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Ken Borland



Shamsi like a bright ray of sunshine for the Proteas, lighting up the room 0

Posted on September 13, 2021 by Ken

Tabraiz Shamsi is the sort of cheerful fellow who is usually lighting up a room and the champion spinner has been a particularly bright ray of sunshine since rejoining the Proteas squad for their flight to Sri Lanka, where they are now preparing for their ODI series that starts on Thursday.

Shamsi was not with the team when they held a training camp in Potchefstroom earlier this week, because he was playing in The Hundred in England. That was an enjoyable experience for him and he has also received the great news that he will be playing in the remainder of this year’s IPL, when it resumes next month in the United Arab Emirates, for the Rajasthan Royals. It is no less than the world’s No.1-ranked T20 bowler deserves and it is inexplicable that his only previous IPL contract was in 2016 with Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Apart from all those happy developments though, Shamsi says he is always just delighted to get back into the Proteas environment, whatever some people have said about its culture at present.

“The Hundred was good, it’s like a much faster version of T20 and I’ve picked up how to save time in T20 just by showing more urgency in the field. And I enjoy bowling a lot, I don’t like long breaks, so it was good to be playing. And now to be signed by the Royals is special, I’m very excited because I’ve never played in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. It will be nice to get some inside info on those pitches before the T20 World Cup.

“But the excitement of playing for South Africa again is something different, just the thought of it made me smile even in between all the turbulence on the flight that had me sweating and holding on to my chair!  These are my people, I have my boys, the guys I grew up playing with and against, and that’s what makes it special playing for the Proteas,” Shamsi said on Friday.

While Shamsi’s outstanding bowling in the West Indies and Ireland has stolen the limelight for himself, the 31-year-old is adamant that he has a very good Proteas attack around him.

“Our confidence levels are obviously high and I honestly believe we have one of the best bowling attacks in the world. The talent is there, we’re just a little inexperienced at international level. But the skill is there, have no doubt. The more we play together the better we will get.

“Personally, with the year I’ve had, it’s like living your dream. But I’m never completely happy with the way I’m bowling, even after the West Indies and Ireland tours. I’m constantly working behind the scenes and I’m also hoping to contribute something with the bat. I spent a month on the sidelines during the Test series in the West Indies and I spent it in the nets … so much so that I got a batting niggle!” Shamsi said.

SA A performance would have rapidly aged Bok coach Nienaber 0

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Ken

A young Bulls side upstaged the SA A team by beating them 17-14 in Cape Town on Saturday in the Springbok squad’s final preparation for the British and Irish Lions series, with the national squad putting in a performance that would have rapidly aged coach Jacques Nienaber as they showed a worrying lack of forward dominance and the backline was also not particularly clinical.

SA A led 14-0 at halftime through two tries against the run of play, but the second half was a tedious affair until the 66th minute when flyhalf Johan Goosen sparked a sensational Bulls comeback.

The first try came after a superb break from a midfield ruck by Goosen, who then passed inside for impressive replacement scrumhalf Keegan Johannes to score. Just a minute later, Goosen, who last played for the Springboks five years ago, took on the defensive line on his own 22m line and his neat offload to Muller Uys saw the flank burst clear. Uys then went wide to fullback FC du Plessis, whose excellent kick infield found hooker Johan Grobbelaar up in support and he gathered and scored.

Goosen converted both tries before leaving the field, replaced by Chris Smith. With five minutes remaining, it was Smith who kicked a brilliant penalty from the halfway line to seal a win for the ages for the Bulls.

SA A bashed away at the Bulls line in the closing stages, but Smith and Nizaam Carr held up prop Vincent Koch over the line.

The SA A side spent most of the first half defending in their own half, but they did manage to break the chains twice, leading to tries in the 12th and 38th minutes.

First scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, probably the best player in the SA A team on the day, ran from a ruck, slipped through the defensive line, and then found fullback Aphelele Fassi running a good supporting line to score the try.

The second try came after a lovely kick into the corner by Fassi put SA A on attack. Prop Thomas du Toit was stopped just short of the line, but Wandisile Simelane was able to dive over an open tryline to score.

Simelane had earlier been yellow-carded for being miles offsides five metres from his line as SA A conceded a strong of penalties. But the Bulls were unable to capitalise on several first-half opportunities due to a lack of composure with the ball. They also conceded several turnovers.

But the SA A side just never had a decent platform as the young Bulls pack stepped up superbly. Their lineouts were especially poor.

The only players to have advanced their Springbok cause were Reinach, eighthman Kwagga Smith and Fassi, while Elton Jantjies had a solid game at flyhalf.

But it is now clear that a couple of injuries to the Springboks to key personnel and they will be vulnerable against the British and Irish Lions.

Scorers

SA A: Tries – Aphelele Fassi, Wandisile Simelane. Conversions – Elton Jantjies (2).

Bulls: Tries – Keegan Johannes, Johan Grobbelaar. Conversions – Johan Goosen (2). Penalty – Chris Smith.

Rassie confirms that times are tough for the Proteas 0

Posted on April 23, 2021 by Ken

Rassie van der Dussen, the reliable batsman who made yet another half-century on Friday as the T20 series against Pakistan was lost 3-1, admitted after the game that it has been a particularly tough time for the Proteas, and especially the regulars left behind to play with the second-stringers.

With five first-choice players departing for the IPL, South Africa’s resources were always going to be stretched against a full-strength Pakistan side that had already clinched the ODI series, and the home team then suffered another two major blows when captain Temba Bavuma and Van der Dussen himself suffered injuries.

Van der Dussen was able to return for the penultimate match, but his 52 off 36 balls was not able to prevent a three-wicket defeat with a ball remaining, to end another disappointing summer for the Proteas.

