Ken Borland

In the last week my job as a cricket writer has taken me to Willowmoore Park in Benoni twice, to the Mamelodi Oval once and to the glamour and glitz of the national team’s World Cup send-off at Melrose Arch once.

While the Mamelodi Oval is rapidly becoming one of my favourite grounds – it has a beautiful setting in the Magaliesburg hills, the local community is obviously proud of the ground and facilities have improved with every visit there, I am largely cynical about how much the Melrose Arch razzmatazz will do for our World Cup chances and, frankly, I will be happy if I never have to go back to Willowmoore Park again.

That’s because half the games in Benoni are disrupted by the awful facilities at that ground. On Thursday night, it was embarrassing to see South Africa A and the England Lions tourists have to hang around and wait for over half-an-hour while an electrician was found to get the floodlights working properly.

For the Titans, Willowmoore Park has become an infuriating home ground for them.

Last weekend, a short 20-minute shower nearly led to their Momentum One-Day Cup game being abandoned due to the shocking drainage at the ground, not helped by the ground staff pouring the water that had accumulated on the covers on to an already wet patch.

The potential loss of points would have been critical for the Titans in their efforts to secure a home playoff, while the match being shortened to 20 overs due to the delay was hugely prejudicial to them because it meant the Highveld Lions had all 10 wickets in hand for just a short run-chase.

Fortunately the Lions batsmen were terrible and the Titans still won, but they had a match abandoned, losing all the points, in November due to a sub-standard, dangerous pitch. Several Titans players have suffered hand injuries due to similar pitches at the ground.

India had a warm-up game there in December 2013 cancelled due to the field being wet despite Benoni being bathed in bright sunshine for three days and it’s well-known that even the slightest bit of rain at Willowmoore Park causes major delays.

Simply put, Willowmoore Park is a disgrace. A prehistoric looking super-sopper, with practically no sponge left on the roller, merely shifts the water around the field; a rope is sometimes driven around the ground by the groundsman in a battered old car. Compared to Mamelodi, there seems to be a complete lack of pride in the venue, a distinct attitude of “who cares?” when it comes to maintaining the facility.

Top-class cricket should be taken away from Benoni by Cricket South Africa to ensure that franchises and international touring teams are given the facilities they deserve. It’s sad that a ground that has been operational since 1924 and was made famous by Denis Compton’s triple-century in three hours for England against North-Eastern Transvaal in 1948 has fallen into such disrepair.

I would even suggest moving games scheduled for Willowmoore Park to the Mamelodi Oval, which is also going to help transformation, and channelling the considerable amounts of money poured down the drain or simply not used in Benoni to that ground.

It’s probably not going to happen for political reasons though. Easterns cricket will bring their vastly overinflated influence in the CSA boardroom into play and let’s not forget that the murky hand of the Guptas is probably most strongly present at Willowmoore Park.

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Cricket so often errs by failing to fulfil its primary function of entertainment due to illogical playing conditions and inflexible officials, and the second day of the Sunfoil Series match between the Unlimited Titans and the bizhub Highveld Lions at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Friday provided another example of that.

With the sun shining brightly, the umpires took the reluctant players off the field at 5.30pm, the usual time for close of play, despite the fact that nearly three hours of play had been washed out by heavy thundershowers in the early afternoon.

So there was no effort to extend the hours of play by half-an-hour, the reason given to the players being that the allotted overs for the day had been bowled. Which doesn’t make sense because only 64 overs were actually bowled on the second day.

The Titans had moved to 27 without loss in the six overs they had to face before stumps, Jacques Rudolph showing that he is not ready to be pensioned off just yet as he cruised to 18 not out with four fours. Heino Kuhn was with him on seven not out.

Geoff Toyana is a coach who prefers to err on the side of positivity and the Lions had declared at 4.50pm on 485 for seven declared, thinking that they would get a good hour to bowl at the Titans, before the early close left them bemused and frustrated.

They managed to post that score thanks to the efforts of Dwaine Pretorius and Dale Deeb, who added 137 for the seventh wicket in 140 minutes and 239 balls, and regained control for the Lions after the Titans had struck hard with the second new ball.

