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Ken Borland



Spidercam may be haute couture of TV coverage, but it nearly caused Nortje serious injury 0

Posted on August 14, 2023 by Ken

The spidercam – or the Flying Fox as it is called in Australia – is the haute couture of televised cricket coverage these days, but on Tuesday it nearly caused serious injury to South African fast bowler Anrich Nortje in the second Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Following a high-speed burst of fast bowling after lunch, Nortje was walking in the outfield between overs when the aerial camera, which glides along movable cables, came whizzing up from behind and hit him on his left shoulder and back, knocking him to the ground.

Fortunately South Africa’s most impressive bowler on a torrid second day was able to get up immediately, but he gestured his incredulity at the umpire who had seen the incident.

While it has become the fashion in rugby for the broadcast producers to use camera footage for the benefit of the home team, it would surely be taking things too far, (even for Australians!) to use an expensive, 315kg camera to barrel into players.

While Nortje did not seem too bothered by the incident after the day’s play, he did say players have sounded the warning before about how low the spidercams sometimes travel.

“We’ve spoken before about how low the camera goes for certain interviews. I really don’t think it should be travelling head-high. They need to take Marco Jansen [2.07m tall] into consideration as well,” Nortje said with a smile.

“It knocked my shoulder and elbow and the medical staff will just monitor it. I just saw cables I turned and moved my head, saw the camera and it all happened a little quick. I didn’t really know what had hit me.”

Broadcasters Fox Cricket have made no public mention of the harrowing incident, but a Proteas spokeswoman said they did apologise to the team.

“They put it down to human error and the cam was disabled for the rest of the day. They’ll ensure that measures are put in place for the remainder of the match and series to ensure that it doesn’t get as low as it did today,” Proteas media manager Lucy Davey told The Citizen.

Surprise as Elgar does not lean more heavily on Nortje; to batsmen’s delight 0

Posted on October 14, 2022 by Ken

One of the big surprises of the second afternoon when England put themselves in a wonderful position to win the second Test against South Africa through centuries by Ben Stokes and Ben Foakes was that Proteas captain Dean Elgar did not lean more heavily on fast bowler Anrich Nortje at Old Trafford on Friday.

The explosive paceman had claimed three of the wickets to fall as Stokes and Foakes came together on a difficult 147/5, but Nortje had only eight balls against the pair at the start of their partnership before understandably having a break. But much to the batsmen’s delight, he did not reappear for 30 overs, by which time their partnership was already worth 92. The failure to use Nortje in the first 35 minutes after lunch was particularly baffling.

But the 28-year-old said after the second day’s play that he was happy with captain Dean Elgar’s plans and it was simply a great pitch to bat on. South Africa will certainly hope so as they go into the third day 241 runs behind.

“It was a really good wicket to bat on and I don’t think one should look too deeply into who bowled when and from which end,” Nortje said. “It was obviously a much drier pitch compared to Lord’s.

“So we had to go 100% according to the conditions and Dean had a plan according to what the situation told him. I had a decent stint from both sides.

“We had to go according to conditions and sometimes utilise the spinners at both ends. And as the ball got older, it became even harder to bowl. But we bowled our best balls and they batted very well,” Nortje said.

While many onlookers felt Elgar had given Stokes and Foakes early birthday presents by keeping Nortje or even Kagiso Rabada away from them straight after lunch, Nortje praised the duo for their discipline and determination at the crease as they added a match-turning 173 for the sixth wicket.

“When they first came in, that was definitely the key period for the day, that was the major time after we got wickets in the morning. We tried to keep that pressure on, it was the ideal period to try and get some more sticks.

“At the start of the day it felt like there was plenty of opportunity, balls were missing the bat here and there, and we really felt in it. But they absorbed pressure really well, a few things went their way and they turned the momentum,” Nortje said.

Nortje says his role is to provide energy for the Proteas team 0

Posted on October 10, 2022 by Ken

Fast bowler Anrich Nortje says his role is to provide energy for the team and his high-octane burst of three wickets in two overs certainly vitalised the Proteas on their way to their fabulous innings win over England at Lord’s, completed in just three days.

