Ken Borland

Former Proteas all-rounder and current Warriors coach Robin Peterson says he felt like he was one of the first Black players to be ‘planted’ in South African domestic cricket after unity and one of his first experiences was being called a “K…..” by his favourite cricketer growing up.

Peterson made his first-class debut in January 1999 for Eastern Province B and went on to play 183 franchise games for the Warriors, Cape Cobras and Knights, as well as representing South Africa in 15 Tests, 79 ODIs and 21 T20 Internationals.

“I was probably one of the first players of colour to be planted in the system, I say ‘planted’ because it felt like that. When I played for Eastern Province, there were only two players of colour in the team, myself and Garnett Kruger. We were in the minority, everyone else was White. And I was called the K-word in a provincial game years ago by someone who represented South Africa in a lot of Test matches.

“He was actually my hero growing up and I respected him, so it was a very sad thing. As one of the first generation of Black players, I didn’t have the confidence to put up a fuss, who do you go to, there were no protocols in place. But it made me angry and motivated, and I got a hundred in that game. He is no longer involved in cricket in South Africa, I don’t feel it’s necessary to go back into that space, I just feel pity for him. And I want to confront the issues of today and not dwell in the past,” Peterson said in a recent webinar for the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation on racism in cricket.

In his new role as coach of the Warriors, Peterson called for greater consultation when it came to transformation policies, which he called ‘outdated’. This year is the 22^nd anniversary of the establishment of Cricket South Africa’s transformation committee, while the decision to make the rapid Africanisation of cricket a priority is celebrating its seventh anniversary, and it is four years since the existing quota of six players of colour, three of which must be Black African, was implemented.

“As a coach now in the system, I find it very divisive and our policies on transformation are a bit outdated, calling each other Black Africans and Coloureds. Do they align with high-performance sport? I find it very difficult as coach to keep a united changeroom, all these silos just create more division. We are the people who implement the policy so we need to be consulted.

“We need a more collaborative and consultative approach because at the moment people are fighting each other in the changerooms. We want a united South Africa and the current policy does not reflect that. The coaches were never consulted and we have to implement it. We need 11 players of different skills, not just numbers like 6+3. The relevant people need to start being consulted,” Peterson said.

The Titans bowling attack might have been figuratively armed with water pistols for most of last season, but Dayyaan Galiem and his swing bowling was the exception as the all-rounder brought an exciting new dimension to the team in his first season after moving from the Cape.

Galiem was their leading four-day wicket-taker last season with 21 scalps, while he also took 11 Momentum One-Day Cup wickets, second only to spinner Imraan Manack. Add in 310 four-day runs at an average of 25.83 with two half-centuries and the 23-year-old was a worthy recipient of the Titans’ First-Class Player of the Season, Newcomer, and Player of the Year awards on Thursday night.

“I was very surprised to be given the new ball and to become one of the leaders of the attack, but I loved the challenge. I prefer the new ball because it moves around a bit more, although there is pressure that comes with that. I learnt how to control the ball better and the more confidence you have, the more you can show your skill. I do regard myself as a swing bowler, but I would also like to improve my pace.

“I was working on getting more energy on the ball and trying to get it to swing later, and I found that once I got my speed up and hit the deck hard then I was getting late swing, which makes it more challenging for the batsmen. When you’re not confident and not sure where the ball is going, then you tend to just stick to one thing, but the more situations I’m in, the more I learn and the better I can deal with them,” Galiem told Saturday Citizen on Friday.

Nobody can be sure who first coined the phrase that partnerships win matches, but in terms of his batting, Galiem is not satisfied to have merely contributed to some crucial lower-order stands and next season he wants to go big.

“Batting was more of a challenge, just adapting to the level of cricket because I played just the one four-day game for the Cobras before coming to the Titans. I had a lot of starts, some good partnerships, a couple of big ones. But I would like to kick on and get hundreds, going into next season I want to improve my batting a lot and score big hundreds.

“I’m happy with how my first season went, but I was not satisfied with my batting and I know I can do better. I want to be more consistent with the bat and score bigger runs. I was really happy with my bowling but I also want to have more consistency of intensity with the ball, bowl better spells and trouble the batsmen for longer periods,” Galiem said.

It is hard to believe that the youngster who arrived at Centurion as a highly-rated all-rounder but with little franchise experience behind him, is now the collector of three Titans awards including the biggest of the lot. But Galiem clearly has the talent and belief to make sure his move to the Titans continues to be a huge success.

