Ken Borland

It was never going to be easy for the Interim Board of Cricket South Africa to fulfil their mandate from Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa to reform the game in this country, but on Wednesday they lost their chairman, Judge Zak Yacoob, who stepped down following his abusive telephone call with a journalist.

Mthethwa issued a statement saying Yacoob had recused himself by “mutual agreement” and “this decision was made out of an abundance of caution to safeguard the tremendous work done by the Interim Board under his stewardship. The judge has shown remorse and apologised.”

The minister added that he hoped the Interim Board will be able to convene CSA’s delayed AGM soon, where a new, permanent board will be appointed. But the current directors have many obstacles to overcome, including the difficulties associated with winning over many on the Members Council, and the legal challenges emanating from the dismissal of director Omphile Ramela and the suspension of CSA executive staff.

Interim Board spokesperson Judith February cast a positive note on Wednesday however.

“We don’t foresee the departure of Judge Yacoob affecting any work we have done so far, because all our decisions have been taken together, they’re not just the decisions of the chairman. We are all quite clear in our minds about the proceedings against Mr Ramela and all the other legal actions we are involved in. So we are forging ahead, even though it is an unfortunate but unavoidable turn of events,” February told The Citizen on Wednesday afternoon.

Dr Stavros Nicolaou will now take over as chairman of the interim board and February said they are making good progress towards finalising a date for the AGM. But because the organisation’s whole Memorandum of Incorporation (MoI) has to be changed to comply with the Nicholson recommendations (as per Mthethwa’s mandate), there has to first be full consultation with the Members Council on the amendments.

“We have a meeting with the Members Council this evening [Wednesday night] to discuss certain requirements that are needed in the MoI and need to be finalised with the Members Council. We will update them on the work we’ve done on the roadmap to the AGM, which is one of the most important parts of the work of this board.

“The Nicholson recommendations have to be implemented, but through a process of consultation as to how we do that, there are numerous nuances to consider like the number of directors. But there will be an independent board and the Members Council’s powers will change, we can’t get away from that,” February said.

It was a messy, messy day for South Africa in the field on the second day of the first Test against Pakistan in Karachi on Wednesday as they not only dropped catches and misfielded too often to maintain pressure, but they also wasted their three reviews and lost their way with the second new ball.

Having been bowled out for a disappointing 220 on the first day, the Proteas reduced Pakistan to 33 for four overnight and there were high hopes they would be able to bowl the home side out on Wednesday and get a handy lead.

Instead Pakistan, led by a superbly tenacious century by Fawad Alam, scored 275 runs in the day and lost just four wickets to reach 308 for eight at stumps, already leading by 88 – a sizeable lead.

The bowling effort, once again led by an unfortunate Kagiso Rabada, could not be faulted for much of the day, but they were not backed up by their fielders. Fawad, who was eventually dismissed for 109, was dropped on 37 at slip by Dean Elgar off Keshav Maharaj, a sharp chance that hit his boot because he could not get his hands down in time. Faheem Ashraf, who belted a belligerent 64 off 84 and shared the match-defining partnership thus far of 102 for the seventh wicket with Fawad, was dropped on 21 by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock off Rabada. It was a tough, low chance diving to his left, but South Africa’s captain has taken those more often than not.

Another anomaly occurred late in the day when Hasan Ali, on 6, skied Maharaj over mid-on and Faf du Plessis, running back, could not get a hand on it. The hard-hitting Hasan has the ability to hurt South Africa further on the third day as he is 11 not out at stumps.

Skipper De Kock was also not at his best when using South Africa’s reviews, gambling and losing all three of them.

While South Africa have lost many great cricketers in recent years in both the batting and bowling departments, they also seem to have lost much of the fielding prowess that used to make them the benchmark. There were several intense spells by the bowlers, but too often the pressure was released by a fielding error which allowed the strike to be rotated.

South Africa were still eyeing a lead when Pakistan were 176 for six, and they took the second new ball three overs late when Fawad and Faheem had already lifted the score to 214 for six. Maharaj surprisingly kept bowling, even part-time offie Aiden Markram had a go, and within 10 overs the home side had raced to 259 for six.

Nevertheless, Maharaj, who also bowled Hasan late in the day but had delivered a no-ball, said it was still within South Africa’s capability to win the game.

“The pitch still looks pretty good, there are some footmarks but it’s just the usual wear and tear, and we will just try and bat for as long as possible. I don’t know how much the pitch will deteriorate by the end of the third day, but Fawad showed that if you apply yourself you can get runs. There was not as much turn today as you might have expected seeing Yasir Shah on the first day, but he is a wrist-spinner.

“So it was a decent day for us, we controlled the run-rate really well, we did not let it get out of hand and it’s still less than three. So the bowling unit really did a good job and I thought we fielded pretty well. Yes, there were some slumps, and some catches were dropped, but that’s expected, there are always going to be a few half-chances,” Maharaj said.

The first Test between South Africa and Pakistan is being played in Karachi and, given its location in the middle of the subcontinent, the Proteas being bowled out for just 220 probably shouldn’t be too much of a surprise – in their last 21 innings in Asia, only one has ended in a total above 300.

