The night the albatross was lifted Part one

I am not a particularly emotional fella. Maybe a little. Never cried watching Oprah, or Titanic. Okay, Mufasa dying in the Lion King got me a little. Every single time I watch the damn film. But there was something about the performance the South African cricket team put up against a very game Sri Lankan team which brought tears to my eyes. Too understand why, you need to understand South African cricket. It’s methodical, it’s structured. It’s about winning. That is all. It’s also had an albatross around its neck since before I was born. Nobody, but nobody could have imagined the night the weather wreaked havoc with our aspirations in Sydney ’92 that it would be nearly exactly twenty-three years before we would win a knock out match in the World Cup. My first experience with the World Cup failure was that night in Durban when rain and rather strange scientific calculators conspired to prevent us from succeeding against the Sri Lankans. We didn’t lose, but we didn’t win either. And more importantly, in a high pressure situation, we didn’t execute skills which any you could be reasonably expected to execute. In this case, the skill was typing numbers into a computer. We choked. That wasn’t our first brush with asphyxiation of course. The 1999 world cup was characterized not by the final, but by two incredibly bizarre mistakes to make by the South African team. No one will ever know why Herschelle Gibbs, as good a fielder as the world has ever seen, felt the need to celebrate before the ball was completely in his control. Steve Waugh didn’t really tell him, “you just dropped the world cup”, but he didn’t have to. Hindsight and history did a pretty good job of getting that point across all on their own. The Semifinal is often regarded as the essential gold standards in which all ODI games are judged. Rightfully so too, it was an outstanding match with fabulous performances from all-time greats, a fantastic knock from the player of the tournament, and an ending so dramatic, you wouldn’t believe it . We also choked away a win having done a remarkable job to even get ourselves to a place where victory was not an improbable theory. Come 2007, we didn’t choke, so much as have a brain fade the size of which can’t really be quantified. It beggars belief that in the middle of a collapse in Calypso, not one player thought it prudent to maybe try get themselves in first,. Assess conditions. Try not follow the guy who just got dismissed. The idea eventually came to mind, of course. At about 27/5. 2011 Was an ever bigger disaster. Kallie of all people tried taking on the biggest player in the team, on the longest boundary on the ground. It did not end well. Fantastic catch mind you. Faf got into a melee, and elimination swiftly followed. It has been a long journey to that world cup KO match win. One which includes failures in ICC Champions Trophy events, and other failures on smaller scales...

Sri Lanka vs South Africa

The first semi final of the 2015 cricket world cup promises to be an intriguing affair. South Africa vs. Sri Lanka has traditionally proven to be extremely close competitors at One day international level. How close you ask? Well, Sri Lanka has win twenty nine matches to South Africa’s 28. Razor-thin really, between the two of them. An interesting sub plot in this match is the fact that this might be the last time Kumar Sangakarra steps onto a cricket pitch in pajama gear. In my opinion, the greatest batsman since Don Bradman, it would be fitting if Kumar could lift the trophy, owning two runner-up medals already. Cricket however, doesn’t really do fitting. After all, Don Bradman himself needed only four runs in his final knock to retire averaging 100, and as we all know, he went for a duck. Probably wished he retired just before the match on his way out. No, this isn’t really a sport which deals in poetic justice. Warne had to retire from ODI having failed a drug test. Hansie was retired at the proverbial hangman’s noose in the King’s Commission. What chance then, does old Sangakarra have of attaining the fairy tale ending? There’s a view, which has merit, that he already has the fairy tale ending. After all, no other batsman has scored four hundreds in four consecutive cricket games. But Sangakarra is a great team man, and individual accolades, while great, are probably not the reasons for him giving this world cup thing one final go. It is therefore unfortunate that Sri Lanka has lost, rather convincingly, their only two matches against pre-tournament favourites. Both New Zealand and Australia went to town on Sri Lankan bowling, amassing over 700 runs in 100 overs against a rather limited attack. Even England, managed to knock three hundred past this attack. This does not bode well going into a match against the only team in history to score 400 in back to back matches. Yes, South Africa cannot chase, but they’d be licking their lips at a chance of batting first against this Lankan attack. It is my opinion that if South Africa bats first, they have a 60-40 chance of winning the match. If Lanka bat first, they have a 65-35 chance of winning. I’m not a fan of cricket matches being decided on the toss, but we may very well have Kumar Sangakarra’s future decided by a head or tail call.