“When I came into the side I was a bit worried about performing, I had the pressure of coming from a different province and wanting to do well. I felt I had a lot to prove, but the guys were very welcoming, they made it a lot easier and I felt part of the team immediately, so big thanks to them. Obviously it was still nervewracking though and hopefully I will just get better and better now.

“I feel like my game has improved a lot. But when I arrived I just hoped for an opportunity. I believed in myself and I learnt patience from playing three-day cricket. I was very nervous at the start and I felt nervous every game. But I just tried to keep things simple, do the basics for a long period of time and it worked out. Cricket seems so complicated but the team that does the simple things best usually comes out on top,” Galiem said.

For the South African Women’s team, their first bit of post-Covid action may well only come in September, but their leading wicket-taker, Shabnim Ismail, says she is champing at the bit to get back on the field with her Proteas team-mates.

And the thing she misses most about playing for the Proteas is the family atmosphere.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) revealed earlier this week that they are making “positive progress” on scheduling a tri-series with India and South Africa and how they can best host it in the safest way possible. The Women’s Proteas were originally scheduled to play two T20s against England in the first week of September and then move on to a four-match ODI series also featuring India. The ECB have said they are committed to still having those fixtures and they may yet be able to play them in their original slot.

“Coming back from the T20 World Cup, where I still believe we would have made the final if the rain hadn’t come against Australia, we were looking forward to hosting the Aussies in our own backyard. Instead we had to spend three months at home, which is really tough as a cricketer. I miss our family, which is the Proteas women’s team. Soon hopefully we will be able to start training.

“Those fortunate enough to have a gym at home were able to still train and having Trisha Chetty with me, I have a wicketkeeper to at least bowl to every day, but it’s still not the same as nets. I really miss it and the team environment, for the last couple of years we have seen each other every month. It’s all very different from when I started playing for the Proteas in 2007 when I was still very young [18],” Ismail, who was named CSA’s Women’s T20 Cricketer of the Year at the weekend, said in a teleconference.

Ismail is one of the fastest bowlers in the global women’s game, getting into the 120s in terms of speed, and has a phenomenal record with 136 wickets in 98 ODIs and 99 scalps in 92 T20s. Now heading for her 32^nd birthday, she is confident that her career is far from done. As befits someone who always looks really ready for a scrap on the field, the Cape Town product says she modelled herself on Andre Nel’s aggression, if not the occasional red mist that used to descend on the fiery fast bowler from the East Rand.

“I chose the same No.89 on my Proteas shirt because I loved Andre Nel’s aggression and passion. Dale Steyn is also a role-model because he is a fighting character as I am. To be a fighter is just in a fast bowler’s character. I’m turning 32 but I still believe I have a good couple of years left, if I keep fit and nobody sees what you do behind the scenes. But I believe in my skill and ability,” Ismail said.

The Proteas high performance squad have completed their first week of training since their season ended in mid-March and probably the first conclusion to be drawn is that it is just as well the return to play scheduled for June 27 in the new 3TCricket Solidarity Cup was postponed to July 18.

That’s because the players are nowhere near peak match-fitness yet and Proteas physiotherapist Craig Govender is ensuring they do not do too much too quickly in order to prevent injuries.

“The players have been in Lockdown for months and although quite a lot of work was put in in terms of exercise, we’ve had to put injury-prevention measures in place. As the guys return to training, the special instruction has been for them to do it progressively, to not take things too fast. Very good warm-ups are essential after such a long time out.

“Running, bowling and strength work must all be done in progression. We had good systems put in place and we trusted the players to follow the programmes we gave them since the beginning of Lockdown and it’s been nice to find out all the guys have been doing what was required. Now we have to put a rope around the guys and make sure they don’t go too hard,” Govender said on Friday.

After a tough summer that saw them travel to India and then take on both England and Australia at home, there were a bunch of players carrying niggles and the one good thing about the enforced break is that it has allowed those players to get over those issues.

“We looked at all the players with niggles and chronic problems and gave each one a programme for during Lockdown. The good news is they are all a lot better now, they’ve allowed their bodies to rest, something which they dd not have time for in the past. We have a phased approach to returning to action and we’ve had core stability sessions every week via Zoom during Lockdown, as well as running and strength programmes.

“But cabin fever from staying indoors has been quite difficult for the players and a lot of them weren’t able to do weights for strength work because they don’t have a gym at home. But now that we’re back into training, it’s about the skills aspect, that’s very important now. It’s really nice for the guys to be out in the sun and the endorphins are kicking in,” Govender said.