Ken Borland

The successful series against the West Indies did answer a few questions about the Proteas as they head into the World Cup, but a couple of glaring question marks remain – such as why the bowlers insist on banging the ball in halfway down the pitch so often?

Bowling coach Allan Donald was quoted as saying this week “I’d rather not have that many yorkers at the back end … at the World Cup, we want to be unpredictable in the last 10 overs and that is not going to be about bowling 40 yorkers in the last 10 overs.”

Not bowling yorkers is also becoming predictable, however, for this attack.

While the South African bowlers were generally dominant against the eighth-ranked West Indies – and let’s be honest, their batting was largely woeful – it was alarming to see how exposed the Proteas were once again in the death overs when Andre Russell, Darren Sammy and the tail took the tourists to an unlikely victory in the fourth ODI in Port Elizabeth.

The West Indies top-order was barely a factor through the series, meaning they were under pressure every time they batted; how will South Africa’s attack fare against much stronger batting line-ups at the World Cup, especially if the pitches are flat, without the luxury of early wickets?

Kyle Abbott was particularly disappointing in the series – taking just two wickets for 121 runs, conceded at a rate of 7.33 per over. It was depressing to see someone who had previously shown such skill in finding the blockhole, banging the ball in short and getting regularly smashed – perhaps Donald’s comments have something to do with that? There was surely a message in the second of those Abbott wickets coming from a full, straight delivery that bowled Marlon Samuels at Centurion.

Lady Luck has not been kind to South Africa in previous World Cups, but she tends to favour teams that are tactically astute, hard-working and gifted. The Proteas are certainly dedicated to their craft and in terms of talent we only need to mention AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn, so no issues there.

But while the batting looks so powerful – Rilee Rossouw adding his name into the mix of potential match-winners – their bowling remains vulnerable due to the current strategic thinking and I have a feeling opposing teams will back themselves to chase down whatever target South Africa set by putting them under pressure in the field.

The balance of the team – without a genuine all-rounder – is out, so JP Duminy and Farhaan Behardien have to share 10 overs or someone like Vernon Philander or Wayne Parnell has to bat seven.

That fifth-bowler portion will certainly be targeted by the opposition and sides like India and Australia will probably have a go at Morne Morkel and Philander as well.

Immersed in the pressure of a knockout game, how cool can Morkel stay? His display under the pump in Port Elizabeth suggests the portents are not that good, while Philander, at no more than fast-medium pace and generally sticking to line-and-length, could also be vulnerable.

The positives, however, are that South Africa, with Dale Steyn and Imran Tahir, are better than most at taking wickets in the middle overs and there will be no more feared batting line-up at the World Cup.

The bookies are hawking odds of between 3/1 and 13/3 on South Africa winning the World Cup, but they are only second favourites behind Australia – who range from 2/1 to 13/4 to win their fifth title.

There are a million different scenarios that could play out – and South Africa have historically provided the weirdest of those – but I will be hugely frustrated if the Proteas post 350-8 in a semi-final and then lose by three wickets in the final over as Duminy/Behardien travel for 90 runs in their 10 combined overs and Morkel and Philander concede 75 each.

Ryan McLaren or David Wiese are not part of the squad to provide a genuine fifth bowling option and from what we’ve seen from the West Indies series, South Africa are not going to be able to stray too far from their first-choice attack.

Which is not entirely a bad thing. Barring the number seven position, South Africa are a settled combination, going to Australasia with confidence and not many teams will fancy taking them on.

Ross Fisher was the most consistent driver of the ball in the first round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge and it gave him the lead at the Gary Player Country Club at Sun City on Thursday.

The Englishman was the picture of elegance as he fired a six-under-par 66, opening up a two-shot lead on the three players on four-under – South Africa’s George Coetzee, Germany’s Marcel Siem and Frenchman Alexander Levy.

The only dropped shot in Fisher’s round came on the par-three 16^th when he missed the green left, but otherwise the Tshwane Open champion was immaculate off the tee, setting up the seven birdies he scattered through his round, on his third appearance in the Nedbank Golf Challenge.

“I felt my driver was really good, I didn’t miss many fairways. This is the sort of course where you don’t want to be overly aggressive, but I like to hit driver a lot – I’m generally quite long and pretty straight. I did use three-wood on a few holes and hit a hybrid on 18, but using driver paid off well,” Fisher said.

