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Ken Borland



IPL adds to global pandemic for SA scheduling woes 0

Posted on August 03, 2020 by Ken

As if the global Covid-19 pandemic has not disrupted the international cricket calendar enough, the Indian Premier League has now moved to September, which Cricket South Africa Director of Cricket Graeme Smith said has put paid to any hopes of the Proteas being in action before November.

South Africa were scheduled to play series against the West Indies and Sri Lanka before summer, but Smith admitted at the weekend that those commitments were now on the back burner. The IPL, meanwhile, has taken advantage of the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia being postponed until next year, and will be held in the UAE, starting on September 19.

South Africans scheduled to play in the IPL include Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis and Lungi Ngidi for Chennai Super Kings, AB de Villiers, Chris Morris and Dale Steyn are in the Bangalore Royal Challengers squad, while Kagiso Rabada is contracted by the Delhi Capitals and Quinton de Kock is on the Mumbai Indians roster.

“The West Indies tour has been postponed indefinitely because now we’re struggling with the IPL – it looks like our players will be needed there at the beginning of September. We also don’t know when the Sri Lanka tour will be able to take place and in terms of the national women’s team, we are working on getting government permission for their tour to England next month.

“Hopefully November is going to be a very busy time for the national team, hopefully we can cram in all the tours we’ve missed out on, if all goes well and we get things up and running by then,” Smith said.

Faced by a barrage of criticism from certain sectors of the Black Lives Matter movement, Smith said he accepted the position of director of cricket in December in order to restore the reputation of the Proteas, who he previously led to the number one ranking in all formats. The 39-year-old reaffirmed his commitment to seeing that through.

“I was sad to see South African cricket fall from its perch, that’s why I got involved. Back in December it was absolute chaos in South African cricket, there was zero trust between anyone. I wanted to be part of the solution and now that it’s feeling chaotic again, you keep revisiting that. The narrative that a clique has taken over is really unfair and I did not appoint myself.

“I went through a rigorous interview process, led by mainly Black African people, and then I made a number of appointments in December – Volvo Masubelele as manager, Justin Ontong, Charl Langeveldt, Mark Boucher, Enoch Nkwe and the medical staff. The appointment of Paul Harris as a consultant was made around Keshav Maharaj’s request and Jacques Kallis was an interim consultant, he has not been on CSA’’s payroll for many months. But we would be stupid not to involve one of the most successful batsmen in the world,” Smith said.

Smith said he was not invited to the inaugural Social Justice and Nation-Building meeting that arose from the BLM movement, but he hoped to be involved going forward. He said it was crucial to co-operate with Black players in order to ensure they could be comfortable in the Proteas environment.

“We want to create a better environment going forward, we’ve got to create a culture in which everyone feels safe to talk. I was most surprised that the players did not feel they had a voice in the past. Hopefully CSA will involve us in the Social Justice project now after the Board asked us not to be part of the first one. We should all want to be part of the solution. “I was very taken aback by the Makhaya Ntini stuff. I never thought of him as being the silent type when I first came into the Proteas team, he was one of the senior players, and he gave me a different explanation for running to the ground and not coming on the bus. But as the only Black African it must have been tough for him and it’s important that nobody else feels that way,” Smith said.

Patient GolfRSA extend an olive branch; golf reopens 0

Posted on June 15, 2020 by Ken

GolfRSA chief executive Grant Hepburn on Friday extended an olive branch to all those in the golf industry who have been without work and frustrated golfers unable to play, saying the organisation’s patient approach to government had paid off as clubs and courses can now open for both amateurs and professionals.

The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture announced on Friday that any member of a federation, agency, club or body may begin playing golf again from Saturday, subject to certain regulations. Clubs need to complete the Confirmation of Compliance Document and submit it to GolfRSA before they can open their facilities.

“These have been incredibly difficult times with the stress of Lockdown and the number of jobs lost, and we have been aware of the frayed tempers and frustrations. We have been in the same boat with friends and colleagues losing work. But we just had to be patient, we knew government were listening to us and they had given us assurances. But it’s been a very complex time and a massive challenge for golf bodies.

“But we believed in the process we were following with the Department, they were always extremely positive and the whole way through they engaged with us in the right way. We wanted to do the right thing and we needed to wait for the new directives. The most important priority is to save lives and mitigate the risk, and the time it has taken us has allowed us to prepare and put things in place at the clubs,” Hepburn said on Friday.

The CEO warned however that golfers could not just rush out on Saturday and expect everything to be back to normal; the golf industry, which contributes R48 billion to the South African economy, would take time to become a well-oiled machine again.

“The job is not yet done, this is not about celebrating. It’s a step in the right direction but there are still many people involved in golf who still can’t put food on their table. So I hope people continue to support clubs and I know our golfers and clubs will be responsible when it comes to the scanning and the monitoring process. Through the HealthDocs app we’ve bought for all clubs, information can be sent back to government at the push of a button.

“We need to control the numbers of golfers and the times they arrive and leave, but it’s time to get busy now with saving golf clubs through the safe return of golfers, which will generate the income for them to survive and save thousands of jobs, especially of those in the vulnerable sector, which makes up 85% of the industry. We know our clubs can comply and sport can help government because exercise is good at reducing comorbidities,” Hepburn said.