Given that Nortje was consistently around the 150km/h mark, and according to some analysts produced the fastest bowling seen in England for a decade, there must have been a temptation for him to launch a fearsome bouncer barrage on the batsmen. But where the home side erred in bowling too short to the lower-order, Nortje can credit a much fuller length for his success.

“I’m very happy with the way things happened, I didn’t come here expecting that,” Nortje said. “I was just really happy to be bowling with the red ball again, it was so nice, having seen a lot of the Test team on TV.

“We have an unbelievable attack, we all cover different aspects. So well done to all the bowlers, especially KG Rabada, who bowled unbelievably well and got himself on the honours board, so that must be a great feeling.

“My job is to just try and get some energy and momentum on our side when things are tough. It’s about the conditions on the day and what they allow. If things are more spicy, then I just try to hit a length.

“But generally I just try and bring some energy, generally later on in the innings. You need to get yourself up at the right stages and I just try to execute as much as possible,” Nortje said.

While Nortje said he would spend his two days off “doing a bit of exploring London”, he was also not worried about travelling a bit on the field either, given his role as a strike bowler. The 28-year-old’s three wickets on the final day came at a cost of 47 runs in just seven overs, and his 3/63 in the first innings came in 13 overs. So overall he conceded 110 runs in 20 overs, a rate of 5.5 runs-per-over, but the six wickets are what is important.

“I wasn’t happy at the start, so I tried to rev myself up, which took two or three overs. Fortunately I got a nick and then you just try and run with it,” Nortje said.

“Stuart Broad smashed a few around and sometimes the right ball still goes to the boundary, and then the captain is in your ear saying ‘it was a good ball, don’t worry, keep going.’

“You have to just think on the spot, read the situation. But Dean Elgar is quite straightforward, if you’re not bringing your A-game then he will tell you. We need that, he doesn’t beat around the bush.

“At stages he tells us it’s not good enough, but he obviously encourages us as well. He allows me to be myself and express myself, and I really enjoy having him as captain and his honesty,” Nortje said.

Fast bowler Rabada will likely be fit for Proteas 0

Posted on September 26, 2022 by Ken

Proteas fast bowler Kagiso Rabada will likely be fit for the first Test against England starting at Lord’s on Wednesday and coach Mark Boucher is confident his attack will be able to take 20 wickets no matter how aggressively the hosts bat.

Rabada is recovering from an ankle injury that kept him out of South Africa’s last three T20 matches, but Boucher struck a positive note about his availability on Monday.

“KG is coming on well, he’s a great athlete, he’s recovered nicely and there’s not too much pain. He’s having a fitness test later this afternoon. He’s a massive player for us and hopefully he pulls through,” Boucher said.

“It was sad to see Duanne Olivier leave the tour with a hip injury, he was very unlucky. But the guys are pretty much in position in terms of our attack and I don’t think we’ll change too much from that.

“We’re in a good space in terms of our bowling and I believe they can take 20 wickets, like we have done it recently against other teams. We’ve got to be adaptable because we don’t know what conditions will be like.

“There’s been a lot of media hype about how aggressively England will bat, and we will try and negate that on the day. You need certain conditions to be able to play that way,” Boucher said.

The Proteas looked sadly ill-equipped in their warm-up match against the England Lions as they were walloped by an innings and 56 runs in Canterbury. The home side belted 672 runs in just 117 overs, but it was very much a second-string South African attack, with only Keshav Maharaj sure to play in the first Test.

More concerning was perhaps the batting, with the Proteas slipping to 129/5 in the first innings and then being bowled out for just 183 in the second.

“We learned how to fetch the ball!,” Boucher wise-cracked. But it was exactly that – a warm-up. We got certain things out of it, although it’s never great to lose. But our focus was on what we needed to do to be ready for the Test.

“We lost to the England Lions in a white-ball match at the start of the tour as well, and those series came out okay. The pitch was pretty flat in Canterbury and it was tough for the bowlers.

“But we were able to spend some time on our feet, so we did achieve something. We had guys coming out of an off-season and they were all a bit rusty, so we’re not too fazed by the result.

“There’s no panic. It’s going to be about handling the situation given to you, having the smarts to do that. Hopefully if we get on top then we can drive that home, or find a way to switch the momentum if they get on top,” Boucher said.

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