Siem, who has won a European Tour event in each of the last three years and claimed a victory on South African soil when he won the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Houghton Golf Club in 2004, had the most remarkable card.

A bogey on the par-four sixth and a birdie on the par-five ninth were the calm before the storm. His back nine featured four birdies, two bogeys and an eagle, when he sank his eight-iron from 168 metres on the par-four 17^th, enabling him to take home a Volvo V40 T5 R-Design car worth nearly R400 000.

Coetzee was also more than happy with his round, which started superbly with three successive birdies, but became a battle on the back nine. Having matched Fisher stroke-for-stroke on the first 11 holes, Coetzee did extremely well to not drop a shot until the 18^th hole.

“I’m happy with my round, to start with three birdies was special, a wonderful surprise. The first 11 holes, my ball-striking was great but this game does not go perfect all the time and I made a couple of mistakes, bad shots, on the back nine but managed to recover well. On 18 I hit my second long left, I duffed a five-iron, but you can’t have everything your way in golf,” Coetzee said.

Fisher said his sole bogey came after his “one loose shot”.

“To have one bad shot in 18 holes, you can’t be unhappy, I’ll definitely take that. Hopefully I can put together three more solid rounds and give myself a chance to win on the back nine on Sunday,” Fisher said.

Coetzee said he has been working on his pre-shot routines and another golfer whose game is clearly a work in progress at the moment is Charl Schwartzel.

The highest-ranked South African golfer managed to limit the damage when he did find himself in trouble, shooting a 70 to finish in a tie for fifth place with veteran Miguel Angel Jimenez, fellow South Africans Tim Clark and Louis Oosthuizen, Scotsman Stephen Gallacher and Brooks Koepka of the United States.

Defending champion Thomas Bjorn had a disastrous day, an eight-over-par 80 leaving him in last place.

Levy, playing in the Nedbank Golf Challenge for the first time, looked in control of his game throughout with two birdies in each nine.

The last 10 overs with bat and ball were the downfall of the Proteas as they succumbed to a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia and lost the series in the fourth one-day international at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday.

The batting was once again too dependent on AB de Villiers, who top-scored with 91 off 88 balls, with the lower middle-order fading away after his dismissal, a meagre 51 runs being scored in the last 10 overs as they finished on 267 for eight.

Nevertheless, the South African bowlers started strongly and reduced Australia to 98 for five midway through their innings before centurion Steven Smith and Matthew Wade added 121 in 20 overs.

The dismissal of Wade, beautifully caught by Ryan McLaren rushing in from deep backward square-leg off Wayne Parnell, for an invaluable hand of 52 off 59 balls, left Australia needing 49 off 34 balls with four wickets in hand.

The plan in those death overs was not always obvious, but there was no denying the awful execution of the South African bowlers as length deliveries, leg-stump full tosses, wides and even a no-ball were delivered, leaving captain De Villiers exposed.

Dale Steyn is obviously still the go-to man in terms of skill and experience, while Kyle Abbott (10-0-43-1) showed that he is capable of challenging for a 1^st XI place, but the back-up seamers, McLaren and Parnell, were unable to stick to the plan.

The warning signs that another horrible World Cup choke is on the cards are there after the way South Africa unravelled in the crucial death overs both when batting and bowling.

Much credit must also go to Smith for a wonderful century, the 25-year-old eventually being bowled by left-arm spinner Robin Peterson when the scores were tied for 104 off 112 balls. His star is clearly on the rise and it was an innings of great composure and skill under pressure.

Smith’s ability to manipulate the ball around the cavernous MCG and his speed between the wickets meant he kept a brisk run-rate going throughout his innings despite only scoring seven fours.

Wicketkeeper Wade came in with Australia looking down and out and first had to tame a rampant Steyn. His eagerness to get on the front foot and play positively enabled him to build a match-winning partnership with Smith.

James Faulkner then came in and was allowed to target his favoured areas as he belted 34 not out off 19 balls to finish the chase.

The South African bowlers managed to put the Australians under severe pressure in the first half of their innings.

Abbott showed the depth of new-ball bowlers South Africa have – both Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander were on the sidelines on Friday – with a superb opening spell of one for five in four overs, his wicket being that of David Warner, trapped lbw for four as the paceman straightened a delivery back into the left-hander.

