time and time before, they failed. Just as it had happened when they hosted other ICC events, the World Cup in 2003 and the T20 World Cup in 2007, they failed to get through to the semi finals.

It does seem that while there is a palpable will by the Protea’s to end their draught, and put the unwanted tags behind them, a feeling that getting that one win under their belts will lead to a domination of the Australia type in cricket, they just aren’t learning lessons from each failure. Looking at the way they have been ousted from all major tournaments since readmission, losing to England in the semi final of the WC in ’92, to the West Indies in the quarter finals in ’96, to Australia in the semi’s in ’99, to Sri Lanka in the last group game in ’03, to India in the T20 World Cup in ’07, to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup semi final this year, and against England on Sunday, South Africa have always failed batting second in pressure games. Being knocked out by Australia in the 2007 World Cup in the semi’s and by West Indies in the last Champions Trophy are the exceptions. South Africa has a problem chasing in big matches. This is a major problem for a team that likes to chase. The Protea’s have always prided themselves on having a deep batting line up, and so feel comfortable chasing targets. But the pressure is more intense on the side batting second in a do or die match, with the team taking first strike having runs on the board, and more freedom with no run rates to compete with. When batting first the run rate will take on a natural progression of setting a pace in the bowling powerplays, consolidating during the middle period, and launching an attack during the last 10, which tend to include the batting power play. When batting second that progression is over powered by trying to keep up with the required run rate, adding more pressure onto each in coming batsman. Something South Africa have found hard to cope with. Clearly they need a rethink on their chase chase chase philosophy. During a bilateral or tri-nations series that rigid formula may work because you always have the next game to come. You just need to win more than you lose. In a knock out match the pressures are different, there is no next match if you lose. South Africa need to think about batting first, getting runs on the board, giving their bowlers something to aim for, and letting their brilliant fielders create pressure. Win the toss and bat, bat, bat.

Another problem South Africa has when it comes to knock out cricket is inflexibility. Whether plan A comes from the coach or the captain there seems to be a stricked, no budging, approach with no plan b in sight. They bat from 1 to 11 with no alterations depending on the situation. As before this approach is fine in an ODI series but in a knock out match you need to be flexible. In the match against England on Sunday there were two chances for flexibility to be used in the South African batting innings. The first option concerned the batting powerplay. South Africa tends to always take their batting powerplay from around the 42^nd -45^th overs. They say they want to make full use of Albie Morkels big hitting towards the end of an innings. What could have been done was for South Africa to take their powerplay when Smith and de Villiers were going well. Before the advent of the batting powerplay teams were comfortable going at 10 an over for the last 10 overs. This has been more evident with the increased importance of T20 cricket. So why take the powerplay then if that’s what you’d be aiming for anyway? Taking it in the middle of the innings, with two set batsmen would allow you to get ahead of the rate, lessening the pressure for following batsman to come in and be expected to keep up with the rate from ball one, and more importantly, would force the bowling team to alter their tactics. Had South Africa done so on Sunday then England would have been forced to bring Anderson on at this time and this would have meant that he wouldn’t have overs to bowl at the end, giving those chasing in the last 10 a much better chance.

Flexibility with the batting order is something else South Africa needs to consider. At the moment Albie Morkel is not offering as much as he can or would like to the team. His bowling has been suffering for a while now, but his batting is not being utilised. He has only one 50 in 43 matches, a 97 he made against Zimbabwe batting at number 3. But he’s stuck at 7 in a rigid order that has him coming in and not being allowed to get set, with expectations of him clearing the boundary from ball one. The same was seen with Lance Klusner at the latter part of his career. Klusner scored 100’s at the top of the order, so why not allow Morkel to come in earlier in some games? Give him the chance to get set and score a big innings as apposed to the 20’s we are seeing from him now. Should the gamble fail you’ve still got the likes of Duminy and Boucher to recover for you, and should it pay off you’ll get devastating results. Morkel would be the best to use in this way, but Roloef van der Merwe would be another who could do a job. South Africa needs to make better use of the talent available to them and not be so stuck in a certain way. Pakistan should be an example of this, with their use of the likes of Afridi in all batting positions. Pakistan has a World Cup and T20 World Cup to their names, as well as appearing in other finals of both. South Africa needs to be more flexible.

