Ken Borland

Travel from South Africa may be blacklisted now by many Western nations due to the discovery of a new Covid variant, but the Netherlands cricket team made it clear on Saturday that their decision to postpone their series against the Proteas had nothing to do with safety concerns but was all about the uncertainty created by the travel bans that have been instituted.

Cricket South Africa and the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond released a statement on Saturday afternoon saying they had agreed to ‘defer’ the remainder of the ODI series. That means the matches at Centurion on Sunday and the Wanderers on Wednesday will no longer take place. The first ODI at SuperSport Park was washed out two overs into the Netherlands’ pursuit of the Proteas’ target of 278.

“We have been taken care of by Cricket South Africa in a magnificent way, they have done everything to make us feel safe,” Netherlands manager Steven van Dijk told The Citizen on Saturday.

“So it’s not that we feel unsafe at all, the bubble has been executed perfectly. The only insecurity we have felt is not being able to fly home.

“So we have not been able to end the series because there is so much uncertainty. Some guys need to fly to New Zealand, others to England, which is a problem, the Netherlands too, people had to sit for hours at the airport.

“The players are getting phone calls from home, worried messages, some of them have young kids at home or pregnant partners. So we are looking at all the options for flights – two people getting tickets here, another three there,” Van Dijk said.

Worries about how welcome the players will be upon their return to Europe are also weighing on the minds of the squad. Van Dijk said there was also no clarity over what will await the team on the other end of their flight.

“The conditions of entry change by the hour. The people on Friday’s flight to Schiphol had to wait seven hours to be tested and if they were negative they were allowed to leave the airport and go home for a 10-day quarantine.

“If they were positive then they had to quarantine in a hotel. Of the 600 people on that plane, 61 tested positive. But at the moment we are all just guessing what will happen when we land.

“We were booked to fly on December 2 but we are not sure if we can leave earlier. That’s probably the worst-case scenario and the guys who urgently need to get home, like those with pregnant partners, we are trying to get home sooner,” Van Dijk said.

Last summer it was England and Australia controversially pulling out of tours to South Africa due to their Covid fears and now the current international season could be ripped apart as well as the Netherlands tour and the vital Indian visit are hanging in the balance following reports that local scientists had detected a new variant of the virus in Gauteng and neighbouring countries.

The UK government started the panic when they put South Africa on the travel red list overnight, with the European Union expected to follow suit soon. This is despite scientists assuring that the new variant almost certainly does not come from South Africa, they have just been the first to identify it.

More than half-a-dozen of the Netherlands players are based in the UK, meaning they will have problems returning home after their three-match ODI series against the Proteas ends on Wednesday.

CSA issued a statement on Friday afternoon, while the Netherlands innings in the first ODI had been interrupted by rain at Centurion, saying it was highly unlikely that the tourists will be able to leave before the end of the weekend.

Given that they would have to quarantine for 10 days in a hotel if they do not return home as soon as possible, it is understandable that the Dutch team wanted to head off on Friday. But they will now probably only be able to leave on December 2, due to the lack of flights available in the hysteria. It is believed their federation is willing to cover the costs of quarantine.

That means the third ODI, scheduled for December 1, could still go ahead and the series can be completed, unless some other flight option is discovered by the KNCB.

While CSA and the Proteas will be disappointed to not complete the series, they – and especially their meagre coffers – would be devastated if the India tour set to start on December 17 does not go ahead.

India are set to fly to South Africa on December 8, but reports from India suggest the BCCI is waiting for their government to make a decision regarding travel to South Africa.

India A are currently in Bloemfontein playing the first of a three-match series of four-day games and CSA sources have told Saturday Citizen they have expressed no concern about staying in the country.

At the Joburg Open golf tournament at Randpark, co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour (formerly known as the European Tour), thunderstorms caused delays on Friday, but 20 European-based golfers, out of the field of 156, withdrew before the second round began, trying to scramble their way home before the travel deadline.

Dwaine Pretorius has announced himself as a new death-bowling star for the Proteas and he knows that his role will once again be vital against Bangladesh in their crucial T20 World Cup match in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

In a low-scoring tournament, a huge premium is being placed on the last few overs when teams go for broke and the size of the boost they give themselves is often the difference between winning and losing.

So far in the three matches South Africa have played, Pretorius has taken six wickets for 60 runs in 8.4 overs, the majority of those bowled at the death. The all-rounder has executed a clever plan of bowling full and wide of off-stump to great effect.

