Ken Borland

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Albie Morkel is being unfairly judged in South Africa and there is no such thing as form when it comes to his power-hitting role in twenty20s, Chennai Super Kings coach Stephen Fleming believes.

South Africa failed to fire in the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka recently and Morkel received plenty of criticism for his role – he scored just 19 runs in three innings, but faced only 12 balls and was dismissed just once, while he bowled a paltry seven overs in four matches and conceded 70 runs and took two wickets.

The all-rounder was also controversially omitted from the South African team for their must-win match against Australia, his replacement Wayne Parnell not batting and bowling two overs for 24 runs.

“Albie seems a bit more secure with the Super Kings and he’s given us great performances all the way through the history of our franchise. We’re able to give him long stretches of games and that benefits his confidence,” Fleming says.

“It’s a lot more cut-throat at international level and he seems to be under more pressure with South Africa. It’s a talented team with a lot of multi-skilled players and they’re always trying different tactics, so perhaps he’s still searching for his role a bit.”

At the Chennai Super Kings, arguably the most successful twenty20 team ever with two IPL crowns and a Champions League title, Morkel’s role is clear – to hit the ball hard and to take wickets, operating more often than not as a strike bowler up front.

“Albie operates to a different set of rules,” Fleming, a cerebral former New Zealand captain who produced top-class results with a small resource base, says, explaining that the left-handed power-hitter is being subjected to a traditional set of expectations which no longer apply.

“A concept like form doesn’t exist in twenty20, you can throw that out the window. At Chennai, Albie would be deemed a success if he comes off in one out of five innings, scores 40 off 20 or even 18 off five. We’re able to accommodate inconsistencies in that role and even if he hits two boundaries off three balls at the death, then he’s done a job.

“Those little cameos are a major factor in twenty20, but it seems over here that Albie’s analysed in old ODI terms but there’s no such thing as form in this game,” Fleming says.

Morkel has been given some weighty responsibilities by the Super Kings, even opening the bowling, but he has seldom let them down.

“He’s really valued by us, Chennai love him and he’ll have 40 000 people screaming his name when he plays. But we have really consistent selection, we’re very conservative when it comes to selection, and sometimes you even have to apply a bit of false confidence to him,” Fleming says.

The Chennai Super Kings, winners in 2010, will be one of the favourites in the Champions League competition that kicks off properly, after the qualifying stage, with the two Group A clashes at Centurion on Saturday.

While Morkel is almost certainly going to be in their starting XI, another South African, Faf du Plessis, will be competing with Australian great Mike Hussey for a place at the top of the order.

“Mike Hussey has done very well for us, but Faf has the same sort of skills and we’ve groomed him to play the same role. He’s a very clever batsman, there’s no reason why he can’t be effective in the first six overs, he can hit over the top and improvise by coming down the track and he played very well for us in the last IPL.

“It’s a big positive that he’s backing up and competing with Mike Hussey,” Fleming says.

The South African players also have other talents which the Indian giants appreciate.

“It’s excellent to have the South African players because they arrange golf courses very well and Albie is brilliant for safaris,” the debonair Kiwi laughs.

The real usefulness of Du Plessis and Morkel being in the CSK squad though is their local knowledge.

“The conditions at this time of year mean selection is a bit of a juggling act. We have to make sure we don’t just stick to a firm plan, we have to work conditions out quickly and that’s where the South African knowledge is so useful,” Fleming says.

Suspended Cricket South Africa CEO Gerald Majola on Wednesday withdrew from the organisation’s disciplinary hearing against him, rejecting the lawfulness of the proceedings and preferring to go directly to the Labour Court.

Majola is denying allegations of misconduct over bonuses he received without proper clearance and his lawyer, Pumezo David, told Business Day that the entire disciplinary process is illegitimate.

“We feel there are fundamental points that are unfair to Mr Majola in that the establishment of the Nicholson Inquiry by the minister of sport was unlawful and it’s only because of that inquiry that CSA instituted disciplinary proceedings.

