Ken Borland

It was never going to be easy for the Interim Board of Cricket South Africa to fulfil their mandate from Sports Minister Nathi Mthethwa to reform the game in this country, but on Wednesday they lost their chairman, Judge Zak Yacoob, who stepped down following his abusive telephone call with a journalist.

Mthethwa issued a statement saying Yacoob had recused himself by “mutual agreement” and “this decision was made out of an abundance of caution to safeguard the tremendous work done by the Interim Board under his stewardship. The judge has shown remorse and apologised.”

The minister added that he hoped the Interim Board will be able to convene CSA’s delayed AGM soon, where a new, permanent board will be appointed. But the current directors have many obstacles to overcome, including the difficulties associated with winning over many on the Members Council, and the legal challenges emanating from the dismissal of director Omphile Ramela and the suspension of CSA executive staff.

Interim Board spokesperson Judith February cast a positive note on Wednesday however.

“We don’t foresee the departure of Judge Yacoob affecting any work we have done so far, because all our decisions have been taken together, they’re not just the decisions of the chairman. We are all quite clear in our minds about the proceedings against Mr Ramela and all the other legal actions we are involved in. So we are forging ahead, even though it is an unfortunate but unavoidable turn of events,” February told The Citizen on Wednesday afternoon.

Dr Stavros Nicolaou will now take over as chairman of the interim board and February said they are making good progress towards finalising a date for the AGM. But because the organisation’s whole Memorandum of Incorporation (MoI) has to be changed to comply with the Nicholson recommendations (as per Mthethwa’s mandate), there has to first be full consultation with the Members Council on the amendments.

“We have a meeting with the Members Council this evening [Wednesday night] to discuss certain requirements that are needed in the MoI and need to be finalised with the Members Council. We will update them on the work we’ve done on the roadmap to the AGM, which is one of the most important parts of the work of this board.

“The Nicholson recommendations have to be implemented, but through a process of consultation as to how we do that, there are numerous nuances to consider like the number of directors. But there will be an independent board and the Members Council’s powers will change, we can’t get away from that,” February said.

With the focus firmly on the Currie Cup semifinal next weekend, Bulls coach Jake White has returned the first-choice halfback pairing of Morne Steyn and Ivan van Zyl to starting action against the Pumas on Sunday, but no-one else travelling to Nelspruit is guaranteed to be involved in the team to play the Lions at Loftus Versfeld.

Having beaten the Lions in midweek in Pretoria, the result against the Pumas cannot change the fact that the Bulls will finish top of the log. With three games in 10 days, White on Saturday announced 11 changes to the team that won the Gauteng derby.

Due to the Covid infection that swept through the squad, the in-form Steyn and Van Zyl have not started a match in a month, and White is obviously looking for them to provide the guidance needed to a very inexperienced backline against the hassling strategies of the Pumas, who always look to put the opposition off their game-plan.

White has also increased the pressure on them by choosing a new-look tight five in which lock Jan Uys is the only player to retain his place.

Uys impressed against the Lions and another strong performance against the Pumas could see him force himself into the reckoning for the semi-final, depending on the fitness of Walt Steenkamp and Sintu Manjezi.

Loose forward Arno Botha, who will captain the team in Nelspruit, could also bring his physical presence to the semi-final, while wing Stravino Jacobs certainly improved his chances of playing with his solid showing in midweek.

The Bulls will at least have a more experienced replacement front row on the bench, with hooker Johan Grobbelaar and props Lizo Gqoboka and Marcel van der Merwe trying to ensure they stay in the squad for the semi-final.

Bulls: Clinton Swart, Jade Stighling, Marnus Potgieter, Dawid Kellerman, Stravino Jacobs, Morné Steyn, Ivan van Zyl, Tim Agaba, Arno Botha (capt), WJ Steenkamp, Janko Swanepoel, Jan Uys, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Joe van Zyl, Gerhard Steenekamp. Bench – Johan Grobbelaar, Lizo Gqoboka, Marcel van der Merwe, Divan Venter, Elrigh Louw, Keagan Johannes, Kabelo Mokoena, Jay-Cee Nel.

