Ken Borland

Duanne Olivier is a big mean fast bowler and no toady trying to reingratiate himself with the South African public, so when he says, despite framing his Proteas cap, that he is massively honoured to play for the national team again, we should believe him.

Olivier last played for South Africa in February 2019, after which he declared himself a Kolpak player and therefore unavailable for the Proteas. His was a controversial departure too, because he was in the Test squad and had just negotiated a better contract with CSA.

When the Kolpak system was done away with due to Brexit, there were many who felt those players should not be selected again for the national team, but Olivier’s superb form for the Central Gauteng Lions has won the day.

But the 29-year-old seemed to have made peace with the fact that he might have played his last Test.

“I didn’t expect to play again, so I actually framed my baggy. It’s a massive frame … so I’m going to have to ask for a new cap if I’m selected in the XI or reframe it!” Olivier revealed on Thursday.

“But it’s a special feeling to get the call-up, I was so surprised to get the phone call when I was in Port Elizabeth with my wife, I didn’t expect it at all.

“It’s a massive honour and I’m very happy to be back. Wherever I can contribute, on or off the field, as 12^th or 13^th man, whatever, that’s what I want to do. I have not been here for nearly three years, so it’s very special to me.

“People will have mixed feelings about me playing, but that’s okay. I will deal with the criticism that comes with it, but I felt very welcome by the team when I came back,” Olivier said.

In Olivier’s first incarnation as a Test player, he was a fearsome fast bowler who worked batsmen over with pace and bounce as he generally dug the ball in short. But the former Free State and Yorkshire player says his bowling now has a few more qualities.

“I feel like a different player, I’m more mature now, a bit more grown-up. From a cricket point of view, the UK helped a lot and I was able to perfect that fuller length every bowler wants.

“Before, I became a bit floaty and wasn’t that consistent when I tried to bowl fuller. But three seasons in the UK have helped immensely with how I approach my bowling.

“I can still go short if I want to, but I feel like there are different elements to my game now and I believe in my strengths and processes.

“But I’m always nervous before I play and if I’m selected for the first Test then I think my nerves will shoot through the roof. The pressure and expectation is high, but it’s okay to feel it – it’s how you handle it that matters,” Olivier said.

Despite their dodgy origin, there are many who believed the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings would be a very good idea, something necessary to try and heal the increasingly polarised and embittered environment of South African cricket.

But now that the SJN report has been made public, what a grave disappointment it has been and what a waste of R7.5 million. So much evidence has simply been ignored or totally misinterpreted and the legal flaws within the findings reflect very poorly on Advocate Dumisa Ntsebeza’s standing as one of our finest jurists. Never mind the poor job done by his assistants from Werksmans Attorneys.

It is now clear that the entire focus of the SJN was on getting dirt on Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher. Addressing historic wrongs and racial discrimination was just a side project.

Ntsebeza has found Smith’s appointment as director of cricket to be irregular and has also accused him of racist behaviour in the past. This is despite what I thought was compelling evidence presented by the likes of Cricket South Africa, the South African Cricketers’ Association and former Proteas manager Mohammed Moosajee.

The report almost entirely ignores all of that and goes way outside of its mandate in slamming Smith’s appointment. Surely Ntsebeza is aware that headhunting is a common occurrence in the corporate world and his appointment was approved by a number of people, the majority of whom were Black?

But no, it was racist. As was Boucher’s selection as Proteas head coach.

Enoch Nkwe is a very good coach and, in an ideal world, should be the successor to Boucher. But to say he was discriminated against based on the colour of his skin is ridiculous. It ignores the fact Boucher had more experience and more success coaching at the level below the Proteas and the wicketkeeper/batsman’s immense international knowledge from his playing days.

Three franchise trophies in one season point to Nkwe’s potential, but to equate trophies won in second-tier cricket in the Netherlands, semi-pro cricket or junior weeks, and even a second place in the Canadian T20 league, with Boucher’s achievements is ludicrous. The report also makes no mention of the 3-0 hammering South Africa suffered in India under Nkwe as interim head coach just before Boucher’s arrival.

The SJN could really have done with some advice from an ex cricketer or anyone with some idea of how high-performance sport works. The total lack of expertise in this regard has been made clear by the report. There was an early warning sign of this when legal assistant Sandile July asked why Imran Tahir had not stepped down from the Proteas team to allow another spinner a chance!

I also believe Mr July exhibited a lack of impartiality in his examination of those witnesses who had been implicated. He seemed to implicitly believe that the evidence of the complainants, even those dishonest individuals banned from the game for their involvement in matchfixing, was true.

The allegation made this week that over 250 paragraphs of the complainants’ heads of argument, which were written by July and Fumisa Ngqele, have been simply cut and pasted word-for-word directly into the ombudsman’s report, reflects poorly on the fairness of the SJN process.

These are not just minor matters that need amendment. Most damning of all is Ntsebeza’s own admission in his closing remarks that the evidence presented was not able to be tested. He says he cannot make definitive findings, describing his own conclusions as being “tentative”.

