Ken Borland

Herschelle Gibbs was South Africa’s leading run-scorer as they dominated the group stages of the 1999 World Cup, only to fall agonizingly short in their notorious tied semi-final against Australia, but he believes all-rounders were the key to their success in England that year and that is an area that has the potential to be a problem for the Proteas as the tournament returns there next year.

South Africa had Lance Klusener, named the player of the tournament, backed by Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock, in 1999 and the current Proteas obviously don’t have all-rounders of that proven quality and experience at the moment.

“In 1999 we had three all-rounders and that led us to probably our best chance of winning the World Cup. A strong one-day team always has good all-rounders, but I think at the moment, all-rounders are our biggest headache. The depth is not quite there; we have Chris Morris in and out the side and Andile Phehlukwayo and Wiaan Mulder blow a bit hot and cold for me.

“So that’s going to be a big question mark for the selectors. Conditions in England could suit a guy like Vernon Philander perfectly. He can bat, but there are question marks over how effective he is in limited-overs cricket. Otherwise the bowlers are pretty sorted and it’s nice to see Dale Steyn firing again, bowling in the late 140s and looking great,” Gibbs told Saturday Citizen at the Sanlam Cancer Challenge, where he was playing golf as one of the celebrity delegates.

Like politicians trying to impress the voters, those players who are not assured of their places in the World Cup squad will be mounting one last desperate push to impress the selectors in the next couple of months. Gibbs believes there are still enough matches before the World Cup to sort out any deficiencies in the team.

“There are enough ODIs before the World Cup and there’s still a chance for some new faces. We’re probably also still lacking a bit in specialist batting depth. Dean Elgar was given a chance, but the selectors have probably decided that he’s not a one-day player. So there’s more pressure on Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock, especially with AB de Villiers having retired, and Quinny is going to have to bear the brunt of the run-scoring I think.

“Our variety in the attack is also a bit short – Ngidi, Steyn, Rabada and Phehlukwayo are all right-armers, and then there’s Tabraiz Shamsi or Imran Tahir and JP Duminy to bowl a bit. So we might lack a bit of variety, but we might get away with it if the overhead conditions help us. But the all-rounders and the top-order are the two main question marks for me,” Gibbs said.

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All roads will lead to Pretoria for the country’s leading schoolboy cricketers over the September 21-24 long weekend with the launch of the North-South T20 Competition organised by the Waterkloof, Menlopark and Centurion high schools.

Sixteen of South Africa’s top school cricket teams have been invited – the three hosts and Nelspruit High School, four Cape schools, four from the northern regions and four from the coastal areas. They have been divided into four groups, comprising one team from each of the categories, with the top two in each pool going into the quarterfinals and semi-finals on Sunday, September 23, followed by the finals on the Monday, 24^th.

The grand final will be played at Tuks Cricket Oval and the schools will be competing for prizemoney of R100 000, R50 000 going to the winners, R25 000 to the other finalist, R15 000 for third place and R10 000 for the winners of the Plate competition, which has been included to ensure teams play cricket right through to the Monday.

Waterkloof are in Group A and will be joined by Bishops from Cape Town, Bloemfontein powerhouses Grey College and KwaZulu-Natal’s Westville High. Group B features Nelspruit, Paarl Gim, Rustenburg and Glenwood; Centurion host Group C with SACS, Potch Volkskool and Northwood taking them on, while Group D will be contested by hosts Menlopark and visitors Wynberg BHS, NoordKaap and St Andrew’s all the way from Grahamstown.

Leading umpire Johan Cloete is one of the founders of the tournament and is serving as the inaugural chairman.

“We want to have national status in the near future, we want to make it the most successful schools competition. The teams, with more than 200 boys participating, will all be based at Camp Discovery, where there are fields to practise and they can interact afterwards, while PitchVision will live-stream two games a day. The fact we have AB de Villiers as the ambassador for the tournament speaks volumes for how far we want to go.

“For the duration of the tournament, sponsors WeBuyCars.co.za are offering discounts of between two to eight thousand rand for all parents, players, organisers or coaches, while we have also had great support from the Atterbury Trust, WAD Holdings, Glenfair Boulevard, Puma and IXU,” Cloete said.

Sharks assistant coach Ryan Strudwick thinks there may have been some underestimation of the Pumas by some of the inexperienced members of their squad, leading to their chastening 33-24 defeat in Nelspruit in their Currie Cup opener last weekend.

“We spoke all week about them taking it to us physically, but I don’t think the guys expected it to be that hard. They underestimated the Pumas, there were eight guys in our side who were new to Currie Cup rugby, and I think they were shellshocked to some extent.

“Nelspruit is not an easy place to go and the intensity of a match situation is a lot different to whatever you’ve had in the warm-ups,” Strudwick said.

The former Sharks, Harlequins and London Irish lock said the major problem area for the Sharks was the set-pieces, while the biggest plus was the second-half comeback that saw the KwaZulu-Natalians close a 7-27 gap at the break to just nine points.

“It was a very disappointing start to the campaign, both in terms of the result and the way we played. They outmuscled us and we made way too many mistakes. But we won the second half so there are a lot of positives from that, that got the confidence up a bit. The defence let through three tries though and the lineouts and scrums were massive problem areas,” Strudwick admitted.

Flank Khaya Majola and wing S’Bura Sithole are both on the doubtful list with niggles for the Sharks’ match against the EP Kings in Durban on Saturday, with the team set to be announced on Thursday.

The shoulder and ankle injuries suffered by Lourens Adriaanse and Thomas du Toit respectively have seen the Sharks issue an SOS for Leopards prop John-Roy Jenkinson, a Glenwood High School product and 2011 Junior Springbok, to join them for the remainder of the Currie Cup campaign, while the loose trio could also be shuffled with Jean-Luc du Preez having a leg injury.

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Left-arm paceman Rowan Richards discovered the control he was missing in the second half of last season, leading to a strong showing in the Sunfoil Series which he now plans to take into the limited-overs arena for the Titans.

Richards was the leading wicket-taker for the Titans in four-day cricket with 36, but he only played half of the games in their triumphant Momentum One-Day Cup campaign, taking six wickets and conceding a shade over a run-a-ball. His one appearance in the RamSlam T20 was a disaster, conceding 55 runs in his four overs, against the Cape Cobras during the triple-header at the Wanderers that began the competition.

“At the beginning of the season, it was a struggle, but it clicked heading into the four-day games. It was just a matter of improving my action with Mandla Mashimbyi and Rob Walter [Titans coaches], to get more consistency and be able to control the swing. My goal for next season is to carry that through to the limited-overs formats,” Richards told The Citizen.

Four-day cricket certainly tests a person’s patience and range of skills and the 30-year-old showed that he is one of those bowlers who can plug away while nothing much is happening, but will suddenly get on to a streak and be unplayable.

“l enjoyed the four-day campaign. You get slow periods, it’s just dead, but you have to believe something is going to happen, even when you’re not getting wickets. If I get one, then I believe I can get three or four and that then gives you a sniff.

“Last season I was swinging the ball both ways and I was dangerous with both the new and old ball, getting a bit of reverse. Anyone can go up to a higher level, I just need to focus on my processes, build on what I do well and be consistent,” Richards said.

Those who witnessed his hat-trick on the final afternoon to beat the Warriors in Benoni or his five for 38 against the Knights in Bloemfontein will know that Richards is a left-armer the national selectors should certainly be keeping their eyes on.