Ken Borland

There has been a lot of talk recently around Gauteng cricket of revolutionising the game, but so far their only notable action has been to strip the most successful Black African coach in franchise cricket of his duties, making him the fall guy for a poor season by the Highveld Lions.

Geoff Toyana was the first Black African head coach of a franchise when he was appointed in 2012 and he steered the Lions to four trophies in the next four seasons. There have been lean pickings since then, but there have certainly been extenuating circumstances – Toyana has had to practically rebuild a whole team due to the matchfixing scandal and the retirement of several senior players.

Sure, Toyana will still be employed by the Gauteng Cricket Board as High Performance Coach, but there is little doubt that this is a demotion and a slap in the face for someone who has been at the forefront of transformation at franchise level.

The last season was particularly disappointing for the Lions – they finished last in the Sunfoil Series and fifth in both the Momentum One-Day Cup and RamSlam T20 Challenge – but when board members come into the changeroom mid-season and lambast the players with threats that eight of them will lose their contracts, it’s hardly conducive to inspirational performances.

Toyana will be the first to admit that he was probably not at his best as coach either, but again, a more sensitive administration would have understood the reasons why. It could not have been easy for the Soweto Cricket Club product to start the summer as the favourite to be the new Proteas coach and then watch it all unravel.

Add to that massive disappointment the family bereavements he also had to deal with, and it was clear Toyana was a man under severe pressure this last summer.

But the 44-year-old still had an additional year to run on his contract and surely the right thing to do, especially if one is serious about transformation and not just political powerplays, would have been to wipe the slate clean on the last season and allow Toyana to finish his term. Based on results, a less knee-jerk decision could then be taken.

Especially since this is a man who has added so much to the reputation of Gauteng cricket. Let’s not forget that before he became Highveld Lions coach, the franchise had won just one paltry trophy in eight seasons. Under Toyana’s watch, six new Test cricketers, ranging from Quinton de Kock to Stephen Cook, as well as six other limited-overs internationals were produced for the Proteas.

The talk in the Wanderers corridors is that Enoch Nkwe is in line to replace Toyana, which would make sense (at the right time) because the 35-year-old is intimately linked with Gauteng cricket. Currently the assistant coach of the national women’s side, and having fulfilled a similar role for the men’s team in the Netherlands, Nkwe played for the franchise for seven seasons before coaching the semi-pro provincial side.

But there is also talk that the Gauteng Cricket Board have got themselves into a tangle that has led to them axing Toyana. So confident were they that Toyana would be in the Proteas coaching set-up that they allegedly bought Nkwe out of his contract with Haarlemsche Cricket Club and the union now cannot afford to be paying the salaries of two head coaches at the same time.

Perhaps if the board were not so busy with putting out the regular fires that spring up from all the infighting and politicking – if it were all about the transformation needs of the game that would be fine, but the impression is that most of it is all about the personal benefit of the egos involved – then they would be more able to keep their eye on the ball and ensure the franchise is excelling where it really matters – out on the field.

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Tabraiz Shamsi put the disappointments of the 2016/17 season behind him and was one of the star players for the Multiply Titans as they won two of the three domestic trophies on offer this season, so much so that he was named the Players’ Player of the Year at the franchise’s awards evening.

The left-arm wrist-spinner’s phenomenal form in limited-overs cricket – he was the leading wicket-taker in both the Momentum One-Day Cup (26 @ 14.84, economy 4.50) and Ram Slam T20 Challenge (16 wickets, economy 7.00) – was obviously the major reason he won the prestigious award, but he also made a valuable contribution in the triumphant Sunfoil Series campaign, taking 13 wickets in three matches.

His Momentum One-Day Cup display included one of the greatest wicket-taking runs in South African day/night cricket history as he took 20 wickets in six games.

“It was a very, very successful season and to be the top wicket-taker in two competitions was really amazing for me. Last season there were quite a few disappointments, so it was important I had a good mindset this season because I was a bit disheartened. The best way to do that is to keep performing. To play just the one Test in 2016 was one of the disappointments, although Keshav Maharaj has done an exceptional job since then,” Shamsi said.

