The Hindu : Testing summer for South Africa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 15, 2003

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Testing summer for South Africa

It was written earlier in this column that the English cricket was finally turning the corner, and the home side's thumping win over South Africa in the final of the NatWest triangular series is another proof of that.

The summit clash at Lord's might have proved an anti-climax for the one-sided nature of the contest, however, I am sure the Englishmen will not be complaining. An emphatic victory can do wonders for a side's confidence.

While all-rounder Andrew Flintoff has been an outstanding performer for the host, the tournament triumph marks a fine team effort from the Englishmen. Michael Vaughan, but for the odd error in judgment, has led the side well, and this has indeed been a memorable summer for him after leading England to a 2-1 win in the limited overs series over Pakistan, that preceded the triangular competition.

While young paceman James Anderson seems to have the knack of taking wickets, even if he is a touch erratic, his more experienced new ball partner Darren Gough, has made a welcome return to form after a career threatening injury, and, from an English perspective, his spell in the final would have been heartening.

Importantly, England chose to play with four regular pacemen, Flintoff and Richard Johnson were the other bowlers, and part-timers such as Ronnie Irani were absent. This way, pressure could be maintained on the South African batsmen.

The conditions certainly helped the pacemen, but the English bowlers exploited it better than most, and they were backed by fielding that was sharp.

While Marcus Trescothick and Vaughan are established batsmen, opener Vikram Solanki, who appears a free-stroking batsman, showed glimpses of his talent during the tournament.

The South Africans now have a five-Test series against England to contend with, and they should get their act together fast. The capitulation in the final was easily one of the worst batting displays by the Proteas in a long time.

There was a complete lack of application from the batsmen, and at no stage did the side appear on the road to recovery. I do not think Graeme Smith is being able to command the respect of his team-mates.

This is one of the dangers of having a relatively lesser known cricketer as captain and South Africa is following a practice that was prevalent among the English teams in the 70s and 80s.

The captain should be a commanding figure, who can inspire the team, and after the dismal showing in the World Cup, South Africa should have opted for Kallis, who has it in him to lift the side as skipper. I think the South African selectors have got their choice wrong.

Batting is a huge problem area for South Africa, which is far too dependent on dashing opener Herschelle Gibbs and Kallis. Gibbs' wretched form in the tournament has not made things any easier for the South Africans.

The bowling, where only Mkhaya Ntini has been consistent, has not even closely resembled the South African attacks of the past. This might prove to be testing summer for Smith and his men.

www.kris-srikkanth.com

K. SRIKKANTH

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