Perhaps the biggest mistake South Africa made this time was in their preparation for the Champions Trophy. When South Africa beat Australia in Australia in the Test and ODI Series it was expected to be the turning of the corner for this team. They were expected to dominate world cricket from them, beginning with easily beating the Aussies in the return series at home. They promptly lost the first two tests, and with it the test series, before winning the final test and the ODI series. The slow start was put down to a lack of match practice before the first test. While Australia arrived and played warm up games the Protea’s thought they were ready enough with out game time. They were caught cold. It seems lessons weren’t learned from then. South Africa had not played any cricket since the T20 World Cup 3 months ago, and no ODI cricket since Australia left in April. Every other team arrived with some cricket behind them. Yet South Africa was content with a conditioning camp and a single warm up game, against a sub par West Indies team. They weren’t tested and more importantly weren’t ready. South Africa’s batting line up, with Smith, Gibbs, Kallis, de Villiers, Duminy, Boucher and Morkel is one of the best in world cricket. But their bowling attack is well balanced and formidable in its own right, led by Dale Steyn and the promising Wayne Parnell, and brilliantly supported by the spin twins of Botha and van der Merwe. South Africa’s once predictable and one dimensional attack is now the most balanced around. But a lack of match bowling left them under cooked and ill prepared, and conceding 300 in two of their three games is all the proof that is needed of this fact.

These aren’t new problems and mistakes that the team is facing. There is little excuse as to why they have been repeated. If this team is to enjoy the success and reputations that they deserve they must face them and most importantly learn from them. Something that they clearly have failed to do so. This Protea’s team has the potential to go on to be one of the best teams ever in cricket history, but until they win a major ICC event, that’s all they will be, a potentially great team. There is a feeling that one win will lead to many more, but the one must come first. The T20 World Cup next year and the ICC World Cup the following year gives this team two more chances to show the world what they know – they are the best. Lessons learned will help.

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The Death of the Allrounder

England allrounder Andrew Flintoff has announced that he will retire from Test cricket after the current Ashes series. In a trend that may become more familiar in years to come he has made himself available to still play in ODI and T20 cricket. It seems modern cricket may be no place for allrounders.

Flintoff has struggled with various injuries throughout his career, and while the timing of his announcement may be a shock, the decision perhaps is not. Since the defining moment of his career, the Ashes triumph of 2005, Freddy has missed 25 of Englands last 48 Test matches and has spent the better part of 2 of the last 4 years in rehabilitation for various injuries. His body just wasn’t up to it. While many may feel that Flintoff has been a great player during his international career the stats don’t do that theory much justice. Since 2005 Flintoff has averaged 28, without a 100, with the bat and 34 with the ball, with no five wicket hauls – hardly the stuff of legend. There is no denying the talent and ability of the player, but the work load he has been forced to handle has proved to big a burden, and his body has had enough.

A few years ago players were moaning about too much cricket. Then the T20 was born, and with it the likes of the IPL and its millions, the T20 World Cup, and domestic T20 competitions. There is now more cricket than ever. Yet the money on offer for the shortest form of the game means that players will still make themselves available for T20 and Test cricket will feel the pinch. The amount of cricket played, the stress, strain, and work load means that true Test allrounders are a dying breed, and some, like New Zealands Jacob Oram, have predicted that it will become impossible to be a Test allrounder in the very near future.

A look at Test teams around the world seems to suggest that Oram may be correct. With Flintoff now retiring how many true allrounders are there? Australia’s Shane Watson and New Zealands Jacob Oram have been spending as much time as Flintoff out injured. South Africa’s Albie Morkel has only just made his debut in their last Test played. Shakib Al-Hasan of Bangladesh and Shahid Afridi of Pakistan are both allrounders, but spinners have less mileage on them then fast bowlers. Perhaps this is the future of Test allrounders – all spin and no pace.

Mitchell Johnson of Australia has shown enough ability with the bat to suggest that he could develop into an all rounder but the more likely scenario is that Australia would like to keep him as a bowling all rounder, batting at number 8, just as South African managed the dual talents of Shaun Pollock. The South African’s may look to use the emerging potential of Wayne Parnell in the same manner.

