Ken Borland

A physical, ball-carrying No.12 has almost been one of the consecrations at Loftus Versfeld through the years, but new Bulls coach Jake White looks set to deviate from that formula, which is why he released former captain and stalwart Burger Odendaal from his contract.

The 27-year-old Odendaal, who played 56 Super Rugby and 50 Currie Cup games for the franchise, has moved across the Jukskei River and will turn out for the Lions once rugby resumes in South Africa, hopefully within the next two months. It has left the Bulls with a very inexperienced midfield comprising Clinton Swart, Stedman Gans, Diego Appollis, Dawid Kellerman, Marnus Potgieter, Jay-Cee Nel and Wian van Niekerk, none of whom have any Super Rugby experience.

“The way the Bulls played in the past, there’s no question Burger was very important to the team as a captain and leader and added value as a player. But it was going to be very difficult to continue with him as a player if I could not guarantee him a starting spot and because of the new salary caps you can’t afford a high-earner like him if he’s not going to play.

“It’s like back in 2004 when I became Springbok coach and De Wet Barry and Marius Joubert were the centres, two great players and people. But in the 2007 World Cup my centres were Jean de Villiers, Francois Steyn and Jaque Fourie because I had evolved as a coach from using a player like De Wet into looking for something else. So when I looked at Burger I thought it would be like going back to De Wet Barry and we want to play differently.

“So telling him that up front meant he was able to go with the market value as captain, rather than staying and not playing and losing value, so he decided to go. Our CEO Edgar Rathbone was previously with the Lions and he helped broker the deal such that the player didn’t lose any money and has guaranteed playing time, so it’s a win/win for everybody,” White explained to selected Bulls media on Thursday.

While the Bulls’ midfield may be raw and young, there is plenty of experience elsewhere with the likes of Gio Aplon, Cornal Hendricks, Morne Steyn, Duane Vermeulen, Arno Botha, Juandre Kruger and Trevor Nyakane, and White says he is encouraging an avuncular approach in order to help a new-look squad gel together.

“We’re not like other teams which have the luxury of being settled and how quickly we can become a team is a big question. Duane Vermeulen, for example, does not know half the guys because they have never trained together. But there are things we can do to help that, which we are busy with, such as every week the players draw a name out of a hat and they have to have coffee with that guy and find out his story.

“Psychologist Henning Gericke has also been helping because we are probably the one team that needs cohesion. I heard there’s a possibility of us playing in two bubbles, the first six weeks with the four Super Rugby teams and then in the second round an eight-week Currie Cup like tournament with Griquas, the Pumas, Free State Cheetahs and Southern Kings. I’m sure in 14 weeks we can get them tight-knit and we just want to make sure we get into the finals in December,” White said.

Eastern Cape Cricket on Thursday called on Cricket South Africa (CSA) to do “something tangible to put an end to racism at all levels of the sport”, perhaps unaware that the national body had already released a statement the previous night placing on record all the initiatives they have already implemented to ensure transformation of the cricket system.

CSA also reaffirmed their support for the Black Lives Matter movement and said it welcomed both Lungi Ngidi’s initial statement in this regard and the letter of support made by 36 Black coaches and former players.

CSA said they have spent nearly R385 million on cricket transformation and development in the 2019/20 financial year alone and will continue to invest resources in those programs. They pointed out that 10 of the 12-person CSA Board, including president Chris Nenzani and vice-president Beresford Williams, are Black, six of them being Black African. CSA has 64 full-time employees, 52 of which are Black.

In terms of coaching, 92% of nationally accredited coaches in South Africa are Black and 67% of national umpires and match referees.

According to the CSA statement, they support 612 township-based cricket clubs, 1052 township primary school cricket clubs and 572 township high school cricket clubs. They added, however, that the facilities in these areas remain a huge area of concern for the organisation.

Meanwhile, Rassie van der Dussen showed why he is not just a superb batsman but also a top-class human being as he became the first White current Protea to publicly back the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I support BLM, I’m against all murders, physical, character and cultural murder. I support equal opportunities for all. Because I support BLM it does not mean that I support violence or Marxism, therefore I refuse to be labelled by people,” Van der Dussen said in a tweet.

“The Boards of Eastern Province Cricket and the Eastern Cape Cricket Warriors franchise call on Cricket South Africa to take to heart the racism issues raised by former national players and coaches – many of whom are from the Eastern Cape. It is not enough to merely condemn incidents of racism and to publicly support the Black Lives Matter movement. Something tangible must be done to put an end to racism at all levels of the sport – and particularly at professional level where the example needs to be set,” the Eastern Cape Cricket statement said.

Andrew Breetzke, the CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association, told Sport24 on Thursday that a re-evaluation of both their and CSA’s role in systemic racism needs to take place.

“SACA has life skills programmes that deal directly with diversity in teams and we need to revisit that. We have systems in place that have dealt with issues where players feel they have been unfairly treated in the past, and that still stands, but we need to look at them again. We are, and have always been, there to take up issues for players. In any given season, there are a number of issues that are raised. The system does work. 