Captain Stephen Cook and Neil McKenzie had resumed on 264 for two and quickly rattled up a fifty partnership off just 54 balls, but then JP de Villiers, bowling at good pace and enjoying some movement, took three wickets in five deliveries as the Lions crashed from 311 for two to 313 for six.

McKenzie was the first to go, playing around a straight ball from De Villiers and being trapped lbw for 47, and the 25-year-old seamer then dismissed Gulam Bodi (1) and Thami Tsolekile (0) with successive deliveries in his next over.

Cook, elegant on the drive but measured in all his strokeplay, had chugged along to 122 in 379 minutes, off 241 balls, when he flicked at a leg-side delivery from left-arm paceman Rowan Richards and wicketkeeper Mangaliso Mosehle flung himself far to his left to take a superb catch.

Pretorius and Deeb batted with admirable good sense though, but neither did they allow any scoring opportunity to pass, and by lunch they had brought up their fifty partnership off 65 balls.

One can probably put money on Pretorius being named the Lions’ most improved cricketer at the end of this season and his plucky 67 took his batting average to 39, to go with a bowling average of 15. He fell, however, in the 10^th over after the rain delay as he forgot the rule that you can’t cut left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe off the stumps and was bowled by the arm-ball.

Deeb added some more quick runs, finishing with a well-struck 89 not out, including seven fours and a six, before the Lions declared in order to try and buy themselves some time to push for victory on a flat pitch.

De Villiers was the most impressive of the Titans bowlers, with three for 75 in 18 overs. Richards also claimed three wickets, but his control was disappointing as he conceded 118 runs in 26 overs.

If the Titans manage to bat for most of Saturday’s third day, then you can’t see any other result than a draw at Willowmoore Park, despite their improved drainage.

*Batsmen were not loving the conditions on a rain-interrupted day at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth, with the Nashua Cape Cobras struggling on 137 for seven in reply to the Chevrolet Warriors’ 203 all out.

The Warriors’ opening bowlers – Andrew Birch and Basheer Walters – had done most of the damage with two wickets each, and the defending champions lost the mainstay of their innings, opener Omphile Ramela, in the last over of the day.

Ramela had defied the bowlers for 229 minutes and 146 balls in scoring 45, before Walters had him caught in the slips.

The run out of Yaseen Vallie (6) saw the Cobras plunge to 35 for three, before the middle-order rallied. But the Warriors kept chipping away and the wickets of Dane Vilas (15), Sybrand Engelbrecht (26) and Justin Kemp (19) were the reward.

*Cody Chetty stood tall in Kimberley as his century put the Sunfoil Dolphins in a commanding position against the Chevrolet Knights.

Chetty scored 101 not out, sharing in a fifth-wicket partnership of 97 with Khaya Zondo (51), to steer the Dolphins from their overnight score of 251 for four to 452 all out.

The Knights found batting a stiff ask against a fired-up, new-look Dolphins pace attack, struggling to 128 for four at stumps.

Openers Lefa Mosena (46) and Gerhardt Abrahams (34) seemed to be reading the conditions well as they added 61 for the first wicket, but Abrahams was caught behind off Graham Hume and Mosena was caught in the slips off Mathew Pillans.

Fast bowler Daryn Dupavillon then rushed through Diego Rosier (20) and Malusi Siboto (0) in successive balls to put the Dolphins firmly on top.

Off-spinner Patrick Botha is the one Knights player who can feel bullish about his efforts, the 24-year-old patiently whirling away for 28.5 overs and picking up a career-best seven for 89 to start the new year in great fashion.

Quinton Friend may be 32-years-old, but he is still quite a handful, the paceman taking three for 58 in 28 overs.

 http://citizen.co.za/308555/second-day-sunfoil-series-match-titans-lions/

Stephen Cook became just the fourth batsman to score 10 000 runs in South African domestic first-class cricket as he led the bizhub Highveld Lions to a commanding position on the first day of their top-of-the-log Sunfoil Series match against the Unlimited Titans at Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Thursday.