The South African Test team of the mid to late 90’s and early 2000’s possessed the all round abilities of Pollock, Kallis and Klusner, and at times Boje. Those were times without T20 cricket and perhaps we may never see the likes of that team again. Kallis is the only one left of that bunch and like any true legend, and all rounder, has modified his game to bring success to T20 cricket, but how long he is able to play all three formats is up for debate.

It seems that the modern game will see more and more players retiring from the longer format earlier than usual, and becoming ODI and T20 specialists. Will the all rounder survive?

Pakistan Victory is a Victory for World Cricket

pic from Associated Press

Pakistan’s victory in the T20 World Cup in England was a win for world cricket. The problems that the country is facing has meant that they have had the hosting of the next ICC World Cup taken away from them, no country will tour Pakistan,because of the volatile climate there but specifically because of the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team, the last team to tour Pakistan. Pakistan are in cricketing limbo, without a home and without a clear future. They needed this, and so did cricket.

Before the T20 World Cup began the favourites were seen as the defending champions India, and the always strong Australia and South Africa. After the first week the clear favourites were South Africa and Sri Lanka. India made it past the first phase but were on the whole disappointing. They failed to win any of their Super 8 games and were sent packing. The blame was put on IPL fatigue. Yet only Wayne Parnel from the South African starting 11 didn’t play in the IPL, and they seemed not to feel the effects. Australia didn’t get past the first phase, losing to Sri Lanka and the West Indies. Only South Africa coped with, and lived up to, the favourites tag. Pakistan weren’t talked about.

They did what was needed to get through the first two phases and onto the Semi Finals. And then they came alive like only Pakistan can. The best team doesn’t always win the tournament, the best team on the day does. South Africa were the best team in the competition. The team was well balanced, had defined roles for each player, and was consistent and ran like a well oiled machine. Pakistan were the spanner in the machine. The flair and talent available to Pakistan is amazing – the consistency is not. But when an individual comes off Pakistan will beat anyone. It is perhaps unfair to say that Afridi single handedly beat South Africa, but that’s what it would have felt like. His batting had been terrible in the first 10 days of the World Cup, but pushed up the order in a gamble that paid off spectacularly, he got Pakistan to a total that was just enough to send South Africa out of yet another semi final. This was no South African choking. They fought and battled to the very end, but on the day they were beaten by Afridi with the bat and ball, and Umar Gul’s death bowling. No other team would have gotten to within 7 runs of Pakistans total batting second on that pitch.

In the final against the other then unbeaten team, Sri Lanka, Pakistan bowled and fielded as a team. On the rare occasions that they manage to do so they are very affective. Again it was Afridi with the bat, having found his form and confidence, that took Pakistan a step further than they managed two years ago in South Africa.

While it may seem that Pakistan stuttered into the semi’s before awakening in time to march towards the title, a look at the stats shows that they were in fact the best bowling team in the World Cup, and ended with the best economy rate as well as the leading wicket taker. They didn’t start spectacularly but they the were effective and did the job in the end.

Pakistan cricket has been in the news for all the wrong reasons for the past year or so, let them revel in the limelight of a job well done – and deserved.

Ireland Do It Again!

pic from Associated Press

 

Ireland beat Bangladesh to progress through to the Super 8 round of the T20 World Cup, and send their Test playing opponents home. This is the second time Ireland have beaten Bangladesh, having also beaten them in the ICC World Cup in 2007, where they also beat Pakistan and tied with Zimbabwe. The plucky Irish, still an associate member of the ICC are punching above their weight on the big stage and are fast become everyones second team.

While Holland beat England in the opening match and Scotland gave New Zealand a bit of a scare on Saturday, before being crushed by South Africa, it’s Ireland who look the best of the so called minnows. The team is well made up, and well coached by West Indian Phil Simmons. They show enthusiasm in the field, and go about their batting and bowling as best as they can. Where they have out performed their other smaller teams, and backed up their surprise results in the 2007 World Cup, has been their approach to their cricket. They play as a team. While the Scots tend to have a couple of good performers per match, not backed up by the full 11, the Irish have all pitched in.