Manny vs Mayweather

As many of you would know by now, it’s on!! The fight of a generation has finally been confirmed. May the second will see Manny Pacquiao take on Floyd Mayweather in what will undoubtedly be the highest grossing boxing event in the history of the sport, and almost certainly the highest grossing sporting event ever. Whilst the fight would certainly have been a greater sporting spectacle in their respective primes, it may still be a great event even now. With his blistering footwork and lightning hand speed, a peak Manny Pacquiao was the proverbial Filipino buzz saw, popping in and out of the pocket like a mole in the hole. He certainly seemed nigh on invincible when he took on, and out Oscar dela Hoya and Miguel Cotto. Floyd Mayweather didn’t seem quite as invincible in his respective clashes with the two, but the absolute pasting he gave Juan Marquez in their 2009 fight gave credence to the idea that Floyd would destroy Manny if they ever fought. It is a slightly amusing idea… boxing isn’t a sport where fighter A beats fighter B because fighter A beat fighter C and fighter B lost to fighter C. It also ignores the basic fact that Marquez has had a bit of a ‘mare against Manny in any case. Even if you make a case for him having won all their bouts, you still have to concede Pacquiao has broken his nose, concussed him, and knocked him down five times over 41 rounds. Hardly damning evidence. In my opinion, this fight could live up to its billing. Manny’s hands aren’t what they were many moons ago, but his foot speed is still blinding. Floyd’s feet don’t dance out the pocket like they used to, but he still possesses the best brain in the business. If they are matched up reasonably for hand speed, I think Pacquiao’ superior feet may seal the deal for him. I am going to go Manny by a very close decision, or possibly late knock out

Can the West Indies mount a serious challenge?

A cruel game is cricket. Twenty years ago the Fire in Babylon seemed to still flicker. Weak, yes, but there was still memorable performances which reminded the world of the super power which had for twenty years laid waste to all before it. The 1996 Cricket World Cup was probably the last time the Men from the Caribbean showed real, tangible potential to win the tournament. Having despatched South Africa on the back of one of the all-time great innings by one Brian Lara, the boys in Maroon then conspired, with no little help from a certain Shane Warne, to take the game by the scruff of the neck and throw it as far down a narrow well as possible. That was then, though. This is now. The current West Indian side has shown neither the inclination to fashion a reasonable assault on the trophy, nor have they shown ability. Fortunately for them though, they are in what could be argued is the weaker group, and as such avoid the big favourites for the competition, Australia and New Zealand. Unfortunately for them however, they simply aren’t in a position to feel any game is a gimme. For those who weren’t watching, AB de Villiers compiled a ruthless, merciless on a rather helpless Windies bowling line up to the tune of 149 runs in 44 balls. Indeed had he come any earlier, he might have had designs on mustering a double century. Keen to prove that this wasn’t a freak occurrence, and that they can in fact bowl, they proceeded to concede 365 runs in forty -two overs against a South African team in Durban. The nadir of this tour came in the final four overs, where they were spanked to the tune of 65 runs in four overs. They simply aren’t in a position to think they can bat their way out trouble either, as their batting line-up really isn’t much better. Their gun batter, Chris Gayle, has only hit two centuries since the start of the decade. In fact, Mr. Cool himself is averaging a rather cool 26.85 in the last five years. Combined with an opening partner who averages less than twenty, and a fragile middle order, then the responsibility of consistently getting the Windes to something approaching a respectable score lies in the hands of the Iceman (what is with West Indians and weather related nicknames?), Marlon Samuels. Samuels averages a better than par 37 in the last four years, and will definitely show a willingness to drive the Windies forward. I don’t think it’s going to be enough though. Prediction: Quarter Finals (possibly group elimination)

ICC stamping down on modern bats.

Male discussions about size generally don't end positively, and it's proven correct again this past week as ICC chief, Dave Richardson has sought to crackdown on the modern day Mjölnir. It's a rather strange state of affairs, but completely in line with the overall strangeness the ICC always seems to be going for when making decisions. Perculiar to the nth degree how an organisation can change the rules to limit the amount of men on the boundary... And then get annoyed when the batsmen start clearing the vacant boundaries. It's the modern equivalent to Fifa doing away with goalkeepers, but then getting annoyed at the increased numbers of goals from the halfway line. Don't misunderstand me, I definitely agree with the idea that modern bats are weapons the likes of which cricket has never seen before, but thats technology. It moves forward, and for the most part does it exponentially. To try limit this is to fight against the tide. Where does the ICC start? Do they test the compression data of every single bat to be used in the world cup? Do they line every bat up, and see which ones hit the ball the furthest, and ban them? It's a ridiculous attempt at legislation. If the ICC is serious about addressing the balance between bat and ball, it needs to start monitoring the pitches. It's almost strange, but you'll find that these boundary clearing supernovae only make scores in excess of 330 on the flat decks. Put them on the Waca, with a pacy bowling attack, or Ahmedabad on a spinning top, and the scores begin to resemble those which we are more accustomed to. I must stress that I'm not against the rule change which limited the amount of boundary riders completely. Used well, it's a reasonable law. If the pitches offer the bowlers something, and the batters have to take proper risks to clear the ring, it makes for interesting cricket. When pitches are basically sandpapered roads - don't blame the batters for taking advantage of your charity.

