Ken Borland

There was a time when Wayne Parnell was one of the hottest prospects on the planet, dominating the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in 2008 alongside the likes of Virat Kohli, Tim Southee and Ravindra Jadeja, who are all now world stars of the international game.

New Australian captain Steven Smith (as well as the late Phillip Hughes), Kane Williamson, Ahmed Shehzad, Junaid Khan, Umar Akmal, Dinesh Chandimal and Darren Bravo were all part of that tournament as well.

That Parnell is an extravagantly gifted cricketer is not in doubt, nor that he can be a tricky customer to manage at times, but it is also clear that the 25-year-old has certainly not fulfilled his talent.

And I strongly believe that that has not all been his own fault; young cricketers need to be treated with care, no matter how talented they are.

Parnell was thrown into senior international cricket as a 19-year-old in January 2009, in Australia, just 10 months after that junior world cup. Although some initial performances were encouraging, like all inexperienced players he struggled for consistency and began to be chosen in squads without earning a regular place in the starting XI.

All that touring, without actually playing much, took its toll and Parnell became more inconsistent. He was never free to learn his trade at first-class or franchise level; eight years after making his first-class debut, he is finally playing his 50^th match this weekend for the Warriors (and doing rather well). By way of comparison, Parnell’s 2008 team-mates, Rilee Rossouw and Reeza Hendricks, have played 73 and 85 first-class matches respectively and their stars are definitely on the rise, while his is waning. Southee has played 37 Tests and claimed 128 wickets, Parnell has just seven wickets in four Tests.

Parnell for me is a cautionary tale when it comes to the treatment of South Africa’s latest junior world cup sensation – Kagiso Rabada.

I was delighted that Rabada was released from the national squad playing in the first Test against the West Indies to go and play a Sunfoil Series four-day game for the Highveld Lions.

As good as it is for Rabada to be bowling in the nets and soaking up the ProteaFire atmosphere, I would beseech the national selectors to please allow this wonderful young talent to grow the foundation in the game that Parnell missed out on.

Through playing and learning at that level, against various types of batsmen, in different conditions, Rabada will know his game when he finally steps up to play Test cricket.

He can recycle the knowledge he will gain in the Lions set-up from such experienced cricketers as Neil McKenzie, Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Stephen Cook.

It is not too late, of course, for Parnell to fulfil his potential and he might even one day open the bowling in a Test with Rabada. But like good wine, great cricketers are not rushed, they are developed and matured.

I would also have preferred seeing Temba Bavuma return to the Lions side and get some time in the middle, hopefully adding to the 90 runs he has scored in four Sunfoil Series innings this season.

In regards to that, national coach Russell Domingo said “the media would be all over us if a makeshift 12^th man dropped a catch”, which seems a bit harsh on Robin Peterson!

As things worked out, both Bavuma and Peterson were required in the field, but hopefully the young batsman will be able to get some proper runs under his belt before what seems an inevitable call-up for him too.

An opening stand of 72 nicely teed up the West Indies’ reply before both openers were dismissed and they reached lunch on 110 for two on the third day of the first Sunfoil Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday.

Kraigg Braithwaite (34) and Devon Smith (35) were the batsmen who defied the much-vaunted South African pace attack for 21.4 overs in cloudy conditions and it took an extraordinary decision by TV umpire Paul Reiffel for the breakthrough to come.

Vernon Philander had just returned for his second spell when Smith tried to pull a shortish delivery and wicketkeeper AB de Villiers, standing in for Quinton de Kock who rolled an ankle in the warm-up, tumbled to his left to make the take. Faf du Plessis was also off the field due to abdominal cramps.

On-field umpire Billy Bowden turned down the caught-behind appeal that came mostly from Philander and South Africa decided to refer the decision.

Reiffel decided that a flimsy scratch on Snicko could be pinned down to when the ball passed the bat and overturned Bowden’s decision, which left most people watching the replays utterly bemused and the West Indians less than happy.

Braithwaite was then nailed by Philander in his next over, the accurate paceman getting a delivery to nip away, a firm push sending the ball low and to the right of Hashim Amla at first slip, the captain claiming a good catch.

The West Indies were able to go into lunch without further loss though as Leon Johnson hit three fours on his way to 27 not out and Marlon Samuels had scored a watchful six not out.

With South Africa having declared their first innings on 552 for five, the West Indies still need 243 runs to avoid the follow-on.

 http://citizen.co.za/296270/sa-v-west-indies-day-3-lunch/

By the end of his career, there will probably be anthologies written about all the elegant runs Hashim Amla has scored, but from 22 yards away he could really appreciate the value of just a single run.

It was the single that began Stiaan van Zyl’s Test career and the left-hander returned to the changeroom exactly a hundred runs later having joined the select band of batsmen who have scored a century on debut.

The single came as he flicked left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn through short-leg and Amla met Van Zyl in the middle of the pitch and said “I know it’s only just one run, but very well done!”

Van Zyl smiled in relief and went about knocking up an impressive 129-ball century in the first Test against the West Indies at Centurion on Thursday.

It was not without its troubles, however, particularly at the start when he almost edged his first ball to leg-gully off Benn and was dropped in the same position off the giant left-arm spinner on two.