The O’Brian brothers stole the show with their batting today, Niall, who was also excellent behind the stumps, took the Bangladesh attack on, scoring a boundary laden 40 from 25 balls, including three 6’s, and brother Kevin came in and finished the match for the Irish with an unbeaten 39 from 17 balls, taking his team home, and through to the next round.

While the minnows in these tournaments tend to look like amateur cricketers, enjoying the chance to play on the big stage against many of their heroes, and enjoying the holiday from work, the Irish look like real cricketers. They came with every intention of causing an upset and getting through the first round, and not merely making up the numbers and relishing the occasion. They way they paced their innings and talked about it suggested professionalism that bodes will for the men in green.

Ireland take on the champions, India, on Wednesday before they begin the Super 8 phase. While they will no doubt enjoy themselves tonight and have made their point in the tournament, don’t bet against another upset from the Irish in the coming matches. No doubt they will be taken seriously by all – and rightly so.

T20 World Cup 2009 – Preview

 

The final of the IPL was a week ago today – andin 5 days time the opening match of the T20 World Cup, between hosts England and the Netherlands, takes place. It really is a crowded international schedule these days.

The previous, and inaugural, T20 World Cup was hosted by South Africa and won by India two years ago. The hype and excitement of that tournament added energy and freshness to the cricket world, yet this years edition has been more understated. That probably has a lot to do with the circus that is the IPL, yet one has to feel that those marketing the World Cup in England could perhaps do a better job. World Cup’s shouldn’t sneak up on you. The IPL should have been the appetizer to the main course, which starts next week. Lets hope the cricket does a better job and all the right noises are made after.

When T20 cricket launched itself onto the world stage it was viewed as pure entertainment, a hit and miss form of the game, and not taken too seriously by those on the field. There was almost a feel that it was more about luck than skill and not much could be done to curtail the individual. It wasn’t cricket – it was glitz. Barely two years since and how things have changed. T20 is very much a skill based, tactical battle, that seems to sharpen skills, rather than deplete them. The cream always rises, and T20 has seen it mastered by the great players, the players who have excelled in Test and ODI cricket, and not the close your eyes and swing variety. T20 is real business and will be fought out by the best players  over the next few weeks.

The favourites for the crown will be the same for any cricketing competition held at this team, no matter what the format. Defending champions India have perhaps benefited the most from the IPL as their pool of players playing at a higher level has increased to one meaning a squad of 50+ players could easily be assembled. Their opening combination of Sehwag and Gambhir didn’t really fire during the IPL andwill be looking for form in England. The early swinging ball may not be to their liking, but both will be looking to get the team out of the boxes fast and not just solidly. There after the hitting power in the Indian squad is phenomenal. Anyone of Dhoni, Yusuf Pathan, Raina, Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma will be able to single handedly build a total. If the batting comes off India will be hard to beat. The bowlers have a less solid look to them. Sharma, Pathan, RP Singh and Kumar will be complemented by the spin of Harbhajan and Ojha, but the key may be the form of Zaheer Khan. Zaheermissed the later part of the IPL with a shoulder njury. India’s success may depend on how quickly he recovers his form back.

Australia go into this World Cup without the favourites tag that has accompanied them for much of the last 15 years. Their squad is solid if not spectacular, but would have benefited from the rest they forced on much of their IPL contingent. The Aussies will be looking to get their hands on the only ICC competition that isn’t there’s right now. They will also be using the World Cup to get them off to a good start to their Ashes series. The dark horse tag, rather than favourite tag, may help the Aussies this time, although they have never been burdened by being favourites.

South Africa crashed out of the last edition with a loss to India in their last 2nd phase group game. It was their only loss in the competition and heir only poor performance. Smith’s men felt hard done by, given that 3 of the 4 semi final teams had lost more than them. They will be looking to get things right this time around, and maybe without the expectation of being hosts or favourites, may have more freedom to carry them forward. The balance of the squad is perhaps the best since South Africa returned to international cricket in 1992. Half the squad didn’t feature much in the IPL and should be well rested. Albie Morkel and Smith had poor showings with the bat last month and will be looking to fare better for their country then they did for their IPL teams. Yusuf Abdulla was the revelation of the first hald of the IPL, leading the wicket table at that stage, before being left out for the returning Brett Lee. He will look to carry on with that form, while at the same time showing the Kings 11 that they should have stuck with him. Abdulla, Albie Morkel, Kallis, Steyn and Parnell all offer swing, while Morne Morkel, with bounce and pace, and the spin twins of Botha and van der Merwe, make the attack a potent and balanced one. JP Duminy and AB de Villiers stared with the bat in the IPL and will be looking to carry that form. The squad boasts some of the best fielders in the world, and carries no real weakness. Solid batting, big hitting, depth, pace, swing, bounce, and spin. South Africa are looking good.