“The minister exceeded his powers according to the Sports and Recreation Act. Section 13 (5) does not give him those powers, it’s limited to him referring a matter to mediation or issuing a directive. The hearing therefore emanates from an unlawful act and therefore cannot be fair or legal,” David said on Wednesday.

CSA’s lawyer, Nicholas Preston, said, however, that Majola was merely trying another ruse to cover up the dirty truth.

“He said he wanted a forum to clear his name and now he’s decided to withdraw from it! This process started close on two years ago and he has participated up till now. They’ve sat on this decision for a while and they’re only crying foul now when things are going against him,” Preston said.

Preston said Majola’s withdrawal from the disciplinary hearing would have no effect.

“The law provides for us to proceed without the accused, but the chairman of the hearing [Advocate Karel Tip] made it 100% clear to both parties that he will examine CSA’s evidence and make sure the case is heard properly even without Majola being present. His independence is unquestionable and, in fact, he tested some of our evidence most thoroughly today,” Preston said.

The CSA lawyer said he did not believe Majola’s chances of gaining relief from the Labour Court were very good.

“The Nicholson Inquiry was properly appointed even though Gerald argued against that both at the advisory award and at this hearing. Both John Myburgh [advisory hearing] and now Karel Tip have dismissed that argument,” Preston said.

David said Majola’s withdrawal certainly did not signal a throwing in of the towel by the former CEO.

“We will be laying down our challenge to the Labour Court and obviously they can review and set aside any decision made by the disciplinary hearing,” David said.

SOUTH Africa’s Test squad were not too far from perfection in beating England and securing the number one ranking a couple of months ago, so it is little surprise there have been only minor changes to the party for their trip to Australia at the end of the month.

While selection convener Andrew Hudson is totally content with the starting 11, he said in Johannesburg on Wednesday that “we have just tweaked our reserve strength slightly to suit expected conditions and the tactical situation”.

Uncapped Rory Kleinveldt and Faf du Plessis have been chosen as the prime bowling and batting cover, while Thami Tsolekile will again tour as a reserve wicketkeeper.

Barring a major loss of form or injury, Tsolekile is probably the most likely to play because of concern about the ability of AB de Villiers’ admittedly wonderfully athletic body to handle the strain of both keeping wicket and being a key batsman. Hudson told Business Day that a final decision on the wicketkeeping berth would need to be made but this was unlikely to happen before the Australian tour.

“We need a long-term solution to the wicketkeeping berth and it’s certainly on the selectors’ minds. We will need to apply ourselves to questions like, is AB keen and able to do the job or do we need to start grooming a new incumbent?

“But we’ll maybe only do that after the tour, it will be a hot topic to talk about.

“AB keeping wicket in England gave us the edge in that series with a recognised batsman at No7 but we will go to Australia with an open mind and be cognisant of his fitness and the demands of keeping affecting his batting,” Hudson said.

The selectors have clearly lost patience with Lonwabo Tsotsobe’s erratic form this year and he will have some much-needed game time with the KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins, having sat on the Proteas’ bench for several months.

Hudson said the selectors believed Kleinveldt could have the same dramatic effect Vernon Philander had when he was called up from the same Cape Cobras side a year ago.

“In Australian conditions, we believe Rory will get nice movement and he hits the deck.

“He’s been just behind Vernon in the overall averages in recent years, he’s been bowling with good pace for the South Africa A side.

“He’s done his time, he’s bowled well in four-day cricket and performed for a number of years and we believe he could be similar to Vernon in the way he came through. Plus he’s useful as a batsman down the order, just adding to the package,” Hudson said.

Du Plessis lost confidence on the England tour and during the ICC World Twenty20, but appeared to be on the comeback trail in his last innings when he blazed 65 off 38 balls against India.

He will be on standby to cover any middle-order holes, with Jacques Rudolph on hand to fill in at the top of the order if necessary.