Cook showed great shot-selection and poise in reaching 108 not out before bad light stopped play at 4.15pm, with 25 overs still scheduled to be bowled, with the Lions on 264 for two.

It was a typically methodical innings by Cook, who in the process joined the illustrious trio of Graeme Pollock (12409), Peter Kirsten (11835) and his own father, Jimmy Cook (11307), in scoring 10 000 domestic first-class runs.

The Lions captain seldom looked threatened, but he did survive a chance on 32 when Heino Kuhn missed a catch at slip off left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe, who presumably aired his frustrations in the changeroom because it was the last ball before lunch.

The Lions had elected to bat first on a brownish, dry-looking pitch after winning the toss, and Rassie van der Dussen took the attack to the Titans bowlers as he breezed to an 84-ball half-century, the visitors going to lunch on 92 without loss.

Van der Dussen fell seven overs after the break, top-edging a hook at left-arm seamer Rowan Richards to fine-leg, where Junior Dala took a good running catch. Van der Dussen’s 65 off 109 deliveries had taken the Lions to 114 before the first wicket fell.

Cook went to his half-century soon afterwards and, with the Titans bowlers contriving to bowl on both sides of the wicket, and often too short, the Lions piled on 125 runs in 28 overs in the middle session, going to tea on 217 for one.

The Lions have high hopes for young Dominic Hendricks and he is starting to repay their faith this season, the left-hander scoring a dashing 63 off 87 balls to take his four-day average to 39 this season, with four half-centuries.

Hendricks hammered 11 fours and a six and added 115 off 158 balls with Cook for the second wicket, their partnership ending in the fifth over after tea when he pushed at a delivery outside off stump from Richards and Mangaliso Mosehle, the Titans wicketkeeper, dived to his left to take the catch.

Neil McKenzie (13*) then joined Cook and their partnership had already reached 35 when play was halted.

Down in Port Elizabeth, the Chevrolet Warriors’ capitulation to 203 all out was music to the ears of the struggling defending champions, the Nashua Cape Cobras.

Paceman Lizaad Williams and unorthodox spinner George Linde operated well in tandem as they shared six wickets and fast bowler Dane Paterson claimed two.

Richard Levi and Omphile Ramela then took the Cobras safely through to stumps on 11 without loss.

After the Cobras won the toss and bowled first, Paterson removed Michael Price for a duck in the first over and then had Jon-Jon Smuts caught behind for a single in the seventh over.

David White (38) and Ryan Bailey (37) added 43 for the third wicket, before Linde broke the partnership.

Simon Harmer dug in for 33 off 72 deliveries, but the Warriors only got to 203 thanks to a last-wicket stand of 53 between Sisanda Magala (32) and Basheer Walters (24*).

In Kimberley, Imraan Khan marked his recent return to the Sunfoil Dolphins line-up with his second successive century, scoring 127 to usher them to 251 for four against the Chevrolet Knights.

Divan van Wyk scored 57 as the Dolphins, who elected to bat first, put up a solid opening stand of 168.

Off-spinner Patrick Botha removed both openers, before the hostile Quinton Friend got busy with the second new ball and claimed two more wickets to give the Knights some late cheer.

 http://citizen.co.za/307726/cook-makes-history-books-first-day-sunfoil-series/

The forced removals that destroyed the culturally-diverse Marabastad community count amongst the most shameful incidents in Pretoria history, separating the Black, Indian and Coloured communities that lived in the area.  They all played cricket together in an association presided over by the famous Mr Sooboo and in the mid-1930s there were numerous teams playing like Azads, Old Boys, Navyugas, Sheffield, Rangers, Foresters, Burma Lads, Districts, Olympians Kismet and Clydes.

But these teams were largely mono-cultural, with Azads comprising mainly Gujaratis, Rangers being a Coloured team, Burma Lads made up of Tamils and Districts largely comprising Surtees. However race never played a part in sport as competitions were mixed.  Black cricket played at Bantulie was curtailed with the forced removal of Blacks to Atteridgeville.  But by then the Group Areas Act had further condemned Indians to Laudium and Coloureds to Eersterust.