At the age of 28, Shamsi is still developing his game and is still a few years away from the age a spinner is usually considered to be hitting his peak.

“I feel in a good space and I’m still very young for a spinner and I still have a lot to learn. But I feel comfortable now at international level. Even against India, who are great players of spin bowling, I felt relatively comfortable. So it was a massive boost doing well against them in unfavourable conditions for a spinner,” Shamsi said.

Shamsi played two of the ODIs and all three of the T20 internationals against India and, added to his experience of playing in both the Caribbean Premier League and the Indian Premier League, it means he is settling in nicely at international level.

“I went to the Caribbean Premier League as an uncapped player and it changed my life to get noticed there and then be signed up for the IPL. There’s a very negative perception of these T20 tournaments in general, which is a bit unfair. They brought me recognition and playing against world-class opposition in those leagues means I felt a lot calmer when I played for South Africa.

“I’ve been selected more for white-ball cricket for South Africa and I’ve bowled to all those international batsmen before. If I’ve made mistakes then I’ve learnt from them and if I can dominate them in the T20 league then I will be able to take that edge into international cricket. I’m a big believer in having the mental edge,” Shamsi said.

Part of the Titans’ success this season has been deploying both Shamsi and leg-spinner Shaun von Berg in matches, and Shamsi believes they dovetail well.

“We’re very spoilt to have Shaun, who is a great spinner, too and it’s quite exciting for a team to have two quality wrist-spinners. Generally I’m more attacking and he does the holding role more, but I also only went for 3.3 runs-per-over in the Sunfoil Series, so we complement each other, I feel comfortable doing both jobs.

“I still dream of playing more Test cricket and there is a sub-continent tour coming up, so I haven’t given up on that. I didn’t play a lot of four-day cricket last season, so this year was about finding my groove again. I’m confident I have a lot to offer with the red ball as well,” Shamsi said.

Having risen from a low ebb, Shamsi will continue to bring the sort of positive attitude to his game that usually brings results.

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So the biggest question to come out of last weekend’s SuperRugby action was where has that Sharks team that put in two massive consecutive performances in New Zealand been hiding all season?!

The Sharks really put in a huge display in Napier and the Hurricanes were very lucky to win; the referee made some poor decisions at the back end of the game and that didn’t help the Sharks either. But Robert du Preez’s team were really in a position to win their second massive game in a row.

To see a New Zealand side struggle to cope with the pace and power of Jean-Luc du Preez and Andre Esterhuizen, especially the ease with which he went straight through from the lineout, was incredible. The Sharks would have won but for a late hit and a missed lineout that led to seven points down the other end, so that was obviously disappointing for them.

The Sharks had shown glimpses of this sort of form before, but probably not early enough in the season, so they are still 11 points off the pace in their group. Questions have to be asked as to why only now have they started to really play?

Maybe they’re more match-fit now, halfway through the competition, but the big thing is that their set-pieces are starting to function better. They’re getting good, clean lineout ball and are disrupting the opposition’s ball too, while Thomas du Toit is starting to settle at tighthead prop and that experiment is starting to not look so crazy. He’s getting his shoulders and the scrum has been stable enough to launch Esterhuizen, and the platform it provided for the Louis Schreuder try would have been really pleasing.

There are a lot of positives for the Sharks at the moment, but some of their first-phase defence and the way the wings defend needs to be better. Lukhanyo Am made one really poor decision at a lineout, he needed to be moving in instead of going out, and that provided the hole for a try.

But it’s going to be a big game this weekend in Durban because whoever loses between the Sharks and the Bulls will have a hard way back to get into a playoff spot. It’s going to be a massive derby.

But as I said, there are a lot of positives for the Sharks to take into the game – their willingness to offload in the wide channels, their ball-carriers going hard and an astute kicking game by Schreuder at scrumhalf. But they still need to tighten their defence – they’ve conceded 10 tries in two games.