McLaren did not have a happy start to his bowling stint, conceding 17 runs in his first two overs, but he did claim a key wicket when a full, wide away-swinger found the edge of Shane Watson’s bat and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock was presented with a simple catch.

That brought Smith to the crease and he produced a top-class knock even as wickets continued to fall at the other end.

Aaron Finch (22) gave Parnell a bonus wicket by pulling to deep square-leg and skipper George Bailey was resident at the crease for half-an-hour before his old problem of flashing outside off stump at length deliveries presented itself and he was caught behind off Steyn for 16.

Glenn Maxwell can be devastating on his day, but his poor footwork was exposed by Steyn in his next over, finding another edge for him to be caught by Hashim Amla at slip for just two. De Villiers can feel well-pleased that his positive field-placing brought reward.

But Australia can seemingly always rely on runs from their wicketkeeper (whoever they choose) and Wade stepped up to support Smith, who showed that he can be a world-beater.

Earlier, De Villiers had once again dazzled and David Miller can book his ticket to the World Cup, but the rest of the South African batting once again disappointed as they faded away to 267 for eight.

The Proteas are fortunate that they can call on De Villiers, already established as one of the all-time greats, as he was once again the mainstay of the innings, scoring 91 off 88 balls in another great display of skill and exquisite placement of the ball.

Miller was the one batsman to provide sturdy support to De Villiers, playing a fine knock of 45 off 61 balls as they set up the innings with a fourth-wicket stand of 122 in 20 overs.

But unlike South Africa, whose problems extend from the batting relying too heavily on De Villiers to dodgy death bowling, Australia can rely on their bowlers in the last 10 overs to really turn the screw. Once they removed Miller, caught in the covers in an attempt to hit over the top in the powerplay, they restricted the Proteas to a meagre 51 runs in the last 10 overs, while claiming four more wickets.

Fast bowler Mitchell Starc was outstanding with his mix of yorkers and slower balls as he finished with one for 40 in 10 overs – figures that don’t do justice to his performance. Fellow paceman Pat Cummins also bowled better than his figures of two for 61, being a threat throughout, while Faulkner was also brilliant at the death with his back-of-the-hand deliveries, finishing with two for 45.

South Africa will be concerned that De Kock continues to struggle at the top of the order, scratching his way to 17 off 38 balls before popping a lame return catch to off-spinner Maxwell, who had had him dropped at slip in his first over.

Fellow opener Amla was looking good, however, as he cruised to 18 off 20 balls. He had identified the balls to go after well, collecting three fours, and was quite within his rights to pull the shortish delivery Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled to him in the sixth over, but unfortunately he hit it straight to midwicket, where Cummins hung on to a sharp, dipping catch.

Faf du Plessis also looked in good touch as he scored 28 off 37 balls as South Africa reached 70 for one in the 16^th over. But Cummins, returning after Du Plessis had hit him for two fours in his previous over in the first powerplay, got some extra bounce outside off stump and found the edge of an attempted steer, the ball nestling safely in wicketkeeper Wade’s gloves.

De Kock had fallen in the previous over and South Africa were in some strife on 79 for three.

But De Villiers once again showed that he is in a different league, improvising brilliantly, while still playing off the basis of a sound technique, and hardly ever seeming to take a risk. He only collected six boundaries, but scored at better than a run-a-ball on a slowish pitch without breaking a sweat.

With the bowlers at their mercy – Australia’s attack was also one short when Coulter-Nile limped off with a hamstring strain – both set batsmen found ways to get out. Miller was trying to hit over the top in the powerplay, but could only skew Faulkner high into the covers, while De Villiers charged down the pitch to Cummins and was reaching for a slower-ball bouncer, a tennis-like shot going to deep midwicket.

After that, the remaining batsmen could not find ways to dominate the impressive Australian attack, with Farhaan Behardien managing just 22 off 23 balls.

 http://citizen.co.za/278833/australia-v-sa-mcg-sa-innings/

Cricket may be the archetypal English sport, but there is a long history of it being played in Pretoria and one of the earliest mentions of the game in the city was in August 1874 when a Volksraad meeting was interrupted by Jim Nobel, President Burgers’ secretary, slogging a ball through the window of the chamber and narrowly missing the Speaker.

Those early Landvaders almost decided to ban cricket from the city square, but President Burgers and the attorney-general were both lovers of the game and the sport was given a reprieve.