“So far in this competition it looks like teams are taking care in the powerplay because if you lose two wickets up front you’re in trouble,” Pretorius said on Monday.

“I think Bangladesh will also try to take it deep like Sri Lanka did and then have a go at the death. It’s up to us to upset that and ensure it doesn’t go according to plan for them.

“There are dangers at the death in being too predictable, so I try and vary my pace and length, although the line stays the same. It’s not an ego-battle at the death, you just want to be as effective as possible.

“I want to bowl to a batsman’s Plan B or C rather than their Plan A. It doesn’t look too fancy but I’m happy to do the ugly job and I’ve worked on a lot of different variations of slower balls,” Pretorius said.

The 32-year-old said the great fighting spirit the Proteas have shown thus far is down to their becoming like a family, and they have promised to keep fighting to the end.

“It’s actually astonished me how this team has stuck together no matter what controversies at CSA or wherever. We are really forming a family, and that’s one of the positives of Covid bubbles – you are forced to spend a lot of time together.

“We will not stop fighting until the last ball and you have seen that in our three games so far. It’s a promise we make to each other every day. There’s an awesome spirit in the camp and a win like the one over Sri Lanka just does even more for that.

“But we are keeping our heads down, we understand that there are two very important games left. We must win tomorrow or the England game won’t matter.

“It’s knockout cricket now and you can see the intensity is there in the squad. We will leave everything on the field against Bangladesh, play at the highest intensity,” Pretorius promised.

Jake White described his team’s 29-19 victory over the Cardiff Blues in their United Rugby Championship match at the Arms Park on Saturday night as being a huge result for not just the Bulls but for the whole of South African rugby as well as for the credibility of the new competition.

The Bulls result, achieved via a superb second-half comeback that saw them overturn a 3-16 deficit, completed a highly encouraging weekend for the previously beleaguered South African franchises.

It was the Sharks who set the ball rolling with a brilliant second-half comeback of their own against the Ospreys on Friday night, winning 27-13 after they were level 6-6 at the break. And then earlier on Saturday the Lions went down 13-9 to the Glasgow Warriors, who were awarded a try that never should have stood, while the Stormers fought back from 14-0 down after just six minutes to draw 20-20 with Edinburgh.

“It’s massive for us, for South African rugby, for everyone, it brings credibility to the competition,” White said. “We read in the media that viewership is through the roof and we certainly don’t want to lose and lose.

“It was a fantastic game for us, a great comeback after being 13-0 down and losing Johan Goosen to a knee injury. We were so resilient and I’m sure the URC are incredibly happy too because it shows there is healthy competition.

“We’re going to get massive confidence from this result and also from the way we played. I was really happy with the way we changed our attack, using forwards and backs, and we played with a lot of width at times too,” White said.

The Bulls were poor in the first half, unable to keep the ball for more than a couple of phases at a time, and this was largely due to another inept showing at the breakdowns by them.

But this all changed in the second half as they came out with some much-needed fire in the belly, started dominating the gain-line, hanging on to the ball for longer and this led to the pressure – and the wrath of the referee – shifting on to Cardiff at the breakdowns.

Veteran hooker Bismarck du Plessis was prominent in a tough first half for the Bulls, and he set the ball rolling early in the second half with a big carry, winning a penalty for the Bulls. Eighthman Elrigh Louw just tapped and went and was straight over for the try with no problem.

This certainly lifted the Bulls and a fantastic break by replacement flank Arno Botha followed, Marcell Coetzee, who really came to the fore in the second half, then carrying strongly to earn a penalty. This was slotted by Chris Smith, who replaced Goosen at flyhalf with enormous aplomb.

Suddenly the Bulls were just three points behind and then wing Madosh Tambwe scored a tremendous try on the hour mark. Good defensive pressure by centre Harold Vorster led to a poor pass by Cardiff, Tambwe was quickly up to kick the ball through and then showed searing pace to get there first, and then great control to gather the bouncing ball and score.

This gave the Bulls the lead for the first time and the excellent boot of Smith, who succeeded with all seven of his kicks at goal, ensured this advantage was never surrendered.

Scorers

Cardiff Blues: Try – Matthew Screech. Conversion – Rhys Priestland. Penalties – Priestland (4).

Bulls: Tries – Elrigh Louw, Madosh Tambwe. Conversions – Chris Smith (2). Penalties – Smith (5).