“We’ve had our challenges with the guys leaving for the IPL and then the injury blows. If you take seven of the best players out of any team they will be out of it for a while, but that has allowed guys to come in and show what they’re about, a lot of them are experienced franchise players with a lot of cricket under their belt this season.

“There were individuals who were brilliant at different stages, but as a team we weren’t consistent enough, we didn’t deliver a complete performance except in the second match at the Wanderers. We were patchy, which was not going to be good enough for a series against a Pakistan team that is settled with world-class batsmen and bowlers. It’s a bitter pill but we will use these lessons to grow,” Van der Dussen said.

Van der Dussen lauded his bowlers for their effort in almost defending a sub-standard total of just 144, saying the info from the South African batsmen was that it became harder to score as the ball became softer. Both innings reflected that, with the Proteas losing seven wickets for 36 runs from the 13th over, and Pakistan suffering a collapse of 37 for five from the 10th over.

“This pitch was bit dryer than for the previous game, the cracks had opened up more and it became slower as the ball got softer, the cutters started gripping, and the scoreboard reflects that. Par score was probably 170 to 180 though, so we were definitely short of runs. At Centurion, on a good pitch, to defend even 200 is tough.

“So I’m very proud of the way our bowlers went about it and the way they have grown this series. At the end of the day you have to look at yourself in the mirror and you know if you have given your all. We wanted to fight every ball, be relentless and never give up. And we fought back very well, which I’m really proud of. If you have to lose then that’s the way to do it,” Van der Dussen said.

Rugby players put through the mill, trade union steps in 0

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Ken

The poor rugby players of the Eastern Cape have been put through the mill by their administrators, which is particularly sad because this is the hotbed, the nursery of Black African rugby in this country.

As we have discovered in cricket, a players’ union has an important role to play in safeguarding the interests of the sport’s major assets, so it was pleasing to see MyPlayers issue a strongly-worded statement in defence of those Southern Kings players who have been left high-and-dry by the decision to liquidate the franchise.

The South African Cricketers’ Association have demonstrated that they can bring self-serving administrators to book and force them to honour their contracts with the players, and now it is time for rugby’s players’ trade union to follow suit. The success of SACA is largely due to the unity displayed by the players in getting behind their union, and the excellent work of president Omphile Ramela and the two CEOs of recent times, Tony Irish and Andrew Breetzke.

The players put their faith in their union once they see it achieving palpable successes and hopefully the strong stance taken by MyPlayers earlier this week in condemning the administrators of unions which just liquidate their commercial entities, leaving their creditors (which includes the players) out of pocket and simply carrying on like normal, continuing to enjoy their seat on the gravy train, will see the players’ union develop into an even more powerful stakeholder in rugby.

When the Kings just closed operations, the administrators responsible just sailed on with no consequences, but it was hell for the players, who were told just six days before they were due to get their salaries that there would be nothing paid to them.

“It is just not good enough for a union to shift all the financial blame to the commercial entity that was set-up and co-managed by the union. It is an easy buck to pass when you suffer no consequences for the failings of your commercial entity. Come Monday, it will be life as normal for the union. It will still enjoy its voting rights on the SARU General Council and be allowed to make important commercial strategic decisions on the direction of the professional game even though their own commercial entity failed.

“They will still receive their normal financial distributions from the professional game from SARU and be allowed to participate on the field in the professional game although their own commercial entity was liquidated. However unthinkable, they will be allowed to immediately set-up a new commercial entity like the one they had just voluntarily liquidated. There is thus a clear incentive for unions to liquidate commercial entities and walk away from financial obligations to get a clean second bite at the cherry while creditors and employees are left in the dust to pick up the pieces,” MyPlayers CEO Eugene Henning said in the statement.

Given that our cricketers have not yet gone on strike despite all the damage done to the game and their livelihoods by Cricket South Africa, rugby will carry on but it is a dangerous game with limited earnings time for the players and we can expect them to flex their muscles even more now that they have broken the ice.

Much like when former CSA chief executive Thabang Moroe mobilised against SACA, we can expect pushback from the dinosaurs amongst our amateur administrators who probably don’t want trade unions in rugby. Especially when they quite rightly start wanting to have a say in how rugby is run, no longer limiting themselves solely to wage negotiations.

Now that MyPlayers have started digging into maladministration at the unions – the Valke have also liquidated their commercial entity, while Western Province and Border have followed the same route – we can expect more and more holes in the governance of rugby to become apparent.

And MyPlayers have also suggested certain tools to ensure fairer treatment for the unfortunate players who are shafted by these delinquent unions.

After the liquidation of a commercial entity, the union should not be allowed to participate in professional rugby until such time that they have demonstrated their capacity to adequately manage a commercial entity. During this time, unions will receive substantially smaller distributions from SARU; they will forfeit their voting rights on SARU’s General Council on any matters pertaining to professional rugby and their directors will have to undergo a professional rehabilitation process and only be allowed to operate a company and participate in professional rugby competitions again once they have demonstrated that they are capable of running a successful and sustainable commercial entity.

The seeds of a much more professional game in this country are right there in the MyPlayers’ proposal, hopefully SA Rugby will not dibble around and delay implementing these much-needed changes, especially with all the unions fishing around for equity partners.

With rugby being such a global game now and South African rugby set to expand its footprint into Europe, our unions must remember that from a sponsor’s viewpoint, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.

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  • Thought of the Day

    1 John 2:5 – “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.”

    James 2:14 – “What good is it if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?”.

    Love without action is useless.

    If you love God unreservedly, you will offer your best to him and be willing to serve him wherever he wishes to use you.

    Love has to manifest itself practically.

    “Love requires uplifting and inspirational deeds.

    “How genuine can your love for God truly be if you are aware of a serious need and do nothing to alleviate it?”- Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm



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