And yet he has happily painted Smith, Boucher, AB de Villiers and various other former players and officials as being racist. The decent thing for Ntsebeza to do would be to pay back half the R7.5 million to CSA for doing half a job, never mind the compensation he might have to fork out for the damage he has done to the reputations of people based on “untested evidence” and “tentative findings”.

Despite being struck before the game by the controversy of the BLM directive and Quinton de Kock’s withdrawal from the team, the Proteas bounced back at the T20 World Cup on Tuesday as they beat the West Indies by eight wickets with 10 balls to spare.

De Kock pulled out of the game because he decided not to follow the Cricket South Africa Board’s directive, issued on the morning of the game, that all players must take a knee to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

It left an already under pressure Proteas batting line-up missing their star player, but they responded brilliantly to chase down a tricky target of 144.

Aiden Markram belted a matchwinning 51 not out off just 26 balls, including four towering sixes, to see South Africa home, Rassie van der Dussen providing stout support with his 43 not out off 51 deliveries. The pair added 83 off just 57 balls in an impressive display of just how far both of their games have advanced in T20 cricket.

Earlier, Reeza Hendricks, opening the batting in place of De Kock, hit a bright 39 off 30 deliveries to give South Africa a positive start after captain Temba Bavuma ran himself out for 2 in the first over, chancing a single to mid-on, from where Andre Russell scored a direct hit with a fine piece of fielding.

South Africa had won the toss but looked in disarray in the early stages of the West Indies innings, no doubt shellshocked by CSA’s directive and De Kock’s subsequent withdrawal.

There were lapses in concentration as Van der Dussen misjudged a boundary catch when Evin Lewis had just 12 and replacement wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen fluffed a straightforward catch from Lendl Simmons.

Lewis was explosive, hammering 56 off 35 balls before left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj finally claimed South Africa’s first wicket in the 11^th over, with the score already on 73.

But the Proteas were inspired thereafter, and slowly put the West Indies in a stranglehold.

Maharaj (4-0-24-2) added the wicket of Nicholas Pooran (12) and Kagiso Rabada (4-0-27-1) returned to bowl Simmons for a painstaking 16 off 35 deliveries.

Anrich Nortje was magnificent throughout, taking one for 14 in his four overs, while Dwaine Pretorius was superb at the death, taking three for 17 as he bowled the 18^th and 20^th overs.

The West Indies staggered to 143 for eight and, having been thoroughly rattled at the start of the game, South Africa went into their run-chase in high spirits.

A torrid year for the world champions is not quite over yet despite their face-saving 31-29 victory over the All Blacks on the Gold Coast on Saturday, as the Springboks still have an end-of-year tour to the United Kingdom.

Before Saturday’s impressive win, the Springboks, after nearly 18 months of not playing a Test, had endured a torrid, albeit triumphant series against the British and Irish Lions, beaten Argentina twice, but then seemed to be running out of steam as they lost both Tests against Australia and then succumbed to a narrow defeat against New Zealand, to lose three in a row for the first time since 2016.

South Africa will face Wales, Scotland and England on that tour but they will now do so with some confidence following an epic victory over the No.1 ranked team in the world and their greatest rivals.

“To have some momentum is massive, you need it if you’re going to build a team and rotate your squad,” Nienaber said.

“The margins are so small when numbers one to three play each other, but the players never doubted, they never lost focus and never veered off what we wanted to do. We’re not back at our 2019 level yet and we are still learning.

“But it’s been unbelievable for us to play against our Sanzaar partners again after we missed out in 2020. They bring a different style and mentality, and it’s nice to compete against a different skill-set and appetite for risk.

“We had a tough time when we lost some momentum, but in the end we have some back,” Nienaber said.

Man of the match Duane Vermeulen, whose trademark turnover in the final minute kept the Springboks’ hopes alive, said the victory had been a massive boost and gave an insight into just how hard bubble life in Australia has been for the last six weeks.

“It’s been a difficult time, away from our home and families, not seeing your kids or spending time with them, which is vital for your mental state. For the first two weeks we were in a hard bubble, making our own beds and cleaning our rooms.

“We’ve just had to keep on adjusting and we got it all together at the end. There are good vibes and energy now, which we can take into the end-of-year tour.

“We only have two weeks off and then it’s another five or six weeks on tour. But we are in a good mental state at the moment,” Vermeulen said.

Vermeulen and the rest of the pack were superb in exerting their alpha-male dominance on the All Blacks, but in the end it was some vital touches from substitute backs Elton Jantjies and Francois Steyn that made the difference.

Nienaber was full of praise for his bench.

“Last week I wanted to bring Elton on but didn’t because of Marco van Staden’s injury, and I probably should have bitten the bullet and done it. He was excellent when he came on and Frans was brilliant, he has unbelievable ability with those 50/22 kicks which we utilised.

“We have quality players on the bench, they are there to fulfil a role, once the starters have done their specific jobs and emptied their tanks,” Nienaber said.