“I was very nervous, before the first ball my gloves were wet. Benn is a bit taller than your normal spinner [Amla pointed out that he releases the ball from about three metres high!] and there was a bit of bounce and turn. It was a rough start but it became a bit easier.

“It’s obviously a big stage, but I told myself that it’s just the same old cricket ball coming at you. I just wanted to get past 10, to feel my way in, and once I got 50 I thought a hundred might be possible. Fortunately they gave me enough bad balls for me to get there,” Van Zyl said.

The left-hander added that the experience gained over the course of his 96 first-class games also helped, as did the foundation laid by playing for the all-conquering Cape Cobras side.

Although he was given the ideal platform by Amla and De Villiers’ record fourth-wicket stand of 308, it did not make his task any easier that he had to wait for over five hours with his pads on.

“We lost three quick wickets and my pads were on, and then every ball could be the one that brings you in. So it was quite mentally draining and I had to walk around and try and focus on other stuff. It’s a different ball game coming in at 365 for four compared to 50 for three, so the platform took the pressure off and I was able to just play freely,” Van Zyl said.

The 27-year-old’s brisk innings was also important as it appertains to the match situation, allowing South Africa to declare on 552 for five half-an-hour before the scheduled tea break. That should have given the hosts 38 overs in which to knock over the West Indian top-order, but a typical summer thunderstorm washed out that possibility, with no more play possible on the second day.

“We were looking to score runs, with rain around, and I wanted to declare earlier rather than later, plus there was always going to be bad light. We wanted to score quickly to give us as much time as possible to bowl at them. Now we have three days to get 20 wickets and hopefully the pitch sweating under the covers a bit might work in our favour,” captain Amla said.

Although the pitch has flattened out a bit, South Africa’s total is surely insuperable for a West Indies batting line-up that has averaged just 262 runs per innings in South Africa.

“The team is in position, we were in trouble but AB and I had a crucial partnership when the pitch still had a bit in it. I’m really happy to get some runs [208!] and the pitch still has a bit in it up front if you bowl in the right area. There are a few divots because it was quite soft on the first day and we have a good score on the board for what I consider the best attack in the world to bowl at,” Amla said.

 http://citizen.co.za/296037/just-wanted-get-past-10-stiaan-van-zyl/

Stiaan van Zyl completed an express century on debut and Hashim Amla made 208 as South Africa declared on 552 for five on the second day of the first Test against the West Indies at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Thursday.

A thrilling day’s action was then cut short, however, as rain washed out the entire final session.

Van Zyl needed just 129 balls to reach three figures and stroked 15 fours, most of them in elegant fashion through the off side, off both front and back foot, and becomes the fifth batsman to score a hundred on Test debut for South Africa.

The others were Andrew Hudson (Bridgetown, 1992), Jacques Rudolph (Chittagong, 2002), Alviro Petersen (Kolkata, 2010) and Faf du Plessis (Adelaide, 2012), and Van Zyl is the first to achieve the feat on home soil.

Van Zyl was on 101 not out when Amla declared, and Quinton de Kock had just hit left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn for successives sixes to go to 18 not out.

Meanwhile Amla went methodically to his double century as if it were a daily routine, after six-and-a-half hours and 359 balls at the crease, once again showing he has remarkable stores of concentration and patience.

Amla had already made the highest Test score at Centurion, surpassing Jacques Kallis’s memorable 201 not out against India in 2010/11, when he was dismissed, searching quick runs before the declaration and holing out at long-on off Benn.

Kemar Roach and Benn each took two wickets for the West Indies, but they paid heavy prices for limited success, Roach limping off midway through the last session on the first day with an ankle injury and Benn conceding 148 runs in 46 overs.

The West Indies were at least given a valid excuse for delaying their reply against the fearsome South African pace quartet as rain began to fall and an early tea was taken, but the rain was heavy enough to prevent any further play.

Captain Amla was still at the crease with a superb 178 not out as he took South Africa to a commanding 449 for four at lunch.

Amla, who began the day on 133 off 242 balls, applied himself diligently on the second morning, adding 45 runs off 88 deliveries to ensure South Africa did not waste a rousing first day to the Test in which he and AB de Villiers added an unbroken 283 for the fourth wicket to take them to 340 for three at stumps.

The pair took their partnership to 308, the highest for any wicket at Centurion in 19 Tests, before De Villiers was dismissed in the 100^th over, the ninth of the day.

De Villiers was once again in inspired form as he cruised to 152 in five hours and 18 minutes, facing 235 balls and stroking 16 fours and two sixes. But totally against the run of play, he then edged an expansive lofted drive at Benn, who obtained a smidgen of turn, and the ball skewed comfortably into the hands of cover-point.

Debutant Van Zyl then came in and was in trouble early on, almost turning his first ball from Benn into the hands of leg-gully, playing and missing outside off stump against the quicks and even being dropped by Kraigg Braithwaite at leg-gully off Benn when he had just two.

But the left-hander then settled and played some impressive strokes through the off-side, reaching a half-century on debut in good time, off 74 balls with eight fours.

 http://citizen.co.za/295957/sa-v-west-indies-1st-test-2nd-day-stumps/