Kagiso Rabada is still not going to be there so the Proteas know the consistency of their inexperienced bowling attack is going to be their main area of focus in the second Test against Sri Lanka which starts at the Wanderers on Sunday.

Proteas management confirmed on Saturday that although they were happy with Rabada’s progress after recovering from a groin strain, they are still working on getting his bowling workloads up and they do not want to risk him with tough series against Pakistan and Australia still to come this summer.

It means South Africa will almost certainly go into the second Test with the same attack that played at Centurion and featured their least capped pace quartet since 1993. Given their rawness, it was not surprising that they struggled on the first day, getting carried away with the pace and bounce of the SuperSport Park pitch, struggling with their lines and not sticking to a full enough length. But they improved steadily and their bowling on the final day was spot-on.

“We have a very inexperienced bowling attack with KG not there to lead. Maybe they were trying too hard, they were nervous, and when the batsmen are scoring so quickly, it’s difficult to step back and take your time – that’s where the inexperience comes in. But from the second innings you could see the mindshift. In our language we also tried to give them more confidence.

“It’s all about the character they showed in that second innings. They bowled different lines and lengths and just tried to keep things as simple as possible. It was great to see them stand up and I can tell you that in the two days of practice we’ve had since then, it was some of the best bowling I’ve seen in the nets. The bowling has shown a massive improvement from that second innings,” senior player Dean Elgar said on Saturday.

The Proteas produced a top-class batting performance at Centurion, but Elgar acknowledged that it was against a depleted Sri Lankan attack and Sunday will bring a fresh start at the Wanderers.

“We scored more than 600 and you can’t take that hard work for granted, it was a good effort, but we have to be mindful that their bowling attack was hit by quite a few injuries. Still, we’ll take a lot of confidence from that performance and it was nice that a lot of batsmen got good starts. Scoring more than 600 has been a bit foreign to us of late, but we’ve put a stake in the ground now.

“We’ve been batting well domestically but it was great to do it at international level. A guy like Aiden Markram, who has been away from the team, brought his form of domestic cricket and proved that he’s not just a batsman who can score runs at domestic level, he can do it at this level too. And then it was very important that Faf du Plessis and I put in big performances as leaders and it was lovely to see Kesh Maharaj get runs too,” Elgar said.

Faf du Plessis put his fabulous 199 against Sri Lanka on the third day of the first Test down to his single-minded focus on his fitness, the one area he said he could control during Lockdown.

While Sri Lanka coach Mickey Arthur was blaming Covid for the unprecedented glut of injuries in his team, Du Plessis seemed to have little sympathy for their plight, saying he had used Lockdown wisely.

“Obviously Covid has made things more intense as far as injuries are concerned, but everyone has had enough time to make sure they are physically fit enough for Test cricket. I did a lot of work during Lockdown, it meant I had a good off-season and, for me personally, I went through the process in the last six months of making sure I was in the best position possible to play really well.

“The one thing I could control was how fit I was and that work is really working for me now and at 36 I feel fitter now than I have ever been before. I’m moving better now than when I was 23 or 24. People have been saying I’m at the end of my career, but it all depends on how good your body is, how fit you are – that is much more important than your age,” Du Plessis said after his career-best masterpiece that lasted nearly seven hours.

The former captain acknowledged his disappointment at getting out one short of his maiden double century, being caught at a wide mid-on off debutant leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, and said milestones were important for the team and not just the individual player.

“I thought I would just pop it over his head when the field was brought up like they always do when someone is on 99, but maybe I should have tried to hit it straighter because it was the googly. It’s a shot I play really well, just the execution wasn’t so good this time. I was pretty tired by then too and probably not in the greatest position to try and hit a six.
“You don’t think too much about making 200 but it does start when you get past a hundred because big hundreds are what the team strives for. Those are the match-winning knocks and if you get in, you want to make sure that you cash in big time. I felt really good at the crease and from a timing and statement point of view it was great to show those who have doubted my ability recently that nothing has changed,” Du Plessis said.