“What has come to the fore in the last two weeks, though, is the unconscious biases that exist and that requires some work from everybody. We’re pleased that players are speaking up about things that have impacted their careers in the past. We have to welcome that. We have to have those discussions. That’s how we look at this and it’s incumbent on all stakeholders to look within,” Breetzke said.

A statement from the Proteas team regarding the Black Lives Matter movement was expected on Thursday but had still not been made at the time of going to press.

Cricket South Africa (CSA) released the schedule for the 2018/19 home international season on Monday and they have entrusted SuperSport Park in Centurion with trying to make a success of the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.

The Test match starting on December 26 is one of the marquee fixtures on the South African calendar but it has been played in front of dwindling crowds on the coast since 1966, when the Australians were put to the sword by Denis Lindsay at the Wanderers in a match that started on December 23 and had a rest day on Christmas Day.

“It’s a privilege to host the Boxing Day Test which is an important date on the cricket calendar and we are thankful to be selected because there are only so many matches and it’s all up to CSA. People go for marquee events these days and there is a lot of sport on offer, but a lot of people are off work at that time and there are a lot of people still in Gauteng, so hopefully we will still get the good support we generally get at SuperSport Park,” Titans CEO Jacques Faul told The Citizen on Monday.

“I think it’s not been as successful as CSA had hoped hosting Tests at the coastal venues, it’s only really Newlands that has had good crowds. It’s a bit nervewracking but exciting to see whether we can get the benefit of not just having two weekend days to target but four or five days. Pakistan are also a well-supported and talented team.

“We’ll certainly give it a go and hopefully not let anyone down, attendances have always been very good at our stadium, but the proof will be in the pudding,” Faul said.

To lessen the blow to Durban and Port Elizabeth, they will host the two Tests against Sri Lanka in February, while Newlands and the Wanderers will host the other two Pakistan Tests.

ZIMBABWE TOUR ITINERARY 2018

September 30: 10h00, 1^st Momentum ODI, Diamond Oval, Kimberley (Day)

October 3: 13h00, 2^nd Momentum ODI, Mangaung Oval, Bloemfontein (D/N)

October 6: 13h00, 3^rd Momentum ODI, Eurolux Boland Park, Paarl (D/N)

October 9: 18h00, 1^st KFC T20 International, Buffalo Park, East London (D/N)

October 12: 18h00, 2^nd KFC T20 International, Senwes Park, Potchefstroom (D/N)

October 14: 14h30, 3^rd KFC T20 International, Willowmoore Park, Benoni (Day)

PAKISTAN TOUR ITINERARY 2018/19

December 19-21: 10h00, Three-day tour match v SA Invitation XI, Willowmoore Park, Benoni

December 26-30: 10h00, 1^st Sunfoil Test match, SuperSport Park, Centurion

January 3-7: 10h30, 2^nd Sunfoil Test match, PPC Newlands, Cape Town

January 11-15: 10h00, 3^rd Sunfoil Test match, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

January 19: 13h00, 1^st Momentum ODI, St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth (D/N)

January 22: 13h00, 2^nd Momentum ODI, Kingsmead, Durban (D/N)

January 25: 13h00, 3^rd Momentum ODI, SuperSport Park, Centurion (D/N)

January 27: 10h00, 4^th Momentum ODI, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg (Day)

January 30: 13h00, 5^th Momentum ODI, PPC Newlands, Cape Town (D/N)

February 1: 18h00, 1^st KFC T20 International, PPC Newlands, Cape Town (D/N)

February 3: 14h30, 2^nd KFC T20 International, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg (Day)

February 6: 18h00, 3^rd KFC T20 International, SuperSport Park, Centurion (D/N)

SRI LANKA TOUR ITINERARY 2019

February 13-17: 10h00, 1^st Sunfoil Test match, Kingsmead, Durban

February 21-25: 10h00, 2^nd Sunfoil Test match, St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth

February 28: 10h00, One-Day tour match v SA Invitation XI, Willowmoore Park, Benoni (Day)

March 3: 10h00, 1^st Momentum ODI, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg (Day)

March 6: 13h00, 2^nd Momentum ODI, SuperSport Park, Centurion (D/N)

March 10: 10h00, 3^rd Momentum ODI, Kingsmead, Durban (Day)

March 13: 13h00, 4^th Momentum ODI, St. George’s Park, Port Elizabeth (D/N)

March 16: 13h00, 5^th Momentum ODI, PPC Newlands, Cape Town (D/N)

March 19: 18h00, 1^st KFC T20 International, PPC Newlands, Cape Town (D/N)

March 22: 18h00, 2^nd KFC T20 International, SuperSport Park, Centurion (D/N)

March 24: 14h30, 3^rd KFC T20 International, Bidvest Wanderers Stadium (Day)

https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/the-citizen-gauteng/20180424/282024737865818