Sharks pay the price for turnovers 0

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Ken

The Cell C Sharks paid the price for a steady stream of turnovers at the ruck and poor goalkicking as they went down 10-17 to the Vodacom Bulls in their SuperRugby match at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday.

The Bulls were strong favourites against a Sharks team in turmoil and coming off two successive losses, but the home side pushed them all the way with a gutsy effort, but one which lacked the skill and polish needed to beat a well-drilled visiting team.

The prime reason for the Sharks’ defeat was their failure to look after the ball at the rucks, with the Bulls winning 13 turnovers, successfully preventing the home side from getting any attacking momentum.

The Bulls dominated territory from the start, looking the more likely team to score first as they took the ball through a number of phases inside the Sharks’ 22, but the brilliant defence of the Sharks denied them and showed that there is obviously no lack of effort on their part, despite their losing run.

The inconsistent boot of flyhalf Fred Zeilinga provided the first points of the match in the 17th minute, as he kicked a penalty, flank Deon Stegmann’s fractionally early tackle on the flyhalf after scrumhalf Cobus Reinach burst through a gap and offloaded to him having been spotted due to the intervention of the TMO, Marius Jonker.

Zeilinga missed a second shot at goal for the Sharks in the 25th minute before Handre Pollard, making his first appearance for the Bulls this month, levelled the scores with a 30th-minute penalty after another returning Springbok, Jannie du Plessis, had been penalised for illegal binding, a regular problem for the tighthead prop.

The Bulls looked on the verge of taking total control when they scored four minutes before halftime through wing Francois Hougaard.

Scrumhalf Rudi Paige, who is becoming a real general for the Bulls with the way he controls the game with excellent decision-making and efficient service, combined with Hougaard down the right wing, destroying the Sharks’ defence with a brilliant interchange of passes.

The Bulls led 8-3 at the break as Pollard’s conversion came off the post, but the Sharks grabbed the lead just two minutes into the second half with a fine try of their own.

Reinach is a different sort of scrumhalf to Paige, being a model of attacking opportunism, and it was his break that was rounded off in clinical fashion as replacement prop Lourens Adriaanse supported well and hard-working flank Marcell Coetzee stormed over for the try.

Zeilinga converted to give the Sharks a 10-8 lead, but that only lasted three minutes as a Pollard penalty put the home side 10-11 behind.

Both flyhalves then deposited penalties wide of the mark, but Pollard stretched the lead to 14-11 in the 67th-minute as the Bulls were once again able to get more numbers to the breakdown and Coetzee was beaten by the ruck as he tried to steal the ball.

Pollard finally burst the determined Sharks’ balloon with a 73rd-minute penalty, once again stemming from a ruck and an isolated player holding on to the ball.

The Sharks were pressing hard inside the Bulls’ 22 in the closing minutes in search of the equalising try, but the ball was once again turned over and the Bulls cleared the danger.

The victory leaves the Bulls at the top of the South African Conference and second on the overall log, and the simple effectiveness of their game plan, when executed with the passion and accuracy they showed against the Sharks, is marking them out as the favourites, along with the Stormers, to make the playoffs.

Scorers:

Sharks – Try: Marcell Coetzee. Conversion: Fred Zeilinga. Penalty: Zeilinga.

Bulls – Try: Francois Hougaard. Penalties: Handre Pollard (4).

http://citizen.co.za/365504/sharks-pay-the-price-for-turnovers/

White armbands as EP Kings not paid again 0

Posted on October 08, 2015 by Ken

 

The Eastern Province Kings team played with white armbands in their Currie Cup match against the Blue Bulls in Pretoria over the weekend to support their fellow players and the coaching staff who have not been paid for a month, captain Tim Whitehead revealed after the match.

“We were wearing white armbands because only the 22 who played in this game have been paid and we wanted show our support for the coaching staff and the non-playing members of the squad who haven’t been paid for over a month,” Whitehead announced, unprompted, at the post-match press conference.

The Kings produced a superb first half before ultimately being beaten 48-27 by the Bulls.

The Kings team began the Currie Cup campaign having not been paid for months and went on a mini-strike in August as they had still not received their due money. The crisis continued in September but less than a week ago, the Aveng group were announced as new sponsors of the Kings.

But it is more than two months since EP Rugby president Cheeky Watson announced that the signing of “possibly the biggest sponsorship partnership for any franchise this country has ever seen” was “imminent”.

 

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    Galatians 5:25 – “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep walking in step with the Spirit.”

    There is only one Christ and all things that are preached in his name must conform to his character. We can only know Christ’s character through an intimate and personal relationship with him.

    How would Christ respond in situations in which you find yourself? Would he be underhanded? Would he be unforgiving and cause broken relationships?

    “The value of your faith and the depth of your spiritual experience can only be measured by their practical application in your daily life. You can spend hours at mass crusades; have the ability to pray in public; quote endlessly from the Word; but if you have not had a personal encounter with the living Christ your outward acts count for nothing.” – Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm

     

     



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