Ken Borland

Racial tensions have been laid bare in South African cricket over the last 48 hours with 31 former Black players and five current Black coaches sending a letter to Cricket South Africa urging them to support the Black Lives Matter movement and confront racial divides in the game, while the president of the players’ association, Omphile Ramela, sent a letter to the sports minister asking him to throw the lawbook at the organisation for their lack of transformation.

Cricket South Africa, through their acting CEO Jacques Faul, have already issued a statement saying they stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Former franchise players have provided a window into their experiences of racial discrimination as well, with their overwhelming narrative being that systemic racism upholds and perpetuates all the past wrongs.

The Titans, perhaps because they have been the most successful franchise, but more probably because Faul and Proteas coach Mark Boucher come from there, have attracted the most attention. Ethy Mbhalati, the leading wicket-taker in Titans history whose career ended in 2015 due to his involvement with matchfixing, said “there is institutionalised racism at Northerns” and “unfortunately when you questioned things, the system kicked you out and we were scared to lose our jobs”.

But Tebogo Siko, the current president of the Northerns Cricket Union and Titans cricket, has been involved in the administration of the franchise for many years.

“I can tell you that the Northerns Board is 70% Black and if the structures were blocking change then I don’t think that would have happened. Of course we are never in a position to say the status quo must stay the same, but the Titans seem to be being attacked left, right and centre based on our achievements. Which include having a Black coach [Mandla Mashimbyi] and assistant coach [Geoff Toyana],” Siko told The Citizen on Wednesday afternoon.

Siko also issued a statement on Wednesday responding directly to Mbhalati’s claims: “We’ve recently come to learn of the experiences of racial discrimination, cultural bias and remuneration bias Mr Mbhalati was faced with. There was never a formal complaint laid by Mr Mbhalati and this makes it difficult for us to deal with such a matter. We can also go on record and say Mr Mbhalati was among the top earners at the franchise towards the end of his career.

“The history of South Africa is a very dark one and we are well aware that remnants of our past live on 26 years later. It is clear that in our society people still battle with the difficulties from pre-1994 and some of these difficulties are experienced even within the game we love. As citizens of South Africa, we understand what we have been through and as a union and franchise we acknowledge that past and where we are currently. With this having been said, it is important that we make it clear that we do not tolerate racism and discrimination of any sort at franchise level, provincial, or anywhere within our pipeline.

“We have never had any complaints of racism in the past or in the present. Players and staff are aware of the processes they need to go through to lay a complaint. Our board has a Transformation and Ethics Committee, which is responsible for dealing with such matters should they arise,” Siko said.

Typical of the nation-building, reconciling force for unity he has always been, former Proteas batting star Hashim Amla made a rare foray on to social media in order to back Lungi Ngidi’s call to support BLM and also state that he stands with all those who are oppressed.

“The Black Lives Matter campaign has relevance for everyone. The person who believes the imagined superiority of Whites over Blacks or Blacks over Whites, or one nationality over another, is simply delusional. Many of us, including myself, have borne the brunt of these delusions and have crazy stories to tell, which is why it makes it even more admirable to see exceptional youngsters like Lungi Ngidi doing his bit to represent us all.

“The end product of being racist is only self-destruction.There are oppressed people here in this country and the world over, of all colours and walks of life, cricket included. However the darker-skinned people have had the worst of it. I stand with all those who are oppressed. And I stand with Lungi Ngidi,” Amla said.

The monotony of Lockdown has sent many people out to lunch but for Quinton de Kock the same simple ‘see ball, hit ball’ approach that makes him such a great cricketer has seen him get through the winter so far in typically phlegmatic fashion.

Named CSA’s Men’s Cricketer of the Year at the weekend, De Kock said he has not hit a single ball since the end of last season, but is comfortable that there is plenty of time for him to launch a reinvigorated assault on the bowlers of the world.

In 2019/20, De Kock scored 536 runs in seven Tests at an average of 38.28, with one century and four fifties, while he has also averaged 38, with one century and four half-centuries, in 15 ODIs in the last year. He also reached fifty four times in eight T20 Internationals, averaging a remarkable 48.42 at a strike rate of 167.

The left-handed wicketkeeper/batsman scored more Test runs in 2019 than any other Protea (713, 216 more than Faf du Plessis), but has set his sights on scoring more hundreds in the coming season.

“I’ve had the world’s best Lockdown, I’ve been very busy doing nothing. I’ve kept up with my fitness and training in the gym, but I’m based in a very remote place [Garden Route] and there’s not much cricket around here. But practice is mostly muscle memory and there’s still so much time before our next game, you could end up hitting balls for no reason. I needed the break and tried to stay away from cricket.

“But in terms of fulfilling my potential, I would only rank myself about 6.5 out of 10. I had too many starts without progressing, I’m tough on myself and to be honest I’d love to convert those starts into even bigger runs. I wanted to come up the order, I’m happy at five for now and I feel that I can score big hundreds there,” De Kock said after also being named Test Cricketer of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year.

One thing De Kock was adamant about is that he is not going to try and take on the Test captaincy as well as his role as white-ball skipper, wicketkeeper and key batsman.

“Mark Boucher and I had an informal chat and I said I wasn’t sure about the Test captaincy. It would be too much to handle, I realise that now, to be wicketkeeper and captain, I don’t need all that stress, I could see that a mile away,” De Kock said.

