Ken Borland

It is a sign of the prudent financial belt-tightening that Cricket South Africa have been doing that the official press conference to introduce Enoch Nkwe as the new director of cricket on Friday was followed by food packs given to the media.

Five years ago, there would have been catered food on hand, but it was a jolly good food pack – potato chips, a chocolate bar, packet of biltong, sandwiches and wraps – and another sign that the new CSA administration are focusing on the basics of putting the game first and not on lavish displays that are more about camouflage than anything else.

The other sign that CSA are heading in the right direction was that Nkwe and CEO Pholetsi Moseki, as well as Sipho Rihlamvu, the acting head of communications and media and the program director, were all in place and ready to go at 10.59am, the conference starting as advertised at 11am sharp. The blend of in-person attendance and virtual participants also worked seamlessly.

These are the sort of small things that speak to an organisation’s culture and professionalism and CSA have lately been consistently getting them right.

Moseki made the point that “cricket is in good hands” and that certainly is the impression at the moment. The coming months will of course pose incredible challenges that are mostly due to the state of the country as a whole, especially the economy.

While Nkwe acknowledged the importance of the commercial side of cricket, his individual strengths are more directed towards the strategic side of the game itself and building structures and pipelines.

He succeeds Graeme Smith, such a major figure in world cricket, and someone who was more involved with international deal-making and making sure the Proteas remain in the top echelon of teams as far as the all-powerful broadcasters are concerned.

Nkwe will be more involved in domestic affairs, in the grassroots that are so desperately in need of revitalisation. He will be a different sort of director of cricket, but is certainly eminently qualified and skilled to be in that job.

The more financial side of running South African cricket will be handled in the boardroom, where there is now also ample ability.

In so many ways, this is a new era for South African cricket. Out of the horrors and scorched earth tactics of the last few years, have come new shoots of green and gold hope.

The last time there was a press conference at CSA’s Melrose Estate offices (which also started dead on time), it was to announce their partnership with Roc Nation that will bring a new emphasis on fans and their in-stadium experience, as well as the digital world that is now so important. This is also vital in this new age.

The Proteas are obviously CSA’s showpiece product and how they perform will be used to measure the efficiency of the organisation.

Even with a new leadership dynamic in place, head coach Mark Boucher now reporting to Nkwe, the initial signs are positive. There have even been reports of a new, more cordial relationship between the team and the CSA Board.

For the players to successfully ply their trade against the best in the world, they need stability and assurance. There needs to be clarity and communication between them and their management and their administrators.

Boucher is famous for being a straight-talker and anyone who has spoken to Nkwe will know that he is a great communicator.

It is heartening to hear that even the Board are no longer playing Broken Telephone or speaking with forked tongues.

Bulls supporters can treat themselves to a top-class rugby match for just R25 on Saturday as ticket prices for their crunch game against Ulster at Loftus Versfeld have been slashed.

The move follows a disappointing response last weekend to government’s relaxing of the Covid regulations to allow sports stadiums to have spectators up to 50% of capacity.

The biggest attendance in the four United Rugby Championship matches played in South Africa last weekend came at Kings Park in Durban when a crowd of 5120 braved a torrential downpour and a frustrating loss for the Sharks team against Edinburgh. But that was still less than 10% of capacity.

Cape Town Stadium (capacity 55 000) had a crowd of 3544 for the Stormers’ nailbiting win over Ulster, about 3000 people attended the Bulls’ previous game at Loftus Versfeld (capacity 50 000) and Ellis Park (capacity 62 000) had a paltry crowd of 2500 for the Lions’ impressive win over the Ospreys, but it was a Friday night, 7pm kickoff in Doornfontein, which is always a hard sell.

A variety of reasons have been put forward for the poor attendances, including a lack of sufficient time for both the unions and the fans to change their plans in response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement.

Ticket prices have also been suggested as a deterrent in these tough economic times. Cape Town Stadium tickets ranged in price from R80 to R200 per person, Kings Park was R50 to R160 and Ellis Park was R40 to R180.

Tickets for the match between the Bulls and the Dragons were at an average of R100, so prices have been slashed by a whopping 75%. And it has proven to be a success with CEO Edgar Rathbone revealing they had sold 3000 tickets on Tuesday morning alone.

The fact that the stadiums can now also sell alcohol to spectators could be a telling factor as well to getting the crowds back to rugby.

Anecdotally, other reasons that have been put forward for not attending include the requirement that all spectators be vaccinated or produce a negative Covid test that is less than 72 hours old; the hassle of getting to some of the stadiums making it much easier to just watch on TV; and security concerns.

There has been no word yet on whether the Sharks, Lions and Stormers will follow the Bulls’ lead in cutting the price of tickets. Their websites still reflected the same prices as for last weekend on Tuesday afternoon.

But rugby administrators should be able to tell from the size of the crowd at Loftus Versfeld at 2pm on Saturday whether ticket prices really do make a difference to attendance.

The Proteas have been the butt of so much criticism in recent years that it almost feels like they are now not getting enough credit for their sterling exploits over the last nine months.