However, given that this was the first day of the Test and the pitch wasn’t offering excessive turn, plus the fact that the Proteas were 94 for two after 26 overs at lunch, having won the toss and batted, the afternoon collapse was a bit of a shocker.

From 108 for two, South Africa crashed to 136 for five, before Temba Bavuma (17) and George Linde (35) provided some stability with a 43-run stand. That promising partnership was ended by Bavuma being run out, as was an unusually brisk start by Rassie van der Dussen, who was also run out for 17. They were the most unnecessary of the dismissals but there were several others that were soft.

It smacked of the South African batsmen getting ahead of themselves and pushing too hard, an assessment opener Dean Elgar, who top-scored with 58, agreed with.

“You can get caught trying to balance intensity with what’s happening on the scoreboard, but we were going at more than 3.5 runs-per-over at lunch. You want to maintain that because then you’ll have a good day with the bat, but you’ve got to earn your right to do that. We did it before lunch, but then you have to start again and earn the right again.

“You have to create that platform for yourselves again, give yourself another 10-15 overs after the break. Instead we lost quick wickets. You have to trust your game, but sometimes you have to go more defensive, trust your defence, and then you can be more aggressive. It’s a balancing act, you can’t get caught in your own bubble and we definitely had that after lunch when the pitch got slower,” Elgar said after close of play.

Kagiso Rabada won a battle with seamer Hasan Ali as he hammered three fours and a six in his 21 not out that lifted South Africa past 200, and the adrenalin from that impressive cameo provided the avenue for the fast bowling spearhead to produce a superbly intense burst with the new ball.

Rabada removed both openers – debutant Imran Butt (9) and Abid Ali (4) – and his first three overs were maidens as he set the tone with his spell of 6-3-8-2.

Anrich Nortje also bowled with express pace to take one for 20 and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj then slid his third delivery into the front pad of Babar Azam, trapping Pakistan’s key batsman lbw for 7.

It meant Pakistan were heading for an even worse first-innings score than South Africa as they reached stumps on 33 for four.

Providing the bowlers continue down the same road, South Africa’s avenue to success in this first Test will be to put up a much better batting performance in their second innings.

Coach Mark Boucher said on Monday that he is on a crusade to change the mindset of South African cricket which is why the Proteas could well field three frontline spinners – Keshav Maharaj from KZN, Tabraiz Shamsi from northern Gauteng and George Linde from the Cape – in the first Test against Pakistan on Tuesday.

With Pakistan understandably going the dry and slow route in terms of the Karachi pitch, South Africa playing two spinners might have surprised a few people. For the Proteas’ attack to comprise three spinners and just two pacemen would be considered downright outrageous by many people used to “the South African way” of doing things.

But Boucher firmly believes that is their best chance of taking 20 wickets and, just like he was as a player, he wants the current Proteas to be bold.

“The weather is a lot cooler than normal on the sub-continent and there’s a lush green outfield. So conditions are completely different to in the past. In South Africa, colder weather means the pitch is a lot slower and with a quite moist outfield, I don’t know how big a weapon reverse-swing is going to be. But the pitch is really bare and there will definitely be turn.

“We are definitely not scared to go out and try something different. If you want to win away from home, you have to make brave calls. We’re not going to die wondering, you don’t want to go 1-0 down in a two-match series and then regret not playing the extra spinner.

“We’ve spoken about our mentality and the South African mindset has always been to revert back to seam. But I’ve said to the team I don’t want them to be scared of trying different options, if it looks like it’s going to turn then we must make good cricket calls. I’ve encouraged an open mindset instead of just going back to the norm,” Boucher said in a press conference on Monday.

Boucher later told The Citizen that Linde, who scored 37 and 27 and took four for 133 in his only previous Test, against India in Ranchi in October 2019, is likely to get the nod.

“We will make a call on the all-rounder – whether it’s a seam bowler or a spinner – and there’s a very big possibility that we will go with two seamers and three spinners, if it’s really going to turn. George showed before he can bat in sub-continent conditions and he’s been in good form with the bat for the Cape Cobras. Wiaan Mulder played really well in South African conditions, but it’s about who will create more opportunities, who can dry up an end in these conditions? And having George, Kesh, KG Rabada and Anrich Nortje doesn’t make our tail too long, it’s possible for those guys to score some runs too,” Boucher said.

With Tabraiz Shamsi being an aggressive wrist-spinner and Rabada and Nortje not really being holding bowlers, it looks like South Africa will go to town with attacking bowling and Maharaj could well perform the holding role.

“A lot of thought has gone into how we’re going to pick up 20 wickets on pitches that are generally good for the first three days. We’re not going to go in thinking about containing. Shamsi is an attacking, aggressive spinner, so if conditions suit, why not use him? We’ve got attacking options with spin, and pace through the air in flat conditions is the seamer’s best weapon and we’ve got that covered.

“But you also need to balance your attack and someone needs to do the containing role. Kesh didn’t bowl a lot against Sri Lanka because the pitches were more conducive to spin, but he’s hungry to get stuck in and do his role as the main spin bowler here. He wasn’t at his best on the last tour to India, but we’ve worked on a few technical things and he’s come on leaps and bounds,” Boucher said.