As for their performances over the last night fortnight providing a blueprint for how to beat New Zealand, one thing is certain and that is that historically it takes a miracle to score more than five tries against the All Blacks. So you can’t be conceding five tries per game. It is pleasing that the Sharks are scoring so many points, but they need to concede less.

The Bulls had a great win against the Stormers two weeks ago and should be refreshed after their bye round. Handre Pollard had a really good game with the boot and exposed the positional play of the back three of the Stormers and he will be hoping to do the same this weekend. What was also impressive was the two tries they scored with their driving maul but the main thing for them will be to defend well in Durban because the Sharks are definitely scoring tries. They will have to contain the power running of Esterhuizen, Jean-Luc du Preez and Am. I’ve also been impressed by Robert du Preez’s ability to keep the scoreboard ticking over with his excellent goalkicking.

So the Bulls will have to be at their best defensively and very good in terms of discipline. The penalty count will need to be less than 10 so they will have to make very good decisions at the breakdown and strive for set-piece excellence.

The Lions, after their setbacks of the last few weeks, came out full of intent against the Stormers and Madosh Tambwe was outstanding.

For his first try, from the chip, Damian Willemse’s kick was from too deep. With his footwork, he needs to be flat and bringing runners into the game, and that chip needed to be behind the centres. It was just in the wrong spot and he doesn’t yet have the tactical boot and appreciation for space.

So that try had the Stormers under pressure from practically the first minute and then the ability of Elton Jantjies to pick up Tambwe on the kick into space and the wing himself showing he can also go into the hard channels led to his other two tries for an astonishing hat-trick in 13 minutes.

The Lions certainly seem to have a pool of wings now, with Ruan Combrinck back and Aphiwe Dyantyi close to returning, plus Courtnall Skosan on the sidelines, they have four really quality players. Four years ago, our wing stocks were really low in South Africa, but now we have those four plus Sbu Nkosi of the Sharks and Travis Ismaiel of the Bulls.

However, a lot of the defensive decisions of South African wingers this year have been poor. Yes, you have to put pressure on but you also have to make the tackles! Springbok defence coach Jacques Nienaber will have a different approach to guys like John Mitchell and Paul Feeney, who are using a rush defence at the Bulls and Stormers respectively. They want their wings to get in amongst the opposition, but that leaves you open to the bridge-pass and the kick-pass because they get disconnected from their centres. Jacques in the past wanted his wings behind the centres, to shadow the opposition and force them towards the touchline.

We are seeing so much of the kick-pass to the wide channels these days and wings have so much on their plate defensively, not to mention the big guys with serious gas and stepping ability they have to contend with as well.

The Springbok alignment camps are on the go and obviously the guys don’t train at those, but it’s a good chance for the national coaching staff to impart their philosophies. They will reveal the calling system and defensive lingo to be used, basically it’s a chance for them to give the players their messages for the year. It involves a heck of a lot of study because it’s all about how the Springboks will play this year.

There’s certainly some exciting talent available for Rassie Erasmus, and how his predecessor, Alistair Coetzee, would have loved to have seen the 30-cap overseas player rule relaxed. Why was this policy in place for two years and now it’s suddenly lifted?

It’s probably been changed for the likes of Faf de Klerk and Vincent Koch, they are the two players affected who really spring to mind.

Faf has been playing quite well for Sale, and has also been goalkicking, plus he’s proven at Test level. With Ross Cronje not invited to the alignment camps, I also rate Schreuder very highly at scrumhalf, he definitely has the skill-set to play at that level – he has a good kicking game, he’s a good organiser and he has the ability to finish, he’s no slouch with ball in hand.

Koch is being looked at because obviously South Africa’s tighthead stocks are a bit low. The Springboks have Wilco Louw and Ruan Dreyer, but you always need three guys in the crucial positions and there will always be five props in the Springbok squad.

England have some big guys up front and I’m sure Koch has had many training sessions against Mako Vunipola at Saracens, so he would be a good pick for the Springboks in terms of inside knowledge.

