Ken Borland

Former South African paceman Fanie de Villiers is playing an instrumental role in one of the country’s brightest fast bowling talents trying to leave the country and play for New Zealand.

Hardus Viljoen has just come off another outstanding season for the Highveld Lions, playing a key role in their Sunfoil Series title with 39 wickets at an average of 20.43, but De Villiers told The Citizen on Wednesday that the 26-year-old would be travelling to New Zealand next week for talks with one of their franchises.

Although Viljoen has not yet played for the national side, he is definitely in the selectors’ thoughts, having played nine games, in both four-day and 50-over cricket, for representative A teams. The strong fast bowler has taken 103 wickets, more than any other bowler, in the last three Sunfoil Series seasons at a superb average of 23.95.

“Patriotism is out the door,” De Villiers, who described himself as “a close family friend who has advised Hardus since he was in Standard 8,” said. “He’s been the leading wicket-taker over the last few seasons but he hasn’t played for South Africa because of the dynamics of the team. Hardus is a very strong and very good fast bowler who can bowl at 150 km/h and he will be sought after in New Zealand and Australia.

“So on April 22 we are meeting one of the New Zealand franchises to see what they offer, which is why Hardus is the only player not to have signed his new Lions contract yet,” De Villiers said.

De Villiers added that the move was not to do with quotas but was rather designed to ensure Viljoen was remunerated properly for his ability, with English County Cricket a key target.

“Because of the new quotas, a lot of players will look elsewhere, but Hardus is already in the system and could play for any franchise. But he’s playing in the shadow of others and should have played for South Africa already. There are two fantastic fast bowlers at the top in the Proteas, but there’s no way some of the others who have played are better than Hardus.

“He can’t qualify to play County Cricket, where you get your revenue from, unless he has played for South Africa, and Kyle Abbott, Marchant de Lange and Chris Morris are all ahead of him in line, I know how the selectors operate. So we have an appointment in New Zealand, where he can get serious opportunity with the new ball and qualify for them in four years’ time,  when he is 30, and then play County Cricket and earn a million rand a year,” De Villiers said.

While Viljoen’s benefactor stressed that the fast bowler could not afford to wait an iota longer for selection to the Proteas, De Villiers’ own bitterness towards the South African cricket system could now negatively affect a tremendous talent who has just really begun to blossom within the brilliant Lions bowling attack.

Residents of Gauteng have become accustomed to three different cricket unions – the Gauteng Cricket Board, Northerns Cricket Union and Easterns Cricket Union – controlling the game in the province, but this is likely to change as Cricket South Africa accede to Sascoc’s demand that the sport be administered along the same lines as the geopolitical boundaries of the country.

People in the Cape can expect the same change as Eastern Province, Border and Kei will need to merge into a single Eastern Cape controlling body, while Western Province, Boland and South-Western Districts will need to do the same in the Western Cape.

That change is along already-existing franchise lines, and KwaZulu-Natal, Free State and Northern Cape (Griqualand West team) will be in a similar position. But Gauteng will need to reorganise itself because there are two franchises – the Highveld Lions and Titans – based in that province.

CSA chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat confirmed that the change is in the offing, but added that they can still keep their same franchise and competition structure.

“That’s the next big thing we are planning, we might have to change the demarcations of our unions to mirror the geopolitical boundaries. But we can still have the same franchises and semi-professional teams and it won’t affect our competitions.

“But we’ll need to have nine controlling bodies from each of the provinces. So the Lions and Titans can still play and be run as separate teams, but they’ll need to have an overall Gauteng board above them,” Lorgat explained to The Citizen at the announcement of Momentum’s R475 000 backing of the academy at the University of Fort Hare in Alice.

Lorgat was critical of government’s support for grassroots development at that function but said the new geopolitically-aligned structure can improve the relationship between CSA and the state.

“It can be beneficial because then the unions can go to provincial government as one entity. I think it will help because then the provincial government is just dealing with one board. At the moment, the Titans, Lions and Easterns all go to the Gauteng provincial government for assistance and maybe they don’t know who to help?” Lorgat said.

At the moment, government expects CSA to fill their teams with previously disadvantaged players, but offers scant support in terms of the infrastructure that is essential to achieving that. Even the academy at Fort Hare, in the heartland of Black African cricket, has received nothing from the state.

“People think transformation is about black and white, but in my view Lance Klusener and Dale Steyn are both transformation products because they come from remote, rural areas. If it wasn’t for these programs, like our joint venture at the University of Fort Hare, then these jewels would not be found. We have not yet unlocked the potential in our country,” Lorgat said.

David Wiese and Farhaan Behardien showed that they are in the right mental space to play for their country again, but their efforts were not enough as the Unlimited Titans lost by four runs in a thrilling Momentum eKasi Challenge against the bizhub Highveld Lions at Dobsonville Oval yesterday.

Both players have tasted life in the green and gold in the last 12 months and will have their eyes on making the World Cup squad early next year, so they will be delighted with the positive way in which they started their season.

The Titans were chasing a testing 259 for victory and the pair were brought together after the Lions had gobbled up three wickets for just 28 runs.

Behardien scored a well-judged 60 off 76 balls as he added 113 off 131 deliveries with Wiese for the fourth wicket to set the Titans up for a late charge to victory.

The captain fell in the 32^nd over when he mis-hit a lofted drive off Dwaine Pretorius to wide mid-on, but Wiese continued to feast on the bowling as he stroked 94 off 102 balls, helping himself to eight fours.

The Titans went into the last 10 overs on 197 for four, needing just 62 runs, but they suffered a mortal blow in the 41^st over as Wiese was run out, the all-rounder misjudging a second run to Eddie Leie at deep backward point.

Heinrich Klaasen (43*) produced a commendable effort to try and see his team through to victory on his franchise debut, but he didn’t have the experience to deal with the tricky mixture of slower balls dished up by Pretorius at the death or the aggressive fast bowling of Hardus Viljoen.

The result could have gone either way with the Titans needing 22 off the last three overs, but Viljoen and Pretorius sent the crowd – comprising largely school children from surrounding schools – away happy as they sealed a hard-fought victory.

Viljoen had tormented the Titans top-order and was a handful throughout, finishing with one for 29 in his 10 overs.

The Titans also had the misfortune to lose Heino Kuhn, retired hurt for just two, after he was struck on the hand by Viljoen, having gone into the game with stitches.

The Lions total was set up by Devon Conway, the left-hander scoring freely while most other batsmen struggled on the two-paced pitch.

The introduction of Eden Links saw the Lions slump from 80 for one after 19 overs to 123 for five, the off-spinner turning the ball sharply and varying his pace well as he took four for 35.
Felllow spinner Roelof van der Merwe produced the delivery of the day to bowl the in-form Temba Bavuma, the darling of Soweto, for just three, the ball pitching outside leg and hitting the off stump.

But the Lions’ resurgence started with Conway and Pretorius (32) as they added 51 off 64 balls for the sixth wicket and the innings was given a tremendous late surge as Conway finished on 78 not out off just 73 balls.

The unfortunate Vincent Moore went for 20 runs in the final over as Conway hammered him for three fours and a six.