With England looking to make the most of home conditions, and momentum, following an easy convincing series win over the West Indies, and New Zealand always handy on the big stage, there are a fair amount of dark horses to watch out for. Pakistan have had very little cricket and havemuch to prove. The best outside bet however may be Sri Lanka. The seeding for the World Cup is based on the previous edition. This means that if all the top teams get through the opening phase, and they should have little trouble here, the big three favourites, India, Australia and South Africa willfind themselves in the same group, playing for 2 semi final places. Sri Lanka will be in the other group and should have an easy march trough to the semi’s. The batting lineup is a strong one, with Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, Dilshan and Jayawardene all able to adept to the needed situation, and in Murli and Malinga, they have two bowlers who won’t make any total look safe.

Sri Lanka will be hoping that the big three all batter and bruise each other, weakening themselves for a possible semi andfinal show down, while the big three will be hoping that a harder run in, and an easier one for Sri Lanka, will leave them better prepared.

The winners should come from those four. However little will be taken for granted, and with a World Cup crown up for grabs, all will be giving there all to get their hands on the crown. The shorter format leads to greater chances of upsets, so the slightest complacency will be punished. If the weather plays its part we should be treated to some great cricket, hopefully cricket worthy of being the main course to the IPL appetizer.

 

pic from cricinfo.com

IPL Teams Missed a Trick

There are only two days, and two matches, left till the second edition of the IPL crowns its champion team. The Deccan Chargers rather easily, and surprisingly, brushed aside the form team this season, the table topping Delhi Daredevils, on a cool evening in Pretoria yesterday, and today last year’s losing finalists, and the team that finished second in the round robin stage, the Chennai Superkings, take on the resurgent Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Whatever happens in this evenings game, and in the final itself tomorrow, and without diminishing the success of the competition, much has already been made at the impressive task South Africa have undertaken in hosting and pulling off a great IPL at such short notice, I can’t help but feel that the many of the teams themselves have failed to fully take advantage of the assets at their disposal.

The tournament was shifted to South Africa, from India, and this meant that the teams would encounter differing conditions, in terms of the pitch and the weather. This has been born true with scores not reaching the heady heights of last year’s editions, although there have been more close finishes, which has added to the excitement and success of the compitition. A pleasant surprise too many Indian fans and players has been the success of spin in South African conditions, which have generally tended to favour pace bowlers. But it must be remembered that the pitches being used have been put through an entire domestic and international season and would therefore offer more to the spinners. Added to this has been South Africa’s reliance on spin in the recent ODI and T20 series against Australia, where at least two spinners where picked for each game. Times are changing in South Africa as they gear up for the next World Cup in spin friendly Sub Continental pitches.

The trick that has been missed by many teams this year is their lack of using those best suited for the conditions – their South African players. The IPL was shifted to South Africa yet instead of making use of their home advantage many teams chose to ignore their players who play on these pitches week in and week out in favour of lesser known Australians. This year’s IPL turned out to be the Indian and fringe Australian Players League.

The best example of this was the disappointing bottom placed Kolkota Knightriders. At their disposal they had Charl Langeveld, the best T20 bowler in South African domestic cricket every season since the inception of the Pro20 series. Yet he wasn’t picked until their last game, where he picked up a wicked with his first ball and ended with figures of 3/15 in 4 overs. Not bad for someone who spent 5 weeks sitting around watching his team lose. His greatest value in Pro20 has been his death bowling, where he has rescued and won many games for the Cape Cobra’s, a skill that is essential in T20 and even more so in closely fought games. Another South African in the Kolkota squad was wicket keeper batsman Morne van Wyk. The Eagles opening batsman has been a star and leading run getter in all the Pro20 seasons. He came into the Kolkota squad when it became evident that they were to finish bottom, put in a string of fine performances, including a great 70 odd, failed once, and was never seen again.

