Ken Borland

While there would have been some joyous relief for the South African team not to have to play powerhouses Netherlands or India, their FIH Hockey Pro League match against France in Potchefstroom on Tuesday night still ended in defeat as they went down 4-1.

While France are ranked just two places above South Africa in 12^th on the world rankings, they are arguably the most improved side in the game in recent years. So the good news for the embattled South Africans is that they matched France in the middle of the field, but it was in the circles where the European side were just way more clinical.

France went 2-0 up in the first 10 minutes through two deflection goals, but South Africa had also looked threatening, no more so when Bili Ntuli’s reverse-sticks shot came off the post after Bradley Sherwood, who was an encouraging addition to the side, robbed a defender of possession.

The hosts then held France scoreless in the second quarter and were creating enough opportunities for them to feel they could yet njotch their first Pro League win.

But France were just too clinical in the second half, making full use of the opportunities they had. In the 41^st minute, they pounced on one loose pass by South Africa, racing down the right of the field before crossing to the middle, where Gaspard Baumgartner finished the move for his second goal.

France went 4-0 up in the 54^th minute through similar ruthlessness on the counter-attack. A quick overhead from a free hit found an attacker on the edge of the circle, he put in the cross, which was missed by an SA defender, allowing Timothee Clement to score.

It was also a feature of the match that France’s defence remained impressively composed and solid, while South Africa’s tended to make costly basic mistakes every now and then.

South Africa did, however, get on the scoreboard with three minutes remaining when the Cassiem brothers, Mustapha and Dayaan, combined superbly for Dayaan to put the chance away. He had hit the crossbar just a minute earlier when Mustapha had also been the provider.

Temba Bavuma is the new captain of the Highveld Lions and the Proteas batsman warned that the franchise is dead-set on returning to their previous status as one of the powerhouses of domestic cricket.

The 28-year-old Bavuma is back at the Lions after just one season away with the Cape Cobras and, linking up with new coach Enoch Nkwe, is the sort of inspirational, high-profile figure who can drive a renaissance in Central Gauteng cricket.

“Enoch’s expectation is excellence and we will do everything in our might to fulfil that. But the players have their own expectations and we want to get back to the levels expected of us, get back to the top. We need to put up a performance and fight for the brand of cricket we want to play. We’re coming!” Bavuma said when he was unveiled as the new skipper at the Wanderers on Wednesday night.

Rassie van der Dussen, the leading run-scorer across all formats last season, has been named as the official vice-captain and Bavuma’s Proteas commitments means that he will have a vital leadership role to play as well.

Bavuma said that his return to the Lions was primarily motivated by personal reasons – his fiancée lives in Johannesburg – but it is clear that even though he left to play at his birthplace, his heart remained with his old team-mates.

“I really missed being part of this team and it was quite painful to watch their performances from the side. As captain, I won’t be doing anything different, I’m there to serve the team and inspire the players to perform their best. I know all the guys, we have a good relationship. But I’m not one to speak a lot, my focus is on just going out and doing what we have to do.

“It’s a massive honour and privilege to be given the responsibility of captain. I played under Alviro Petersen and Stephen Cook and I learnt a great deal from them and will try to live up to their legacy. I will have a strong hand in the culture of the team, how we go about achieving excellence starts there, and we have to do that on a daily basis,” Bavuma said.

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-kzn/20180622/282226601449013

It can only be a vote of confidence when one of South Africa’s financial powerhouses agrees to become your national team sponsor – across all three formats – particularly when they parted ways with you just six years previously because of misgovernance and the way they were treated, so Cricket South Africa had reason to celebrate this week and reflect on how far they have come in terms of corporate governance.

It’s the first time one sponsor has been found for all three teams, the Test, ODI and T20 outfits, and the four-year deal will allow just one name on all the replica shirts CSA sells. The fact that it is no longer an alcoholic brand on the shirt also allows huge numbers of people to now buy them whereas in the past their religious beliefs precluded them from wearing that logo, so there will be a sizeable financial benefit there as well.

It’s some much-needed good news for the Proteas in what has been a tough year for them. CSA chief executive Haroon Lorgat optimistically said at the sponsorship announcement that he believes the slide down the international rankings is only temporary.

“These have been tough times but I’m sure the team will provide the desired returns for Standard Bank. I believe they are still a world-class team despite the poor recent results. I think it’s just a blip for a team that is still in transition.

“We believe the system will still provide great players, especially after the three reviews we are currently running – into the domestic structure, a relaunched T20 league and the national team set-up, especially why the Proteas keep falling short at the final hurdle in major global tournaments,” Lorgat said.

Transformation is still a major issue for CSA – some of my sources tell me that the reason for the sudden postponement of the initial Standard Bank announcement was that the sponsor wanted a transformation clause inserted into the contract, others have denied this – and the dissatisfaction of sports minister Fikile Mbalula, however obxnoxious he is being, is a threat to their future plans.

There is a meeting on Saturday between CSA and Mbalula, and this is going to be a crucial sit-down to see if they can iron out the differences that were exposed by the minister’s shock announcement on April 25 that he was implementing punitive measures against the union.

“The unparalelled support that we enjoy – as Temba Bavuma approached his debut Test century at Newlands there were 10 million TV viewers for the first time – shows that we can be very proud of our transformation initiatives that are bearing fruit. We know the minister of sport is not satisfied with certain areas, but we will engage him. We strongly believe that transformation has to happen from the bottom up and we firmly believe that we need it for strategic reasons.

“It’s fair to say that we were caught by surprise by what the minister had to say, but we will meet this Saturday and I’m confident we will come to an understanding. Transformation is about more than targets, it covers our entire business. We are clear that it must be from the bottom up, but we need resources and support from government, in particular the departments of sport and recreation and basic education. It will be the only way to sustain our business into the future, never mind our moral obligations,” Lorgat said.

Apart from the poor corporate governance of the previous CSA administration, Standard Bank were also chased away in 2010 by the frustrating fashion in which they were treated by certain CSA staff, who did not seem to care that these were the people investing in their sport and paying a large proportion of their salaries at the end of the day. Fortunately that culture is long gone at CSA.

From the media’s perspective, we had some rip-roaring times with Standard Bank and it is with delight that we welcome them back into the pressboxes around the country.