John McFarland is the assistant coach of the Kubota Spears in Japan and was the Springbok defence coach from 2012 through to the 2015 World Cup, where they conceded the least line-breaks in the tournament and an average of just one try per game. Before that, McFarland won three SuperRugby titles (2007, 09, 10) with the Bulls and five Currie Cup crowns with the Blue Bulls. In all, he won 28 trophies during his 12 years at Loftus Versfeld.

I must confess to a certain sense of relief today as our rugby season (the 15-man game anyway) comes to an end this weekend with the misfiring Springboks facing a daunting assignment in Cardiff. Sad to say, but I find myself more and more irritated by rugby these days.

The uninspiring fare dished up by the Springboks, made worse by the tantalising glimpse they gave of what they are capable of in the Newlands Test against the All Blacks, brings little joy and the two domestic sides I cover, the Bulls and Sharks, have had more heartache than cheer this year. Even the Lions’ loss in the Super Rugby final still hurts.

Nevertheless, just to get two last parting shots in before Christmas, rugby made me angry twice more this week.

It’s annoying that Springbok coach Allister Coetzee is not expediting the smooth introduction of the tremendously talented Warrick Gelant into international rugby. Instead of playing him in his natural position of fullback, where change is surely required because the solid Andries Coetzee has done little to suggest star-quality, coach Coetzee has plonked Gelant on the wing for his first start.

The selection of players out of position has become something of a Springbok curse in recent years, but the disappointing treatment of Gelant might also be due to the lack of options Coetzee has on the wing. As at fullback, we can all see change is necessary, but the only other specialist wing in the squad is Raymond Rhule, and would he really improve things?

A rugby sage once told me that Springbok coaches stand or fall by selection and, judging by the number of times Coetzee has replaced an injured player with someone who plays in a different position, the current national coach is obviously failing in this regard. Just on this tour, we’ve had an eighthman, Duane Vermeulen, replacing a prop, Coenie Oosthuizen, and lock Ruan Botha came in for flank Jean-Luc du Preez, which clearly shows he got the initial selections wrong.

But the failure of WorldRugby to honour their own processes and award the 2023 World Cup to South Africa was the low point of the year; at least South Africa’s 57-0 thrashing in Albany came with plenty of wonderful rugby from the All Blacks to admire.

The duplicity and lack of integrity shown by their council members makes the blood boil, and the reputation of rugby took a major hit in London a fortnight ago.

So it was with utter shock that I observed the sheer nerve of WorldRugby this week trying to clamp down on players writing messages on their strapping. The rationale was that WorldRugby had no control over what messaging was displayed and with the pettiness typical of the jobsworths who have more regard for their own positions and privilege than the good of the game, the decision was made to clamp down.

Perhaps WorldRugby should worry more about the game being brought into disrepute by their own administrators; the message sent by the 2023 World Cup decision was far worse than anything a player could fit on to his strapping.

Sport did bring me some happiness this week though. It was wonderful to see a cricketing legend of yesteryear, Mike Procter, team up with one of the country’s most talented young writers, Lungani Zama, to launch an updated autobiography.

Procter, of course, played in an era when someone like Zama, who is a good enough cricketer to have played for the KZN Inland side before they gained first-class status, was not allowed to fully express their talents.

Procter, one of the all-time greats of South African cricket and a former national coach and selector, understands these issues and it is wonderful to see him so actively involved in cricket development through his coaching work at the Ottawa Primary School outside Durban, introducing the game to nearly a thousand underprivileged children.

A cricketer capable of taking the new ball and bowling at 145km/h, with prodigious swing, and a good enough batsman to score 254 against Western Province in a Currie Cup game, Procter was obviously a rare talent and one that the current lovers of the game really need to know more about.

He is certainly one of the contenders for the title of greatest all-rounder the game has known and the story of his playing days is augmented with fascinating accounts of his stint as an ICC match referee, having to deal with the major controversies of Darrell Hair abandoning an England v Pakistan Test match, the Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds ‘Monkeygate’ saga, and the bomb blast that ended international cricket in Pakistan.

As Caught in the Middle details, Procter is one of the heroes of the game still adding value in the present day.