The Mumbai Indians have had Ryan McLaren sitting on their bench for the entire series. The all rounder has starred in both the domestic Pro20 series as well as for Kent in England. Yet games where given to the likes of Luke Ronchi, who did little to impress last year and continued that this year. McLaren would have given the Indians a better bowling attack, especially when Zaheer Khan was ruled out through injury, and a more solid lower order, whose fragility was exposed time and time again. The South African national team would love to have McLaren in their set up, where he would be an ideal replacement for the retired legend Shaun Pollock, but Kent has not allowed that. His contract with Kent ends this season and there will be little doubt that he will be drafted into the South African set up as soon as possible. How a coaching set up that included Pollock, Jonty Rhodes and Doug Watson did not get McLaren into the team is mystifying, unless they weren’t given 100% selection authority.

Last year’s champions had Morne Morkel itching to get involved this time round. They gave him the odd run out, where he performed well, especially considering he was playing cold. They lost bowler after bowler through suspect action and injury and were deeply lacking in experience, yet allowed this asset, who will be South Africa’s leading bowler in the future, to sit and watch it all.

The Kings 11 Punjab pulled off a master stroke by signing Yusuf Abdulla. Abdulla would not have been known outside South Africa and someone in the Punjab set up had obviously done their homework and indentified him as an option. Abdulla has been one of the top performers in the Pro20 Series in South Africa and against Australia this year played his first international T20 game, bowling well and picking up the wicket of Ricky Ponting. After a nervous start in his first two games he came to life and led the wicket table with 14 scalps after 7 games. He then had a couple of bad overs and was dispatched with as soon as Sreesanth and Brett Lee were fit. And Sreesanth was a huge let down.

A team that showed the way things should have been done were the Bangalore Royal Challengers. After falling behind in the table and with their most expensive player, and captain, Kevin Pieterson failing miserably, they have shot up the table and finished third. There rise up the table came about with KP leaving for the England/West Indies series and handing the captaincy over to Anil Kumble, and the use of South African players in South African conditions. Kallis, Boucher and Roelof van der Merwe have all been important clogs in the Challengers winning set up, but they have also used Dale Steyn and Dillon Dupreez in games. Don’t bet against the Challengers causing a surprise and ousting the Super Kings tonight and the Chargers tomorrow.

When you play in the Sup Continent you’d be best served using Sub Continental players who can best exploit the familiar conditions. In Australia use Australians. So why haven’t the teams this year made better use of the local talent?  The success of the likes of JP Duminy, AB de Villiers and Yusuf Abdulla, as well as the contributions of Kallis, Boucher and van der Merwe bear testament to that. Lessens should be learned and better homework and organisation by the teams should be highlighted in such a lucrative and massive stage. All this while the likes of Hashim Amla, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson and Johan Louw sit and watch from their TV’s at home.

 

(pic from cricinfo.com)

Captain My Captain

Never before have South Africans been prouder in defeat and never before have they risen so high to applaud the bravery and courage of one of their cricketing heroes as they, and the cricket world, did yesterday in Sydney.

The last time South Africa were in Australia captain Smith, then a young man, was seen as abrasive, short sighted and all talk by the Australian media, and it must be said by people within the world game, most famously perhaps the man most South African supporters love to hate, Kevin Pietersen. How that has all changed.

Smith has emerged from this tour as the leading cricket captain in the game. He may have been hated last time out, but this time he has been embraced and loved.

When he strode out to the middle towards the end of day 5 of the Sydney Test, last man in, with his elbow injury and new finger injury effectively meaning he was batting one handed, the Australian crowd stood and applauded, recognising the courage and leadership that they respect and look for in their heroes. Smith was out there to save his team, his country, from defeat, and put his body on the line. Together with Ntini, playing the innings of his life, they got South Africa to within 10 balls of saving the Test. With Smith left the field, last man out, having been bowled by Mitchell Johnson, the stadium once again stood to applaud the man. Seldom before had an innings of just 3 runs been so highly appreciated. And South Africa lost the Test. They were however not applauding the score, the mere 3 runs scored by the opposition captain, but rather the man himself.