What South Africa can learn from the British boxing model.

At this stage of the game there are kids in South Africa who have never in their lives seen a fight on the telly. Contrast this to the United Kingdom. They have minor fights on Channel five. Mega local cards on Sky, international superfights on Boxnation (that's right... The United Kingdom has a financially viable boxing network), and just recently, ITV has gotten themselves into the mix, attaining the rights to show the next Carl Frampton fight. Four competing channels mean the British fan has all his needs taken care of, and fighters can fight for the absolute best purses possible. Contrast this with a rather dire situation in South Africa, where boxing is almost exclusively shown on Supersport. Even the recently concluded Premier Boxing League, when it was on eTV, was banished to a late time slot, which would have hurt it's circulation figures. But if the current state of British boxing, where fights are held at the Wembley, and fights between two rather middling heavyweights like Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora can sell out 10 000+ seat arenas is a story of success - and it certainly is - it is also a story of redemption from which we can learn. The first thing we have to understand though, is that even a viable South African boxing scene is never going to be as financially lucrative as a British one. The current, and future economic outlooks are too far apart to ever have realistic designs on matching up. What we can do, however is learn lessons from them and apply them to our reality. When looking at the current state of prosperity which British boxing finds itself in, it's a little easy to forget that not too long ago, there was no boxing on BBC, and that as recently as five or six years ago Sky was very strongly considering scrapping it's boxing program. What changed? Well, put simply, British boxing had an influx of personalities. Where they had basics only had Ricky Hatton and a fringe star in Amir Khan a few years ago, they now have an assortment of fighters who are, if not household names, then guys whose names have a sense of familiarity. Carl Froch has fought at the Wembley, but before that he's been selling out arenas since the Super Six. Frampton vs Quigg is a fight the average British boxing fan is itching to see get made. Groves, Johnson, Khan, Brook, Eubanks Jr., Fury. These are all big names, and equally important for a sport trying to pry itself out of the fringes, big personalities. In contrast, I honestly don't think the local scene has one transcendent persona. The guy who gets columns in the paper even when he isn't fighting. Daily Mail can tell you all about Amir Khan's love life and holidays. We don't have that equivalent. Of course, we don't even have that for the rugby and soccer stars, but those are huge sports. They can survive without one mention out of the sport pages. Boxing needs to be on the front page, the society pages... It needs to infiltrate public awareness. Without this, it becomes a difficult affair. What local boxing does absolutely need though, is privatisation. Government should be nowhere near the sport. Boxing SA should become a self run and governed body, with government only overseeing matters. Doing things like investigating qualifications of employees. But certainly not making the employments themselves. British Boxing board of Control don't negotiate TV deals on Matchroom's behalf. Good governance should be like good structural support... I shouldn't notice it's there.

Dale Steyn - New ball or first change?

It's certainly a rather strange sight to see the premier fast bowler, in the world, and undoubtedly one of the greatest in the history of the game bowling first change. There is however method to this apparent madness. For whatever reason, South Africa is a rather abject country in the art of death bowling, and in Dale Steyn we have at the very least have one of the more capable practitioners of the art. By bowling him first change, we can have Dale bowling at the death, and in the middle, where in concert with Imran Tahir, we possibly have the most potent combination of bowlers bowling in the middle overs. Since the rule change which limited the amount of ring fielders to four, the middle overs have taken a rather pronounced sense of importance. It is indeed quite simple, if you don't take wickets in the middle overs, you're on a hiding to nothing at the death against teams with wickets in hand. In modern cricket, taking wickets at regular intervals is deathly (pun intended) important. The modern way of thinking has it that run total isn't necessarily as important going into the final ten or fifteen overs as wickets in hand. The reasoning for this is rather simple. If you have wickets in hand, Scoring 130-150 runs in the final fifteen is within the realm of possibilities. Massively so. It stands to reason then, that if batting teams now see wickets in hand as the primary objective - if you will, the first 35 overs are now the launchpad to an abbreviated T20 innings - then it stands to reason that bowling teams have to then be willing to take risks in the first two thirds of the match to take wickets. This is the logic which has seen Steyn moved down to first change. It's not a downgrade, but rather an acceptance of the change of circumstances. There's also the small matter of the fact that if you're going to play Vernon Philander... He absolutely needs to get as many overs out of the way as possible. The Professional, as he is known, bowls an immaculate line and length, and is certainly good enough to bowl in limited overs cricket. What he isn't however is a particularly good death bowler. In fact he isn't a particularly average one if we're honest, and as such needs to have bowled his quota of overs by the time teams have decided to give it a bash. By bowling Steyn first change and bowling Vernon with the new ball, we have a convenient marriage.