Their latest achievement may have just been a 1-1 stalemate against New Zealand, a team that has never won a series against South Africa, but, as ever, context is important.

Their 198-run win this week in Christchurch was the most dramatic of comebacks considering how heavily they were hammered in the first Test. That was a largely indefensible performance, except for the fact that the team had to travel to the anus-end of the earth, spend 10 days confined to their rooms in quarantine and then come out and take on the reigning world Test champions while their bodies were still trying to deal with jetlag.

The current Proteas are far from a star-studded outfit. Only Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj would probably be in contention for a World XI. But beating both India and New Zealand, the two sides that contested the World Test Championship final, in back-to-back series shows that there must be a pretty solid team culture being built in their changeroom.

Of course there are those who would like to see the efforts of the last nine months all go to waste by firing the current coach. If Mark Boucher leaves the Proteas family, there can be little doubt it will have a negative effect on performance. But Cricket South Africa has a history of believing the results of their showpiece product don’t matter.

Apart from the remarkable resilience, determination and composure shown by the Proteas, it is always most pleasing when so many crucial contributions come from players who are still relatively new to Test cricket.

Batting does not come much harder than on the opening morning of a Test at the Hagley Oval, but Sarel Erwee knuckled down with Dean Elgar and backed up his captain’s incredibly brave decision to bat first after winning the toss. A statement of intent and sheer bloodymindedness if ever there was one.

Batting through to lunch unscathed was a superb effort and Erwee then announced himself on the Test stage by going on to a highly-skilled century, one that has literally taken years of hard toil.

There were similarities in the second innings when Kyle Verreynne and Wiaan Mulder crucially survived the first hour of the fourth day under big pressure. If wickets had come during that period, South Africa would probably have been bowled out with a lead of less than 300 and the Black Caps would have really fancied themselves to get that.

It was also a very brave decision for the Proteas to include Maharaj in the starting XI on a ground where spinners have seldom been in the game. But a major factor in South Africa’s victory was the fact that they read the conditions in Christchurch much better than the home side did.

Maharaj’s first contribution came in the Proteas first innings when he shared a crucial ninth-wicket partnership of 62 with Marco Jansen. Again, in the second innings, South Africa’s bowlers were in fine form with the bat with Rabada’s sensational 47 off 34 balls not only providing vital quick runs but much inspiration.

Maharaj was a key figure with the ball in the second innings, and while Rabada and Jansen were also in the wickets, Lutho Sipamla made his mark in the game with a tight spell that kept the batsmen in check and ultimately resulted in the major wicket of Devon Conway, trapped lbw for 92 when the bowler fired in an impressive yorker.

Even Mulder fulfilled his role with some useful medium-paced seam bowling.

In fourth place now in the World Test Championship, and with two Tests against Bangladesh coming up in South Africa, we look forward to this Proteas squad, including management, being kept intact so they can continue to make waves in international cricket.

The 15^th instalment of the Indian Premier League will be Rassie van der Dussen’s first as the Proteas batsman has been signed up by the Rajasthan Royals, the team who won the first edition of the T20 tournament and have been the side the 33-year-old has supported since then.

Apart from the R2 million payday, Van der Dussen is delighted to now be able to mix it on the global stage with his international batting peers, having proven his worth with an average of 38 and a strike-rate of 130 in his 31 T20 innings for South Africa.

Rajasthan Royals, who beat the Chennai Super Kings by three wickets in the first IPL final in 2008, have the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer on their roster.

Van der Dussen had just made his first-class debut for Northerns as an opening batsman when the first IPL was played. Just as that tournament has grown and evolved, so too has Van der Dussen’s game, such that he is now one of the most successful middle-order batsmen in the world of white-ball cricket.

“It feels pretty good to now be part of the IPL, but it’s been a long road to get there,” Van der Dussen said on Monday. “It’s good to be acknowledged and it’s another opportunity to do what I do.

“I’ve always been a Rajasthan Royals fan since the early days, with Graeme Smith playing there. So I’m happy and honoured to be playing for a prestigious franchise like that.

“It’s an exciting prospect to be playing with several world-class players,” Van der Dussen said.

The Central Gauteng Lions star, egged on by the need to be adaptable in different situations batsmen face in the middle-order, feels he has the skills to do well in the IPL.

“My move from being an opener into the middle-order meant I had to adjust my game. I feel I have all the bases covered, I’ve shown I can adapt well in challenging conditions.

“I feel I’ve got the skills to adapt to all situations. I can hit sixes in South Africa where the ball comes on nicely; India is more challenging with spin, and it’s more about working the ball around and picking up the ones.

“But that’s what we’ve done lately with the Proteas. And I’ve managed to perform well in Paarl, where conditions are as similar to India as you’ll find anywhere outside of the subcontinent.

“I’ve shown I have the skills to adapt and execute in those conditions,” Van der Dussen said.

Van der Dussen averages 80 in T20s in Paarl, having scored 240 runs in five innings, with two not outs.