Smith has backed up his words with runs this time round. More than that he has shown leadership qualities that fully justify the selectors choice in naming him captain in 2003 at just 22 years of age. The boy captain has become a man, a leader of men, and a successful one at that. While in his early years as captain, and to a degree up until this highly successful year for the Proteas, Smith was not as highly regarded outside his dressing room as he was in it. The South African cricketers would have walked through walls for their captain. The rest of the world, particularly those in England and Australia, couldn’t see why. They clearly understand now. Smiths match, and series, winning century against England in the 3rd Test, changed the minds of those doubters in England. His century against Australia, another match and series winning second innings knock, made the Aussies take notice. His leadership and belief in his players have been there for all to see. His bravery and courage is worn on his sleeve.

Smith knows that his players will walk through walls for him. They inturn know he’ll do the same. One Aussie newspaper described Smith as the bravest cricketer in the world. They’re right. South Africa have a leader who rises to the occasion, who leads from the front, who puts the best interests of the team ahead of his own, and who wins them Test series.

Smiths legend has been growing for a while now, on Monday, in Sydney, it was sealed.

pic from cricinfo.com

South Africa to Experiment

The big picture for South African cricket right now is over hauling Australia as the best Test and ODI team in the world. That will mean beating the top ranked Aussies in their series, in Australia and then South African, starting in December. Before that there are ODI’s against Kenya and Bangladesh, followed by two Tests against Bangladesh. While South Africa will not take their opponents lightly, they did so in the last World Cup, where Bangladesh beat them comfortably leading to South Africa facing Australia in the semi finals, they will however use these games as warm ups for the Australia series.

The past has seen South Africa fail to capitalise on the opportunity to experiment, especially in Tests, and put out a perceived strongest eleven at all times. While this approach is not without merit, it puts added value on Test and ODI caps, and ensures that the best team is always put out, giving more respect to opponents and the paying public. It does however have many failings as well. On South Africa’s last tour, to England, they managed to win the Test series, something they did for the first time in England since the 1960’s, and had the opportunity to give those who had not featured a game in the final Test, a dead rubber. They did not. They lost the Test and followed that up with a trouncing in the ODI series. The intensity was missing from the final Test, with a feeling of mission accomplished permeating through the team. JP Duminy and Monde Zondeki had been rewarded for strong domestic form with places in the touring squad. Yet neither played. Zondeki was not part of the ODI squad and so went home after a few months of touring and carrying out the drinks. Had they been picked they would have raised the intensity of the squad, as they had something to play for if the others did not, as well as gaining experience that may be needed down the line. It would have also been Duminy’s Test debut. South Africa failed to utilise that opportunity.

Which ever way you look at it the resting, or dropping, of Ntini and Nel gives South Africa a chance to plan for the future. And that is what this series is about. They had hoped to introduce Ryan McLaren to the international fold, but that was but on hold my Kents refusal to release him from his Kolpak contract. Zondeki, Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn will use these games to showcase their ability with the new ball. Hashim Amla will put forward his case for inclusion in the ODI team, and to show that he is far more than just a Test batsman. Justin Ontong will be given a chance to show that he is better than his international record suggests, while Herchelle Gibbs will be out to prove that his international career his not over just yet. And Johan Louw will be given his international debut against Kenya on Sunday. With Kolpak contracts robbing South Africa of much of his cricketing depth, Louw will be out to show that there are experienced domestic performers who have much to offer when called upon.

While it is good that South Africa will be using the ODI’s to give chances to those on the fringes and to try things out, they must not stop there. The Tests should also be used to move South Africa forward. This means giving Duminy is Test debut, and a starting place in both Tests, and giving Zondeki a chance to stake a claim for a Test bowling place. It would have been an ideal time to introduce Tsotsobe to international cricket, but they young opening bowler will have to wait longer for his taste of international cricket, but the chance to give Duminy and Zondeki game time must not be wasted. Duminy can not be expected to make his debut in Australia should injury keep any of the current Test batsman out.

While South Africa should win both series against Kenya and Bangladesh there is much still to watch, particularly on an individual front.

pic from cricinfo.com