Laura Wolvaardt was named the Women’s Cricketer of the Year, largely on the back of her superb performances in steering South Africa to the semi-finals of the ICC World T20 in Australia, and the 21-year-old said the Proteas will try their utmost to do even better in their 50-over World Cup scheduled for January.

“Our main focus has been that ODI World Cup for the last three-and-a-bit years and once we start playing again it will be full steam ahead towards that. The T20 World Cup in Australia will always have a special place in my heart, just the way the team played and the brand of cricket we produced was very special. It was incredible how we performed.

“I definitely did not see all this success coming at all at the start of the season, especially my role at five in the T20s, and I’m very glad it went well. It was the magical idea of the selectors to move me there because I’d had struggles in the powerplay up front. It gave me more freedom once the field was spread, I could rotate the strike a bit more while getting set,” Wolvaardt said.

Once Cricket South Africa had sent their plan for a return to play to the Department of Health as well, and also provided additional information on how they would handle any positive tests, getting approval has proved to be a breeze and 3TCricket is set to mark the first bit of on-field action in a few weeks.

Government announced at the weekend that cricket was one of seven sports to be granted approval to return to training and play. So the hiccup that caused the original launch of 3TCricket on June 27 to be postponed has only lasted a week and fans can expect the new format, which features three teams competing at the same time in a 36-over contest, to be unveiled soon.

CSA’s procedures to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 infection are apparently good enough to allow them to continue with plans to hold the 3TCricket opener at SuperSport Park, even though Centurion is in a hotspot for the pandemic. There had been speculation that the event could be moved to Potchefstroom, which is not a hotspot.

“Because Centurion is a hotspot, we had to run our plans through the Department of Health and the National Institute of Communicable Diseases as well as the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. The health authorities went through our plan and then requested additional information around testing and what would happen with positive tests.

“Once we provided them with that, they were subsequently happy and we added those details into our original plan. The event can still be held at Centurion, the government has no objection to that, and we can expect to have an announcement on the venue in the next few days,” Dr Shuaib Manjra, CSA’s chief medical officer, told The Citizen on Monday.

And, if cricket comprising 12 overs an innings does not blow your hair back, then there is a strong possibility that the Proteas will be returning to international action in August.

South Africa are scheduled to play two Tests and five T20 Internationals against the West Indies and they are proceeding with their plans as if that series will still go ahead. What still needs to be decided, however, is if it will take place as it was meant to in the Caribbean – on one island – or be held either in England, where the West Indians are currently preparing in a bio-bubble for a three-Test series, or here in South Africa.

The lucrative T20 series that CSA were hoping to host against India, also in August, now looks more likely to be postponed to early next year.

Coach Mark Boucher was understandably a very happy man after the Multiply Titans’ victory over the bizhub Highveld Lions at the BidVest Wanderers Stadium sent his team into an 11-point lead at the top of the Sunfoil Series log, but he also took time out to praise Lungi Ngidi for his attitude during his rehabilitation and thanked his medical staff for their work on the hugely-promising fast bowler.

Ngidi spearheaded the Titans’ nine-wicket win with match figures of nine for 83 in his first game back from a stress fracture in his back.

“It was very satisfying to see Lungi come through and a lot of credit must go to the medical staff because it was a very serious injury for a fast bowler, a very scary time for him. But they started him bowling again in stages and he needed to change his lifestyle a bit.

“The door has opened up for him at international level, so I told Lungi it was up to him to bash it down. Well everyone has certainly got their eyes on him now! His body has developed, he’s stronger and leaner and his professionalism has changed too.

“So the results he achieved in his first game back were not really a surprise for me, although he is still a work in progress and he will get better. We were tempted to play him a week earlier in Pietermaritzburg, but the medical staff are hired to do a job and they said even though it was possible, they preferred not to rush him back then,” Boucher said.

On a sporty Wanderers pitch, Titans captain Aiden Markram was also a contender for man of the match after innings of 85 and 81 not out, continuing the youngster’s superb form this summer.

“Aiden is still scoring a lot of runs, which makes me very happy. When you look at him, it’s almost as if he’s destined for great things and he’s really taken to his role. He hasn’t been around for a long time, but he’s just looking more and more confident.

“I’m sure the Proteas will relish having him in their system and he understands that the opposition at international level will get tougher and people will start looking at his technique and try to find flaws. But Aiden’s feet are on the floor, that’s his character. He’s also a work in progress, but he’s hungry for runs and he did the hard yards in that first innings,” Boucher said.

But the coach also had praise for a player that is a fair way from playing for the Proteas, but has been an absolute standout for the Titans this season – Malusi Siboto.

The 30-year-old is the leading wicket-taker with 17 at 21.35 and he produced a top-class display in the second innings against the Lions, taking four for 26 as the home side were bundled out for just 165, leaving the Titans with a straightforward target of just 133 for the first win of the season.

“Last season as well, Malusi is an unsung hero, he does the hard work like bowling into the wind, and can keep the run-rate down as well as taking wickets. He’s also made crucial runs for us and we’re going to try and get him into being an all-rounder for us.

“In certain conditions, he’s the leader of our attack. He’s one of those guys that goes under the radar, but if he’s not there then he leaves a massive hole in the team,” Boucher said.