Facilities in Marabastad comprised only two fields which were used for soccer and cricket. One had a grass pitch and the other a matting wicket which was known as the Razor’s Edge because of the rough sand and stones that cut up anyone foolhardy enough to leave his feet. The uneven pitch was bouncy and dangerous and Dhiraj Soma (Sapa), perhaps the Father of Sport in Marabastad, once had his front teeth knocked out batting on it.Teams from the Marabastad region, including Bantulie (the current site of the Tech grounds), where Black cricket was centred, were selected to play against sides from Johannesburg and the Western Transvaal, as well as Brits.  Even the great Basil d’Oliveira turned out to represent Northern Transvaal in an interprovincial game.

By then Marabastad had all but closed down and Laudium had become its successor for cricket.  The complex history of Marabastad cricket included a mass folding of clubs in the early 1970s, with the survivors, Foresters, Sheffield and Burma Lads, going to play in the SACBOC leagues, which was not a simple task as it meant travelling to places like Bosmont, Newclare, Lenasia, Ermelo, Potchefstroom and Germiston.

Rashid Varachia’s attempt at unifying cricket in 1976 also failed as Foresters and Rangers initially joined the White leagues but pulled out after a couple of years, with various on-field incidents reflecting racial undertones. It was clear true integration was still far off.  In 1975, Foresters were allowed to use the ground in Laudium as their home base, but in 1978 they pulled out of the league and the venue became derelict. Burma Lads and Shefield continued playing in the SACBOC league.

It wasn’t until 1984 when an attempt to rekindle cricket was made. Cricket resurfaced after a few years in the doldrums. Although the area was given a turf sports ground, the facilities remained ill-prepared with long grass and cooking flour used to mark the pitch and stones for boundaries!.  New teams were formed: Cavaliers, Delfos, Trishul, and Kent. Brits, Rangers, Districts and Sheffield re-surfaced. But that only lasted a couple of years before fizzling out again as facilities were non-existent.

After the SA tour to India during 1991 interest in cricket was renewed.  A further attempt was made in 1991 to rekindle cricket in Laudium, by Nilesh Mistry and Harry Karsen, with Delfos, Foresters, Leeds (ex-Sheffield), Kent, Brits Al-Amien and Districts all playing a part in what was to become the Sunday League.

In 1998, unity talks with the Northerns Cricket Union, saw Laudium, one of the previously disadvantaged teams, nominated to play in the Northerns Premier League.  That was always going to be a huge challenge and someone needed to guide them through these turbulent waters. That someone was Aniel Soma and by 1999 he had masterminded the participation at the highest level by deserving players as well as development of the new Oval in Laudium and the upgrading of the derelict building to a clubhouse to meet the demands of cricket.

When Soma was a young player, techniques were learnt mainly by listening to radio commentary, But professional coaches were brought into Laudium to assist, like Anton Ferreira and Gerhard Maree. The township south-west of the CBD can now be considered a cricketing stronghold, having hosted matches in the ICC Women’s World Cup in 2005 and India A tour matches, but it has taken a lot of effort and determination to achieve that.

The current team, evenly split between Black and Indian players, will continue to honour the tradition of great Marabastad and Laudium figures like the disciplined Arthur Karodia, the deft Eddie Naidoo, the brute Dhiraj Soma (Sapa), the fearless Viggie Naidoo, the guile of Jerry Makan, the stylish touches of  Rashid Bhikha, the cunningness of G Pillay, the power of Solly May, the all-round capability of Julian Weideman and the pace of Ameen Nagdee.  How can we ever forget the likes of Chandoo Ramjee, Mohamed Mia, Dhanraj Soma, Ramesh Nathoo, Hira Soma, Nithia Pillay,  Ebrahim Ebrahim, Ragie Moodley, Gopal Chetty, Deenen Padiachy, Hama Ahmed or Yusuf Ismail, Deshi Bhaktawer, Yogendra Naran, Gaffar Ahmed and their contribution to our cricket.

We pay tribute to those who paved the way.