Du Plessis averaged 85.57 in last season’s SuperSport Series, second only to Hashim Amla (90.50), and there was a big gap between him and the likes of Alviro Petersen (62.76), Justin Ontong (59.81), Tsolekile (59.50) and Colin Ingram (57.88).

Petersen, who broke his hand fielding for the Highveld Lions in their opening match of the season, is expected to be fit to play in time for the first Test starting in Brisbane on November 9.

“By all accounts he’ll be fine, I’ve had no red flags from the medical committee,” Hudson said.

PROTEAS SQUAD

Graeme Smith, Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Jacques Rudolph, JP Duminy, Vernon Philander, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Thami Tsolekile, Rory Kleinveldt, Faf du Plessis, Robin Peterson.

http://www.bdlive.co.za/sport/cricket/2012/10/11/minor-changes-to-south-africa-squad-for-australia-tour

Experienced 20/20 coach Dave Nosworthy said on Monday that South Africa’s failure to settle on a batting order had been a major factor in their disappointing early exit from the ICC World T20 competition in Sri Lanka.

South Africa lost all three of their Super 8s games to leave Sri Lanka as also-rans, despite being the number one ranked team in the world heading into the tournament.

The batting failed to fire, with the top-order having a dismal time and the likes of AB de Villiers floating around in the order and not getting enough time to stamp his mark on the innings.

“The big worry for me, looking from the outside, was that we didn’t seem to know what our best combination was. I think that we had the right players there, so I’m not blaming selection, but there wasn’t enough consistency or continuity in the batting order, but also in the bowling roles,” Nosworthy told Business Day on Monday.

“The guys didn’t seem to know what role they should play because they were in different positions all the time, they hadn’t spent long enough in specific roles.”

Nosworthy, who led the Highveld Lions to Champions League T20 qualification but is coaching Sri Lankan champions Uva in the tournament starting this week in Gauteng and has also had stints  with Canterbury, the Titans and the Punjab Kings XI, said that the confusion badly impacted on the performances of De Villiers and Kallis, probably South Africa’s two best batsmen.

“AB has to bat in the top three, he opened the batting as a youngster under me and kept wicket. He played freely then and, although he does an important job in the middle-order, someone else can do that and he can dominate from the outset.

“Kallis should not be batting three, he should have opened as he does in the IPL with very great success in similar conditions. We know he’s good enough and he’s better batting up front, the IPL proved that,” Nosworthy said.

The well-travelled coach was also highly critical of the death bowling issue, which he said receives a lot of airtime in South Africa, but nothing seems to be done about it.

“For 10 years we’ve been saying we don’t have any death bowlers, but you can talk until you’re blue in the face, nothing gets done about it. They’re not going to fall out of heaven. Death bowlers need to be identified and told ‘that’s your job, now stick with it’.

“I know he’s injured at the moment, but a year ago, Rusty Theron should of been told that he’s a death bowler and make him a specialist at it. Charl Langeveldt used to just bowl at boots all day and became a very good death bowler for South Africa.

“Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn can do it, but their job is more as strike bowlers, to take wickets. I point fingers at the players, because someone should identify that death bowling is a weak area in South African cricket and say ‘I can do it’.

“You’ve got to train yourself for the job, that’s what being a professional is about. That’s how Lasith Malinga became great, he trained himself for that role,” Nosworthy said.

On the positive side, Nosworthy said the spirit in the team appeared to be good.

“There looked to be a good sense in the side and for that Gary Kirsten deserves credit for gelling them together. They weren’t necessarily a unit in terms of role-definition, but they looked happy and they were always competitive.

“The performances of Robbie Peterson, who played really well, and Dale Steyn, who was brilliant, were the real positives.”

The experienced Nosworthy added, however, that the outlook was mostly positive for South African cricket.

“It’s easy to be critical when they’ve lost, but there’s a good crop of youngsters there with Morne Morkel, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and Faf du Plessis and I think Robin Peterson will play a few more years too. They should all be around for the next few world cups, we just need to keep the group together and let them get to know their roles,” Nosworthy said.