Those pioneering Pretoria cricketers moved to a cattle compound on Widow Hoffman’s farm, in what is now Fountains Valley, in 1882 and their ground became known as Berea Park, where several Pretoria v Potchefstroom matches were held.

There was already a black cricket club playing in Elandsfontein, the Diggers, in 1898 and by 1937 there were more than 50 black clubs spread between Randfontein and Nigel.

Those were the days of the Transvaal Republic and the best cricketers from the Pretoria region would play for Transvaal, until 1937 when North-Eastern Transvaal was included in South African domestic cricket in its own right.

North-Eastern Transvaal’s first first-class match was played in December 1937, in the 25^th edition of the Currie Cup, as they took on Western Province at Berea Park. Lennox Brown, who played in two Tests for South Africa in 1931/32, took five for 54 and William Lance, the father of Tiger, claimed three for 19 as the inexperienced home side limited the powerful Capetonians to just a 10-run first-innings lead.

Brown then top-scored with 42 in the North-Eastern Transvaal second innings, but the debutants ultimately went down by just three wickets.

North-Eastern Transvaal also often played in Benoni, at the same Willowmoore Park ground that has become a Titans stronghold in the present day, but they were considered a second division team and only played in the A Section of the Currie Cup again in 1960/61 and 1967/68.

In 1971, the North-Eastern Transvaal Cricket Union became the Northern Transvaal Cricket Union, and in 1979/80 they returned to the A Division.

But with all the socio-economic problems in South Africa and Berea Park now being nearly a hundred years old, Northerns cricket remained a hospital case and they needed a doctor to steer them into the bright future they now enjoy.

That doctor was chemical engineer Willie Basson and as chairman of the NTCU he began chasing what he would later describe as “a ridiculous dream” in 1981/82 when the search for a new home for the union began.

It was a momentous year on the field as well as the Northerns B side was entered into first-class competition for the first time, playing in the Bowl, and the senior team won for the first time in the A Section as they beat Eastern Province in Port Elizabeth under captain Norman Featherstone. English swing bowler Chris Old took eight wickets in the match and there were important 70s from Rodney Ontong and Vernon du Preez.

And in 1982, former Transvaal stars such as Lee Barnard and Noel Day arrived in Pretoria and would play vital roles in the rise of Northerns cricket. The other major acquisition was that of former New Zealand captain John Reid who was put in charge of the team and proved an inspirational figure working in tandem with captain Barnard.

The move to Centurion Park – the name was chosen after a Name The Ground Competition – happened from 1984/85 and it is the only cricket ground in the world to have given its name to the suburb that sprung up around it. The first match was played on November 15, 1986.

The 1980s was the decade when the rise of Northerns cricket really began and in 1984/85 they played in two of the three domestic finals. They beat Western Province for the first time in the Currie Cup semi-final, thanks to Mandy Yachad’s century and Eric Simons taking seven wickets and scoring a crucial 58.

The elusive first A Section trophy would only come in 1996/97 however, the same year the NTCU became the Northerns Cricket Union, when 59 years of waiting ended with Keith Medlycott and Mark Davis steering them to the Standard Bank League title, Mike Rindel breaking the record for the most number of runs in a season in the day/night competition and Rudi Bryson spearheading the attack.

Limited-overs cricket continued to be the main source of success for Northerns and the Titans franchise as they became known in 2004, with the team winning the 1998/99 Standard Bank League, the Pro20/T20 competition in 2004/05, 2007/08 and 2011/12, and the one-day competition in 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2013/14.

The Titans have won the four-day competition four times – in 2005/06, 2006/07, 2008/09 and 2011/12 .

The Northerns Cricket Union has become a place where the different language groups and races of South Africa pull together for the success of the team, and no franchise won more trophies than the Titans between 2004 and 2014.

This has obviously led to many players from the Pretoria region being selected for the national team and the likes of Dale Steyn, AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis, Morne Morkel and Paul Harris have been integral to the rise of the Proteas to the number one Test side.

Off the field, the calm, visionary leadership of people like Basson, Alan Jordaan, Richard Harrison, Brandon Foot, Vincent Sinovich, Elise Lombard, Jesse Chellan, and now Jacques Faul, Patricia Kambarami and John Wright has been crucial to the success of the Northerns and Titans teams.