Ken Borland

It took the lil’ old Free State and Griqualand West nearly 40 years to produce their first 15 SA Schools caps, but since 1980 that number has quadrupled to neatly signify the growing importance of the region as a feeder for South African cricket talent.

Allan Donald, Kepler Wessels, Hansie Cronje, Boeta Dippenaar, Nicky Boje, Peter Carlstein, Ryan McLaren, Gerhardus Liebenberg and Victor Mpitsang are SA Schools products from the region who have gone on to play international cricket and all told there have been 61 players from Free State and Griqualand West who have been honoured with selection at the end of the Coca-Cola Khaya Majola U19 Week, including the current captain, Diego Rosier from Noord-Kaap in Kimberley.

The Knights are the professional franchise that covers that central region of the country and they have excelled since domestic cricket’s premier level was reduced to six teams in 2004, winning seven trophies, second only to the nine of the Titans.

But there has been talk that the glory years of the Knights, based on the considerable talents of Morne van Wyk, Dippenaar, Boje, Dillon du Preez and Johan van der Wath, are waning and that one of the powerhouses of franchise cricket are slipping down a notch or two.

But the performances of the Knights feeder teams – in particular the Free State side in the CSA amateur competitions – have told a different story.

The Free State team are in contention for the CSA three-day title and made the final of the one-day competition, while the likes of fast bowlers Malusi Siboto, Duanne Olivier, Gino Vries and Corne Dry, wicketkeeper/batsman Rudi Second and all-rounder Patrick Botha have shown the ability to step up and succeed at franchise level.

“The last three years, we have been in contention in all three competitions, but this season has been badly disrupted by injuries and the national call-ups of Elgar and McLaren which have made our planning difficult.

“But the Free State team is right up there in their competition and we have some wonderful youngsters in those ranks. Shadley van Schalkwyk, Siboto, Gihahn Cloete and Michael Erlank have all been called up to the franchise side, while youngsters like Reeza Hendricks and Rilee Rossouw are still finding their feet but will probably play for South Africa one day.

“So I’m confident our planning is in order, I’m positive our plans are working. This season there have just been some things you can’t make provision for,” Knights chief executive Johan van Heerden said.

Both the national U13 and U17 weeks were held down in the Cape in December, with the Free State teams having mixed fortunes, while Griquas had a torrid time, losing all their matches at both tournaments.

The Free State U13s had a 50% winning record, while their U17s won four of their six matches.

The U19 side won three and lost two of their matches, with one drawn, while Griquas had just a solitary victory at the Khaya Majola Week. Vasili Orros of Grey College joined captain Rosier in the SA Schools XI announced at the end of the competition.

These are interesting times in Free State schools cricket with Grey College no longer the dominant force they used to be and St Andrews Bloemfontein challenging them for regional pre-eminence.

Johan Volsteedt is ideally placed to comment on the young talent in the area. As the highly respected coach of the Grey College first XI, he is as much a part of the Knights’ future as he was of their yesterdays, having overseen the early development of the likes of Wessels, Cronje and Boje.

“The standard is relatively good at the moment, there are some fine bowlers around. But the batsmen need a lot of work, especially in terms of good technique. But there are still good signs for the future, it’s very positive. Young cricketers have to prepare for many things to succeed in the game, and a lot of them you can’t coach, such as learning about match situations,” Volsteedt said.

The former Grey College headmaster also dares to suggest that the T20 game can be used to improve the techniques of batsmen.

“You can use T20 to train for the longer formats. Batsmen need to learn how to score quickly, but they also need to get in first.

“T20 is still very good cricket and it’s not going to disappear, so we need to see how it can make a difference in developing our talent. We must just use T20 correctly, not just close our eyes and smash.”

But, according to Volsteedt, cricket is still considered the little brother of rugby when it comes to importance in Free State schools.

“It’s very difficult because boys have to choose one of the two team sports, rugby or cricket. And the top rugby players started training for the 2013 season on October 4!,” Volsteedt said.

“The game of cricket was very foreign to us thirty years ago, but we have since taken to it and become more attacking in our play. I don’t know how big the pool of talent is, but the keenness is definitely still there.”

One of Free State’s greatest fast bowlers, Corrie van Zyl, now the general manager of cricket for CSA, was the coach of the Knights, then known as the Eagles, in their halcyon days, steering them to six of those seven trophies before moving upwards into the national ranks.

Sarel Cilliers, the former pace bowler and Eagles fitness trainer, took over as coach from Van Zyl, but the transition was not smooth, as Van Heerden admits.

“Sarel took over in very tough circumstances and two or three senior players made life difficult for him and demanded that he be ousted. We’d just come out of the Corrie van Zyl era and the team was balanced and happy, but then a young guy took over and dropped some of the older players, which caused a bit of unhappiness.

“I guess the players were trying to test the waters, but the board made a strong statement and said those players who want to leave must leave. Only CJ de Villiers left and we now have one of the happiest groups. The players agreed to stick it out and Sarel has now made a real impact. He’s a wonderful coach and very strong technically,” Van Heerden said.

With the players and the coach now on better-than-speaking terms, the Knights can now concentrate on what happens after the likes of Du Preez, Van Wyk and Van der Wath move on.

Mother Cricket has proven on many occasions that she can be a tough mistress and those who will be coming into the team once that trio of stars have been released will need time to settle.

But Van Heerden is confident that there is top-class talent waiting in the wings.

“Rosier is captaining SA Schools and in 2010 it was Keagan Rafferty. Every year we have a couple of players in the SA Schools and SA U19 teams, so there is still a nice strong pipeline here. I feel very comfortable with what’s coming up to play on the next level. A lot of them aren’t quite ready yet, but give them a couple of years,” Van Heerden said.

If the Knights’ succession planning goes to the letter, there is no doubt they should still be a formidable force in domestic cricket in the years to come.

Misbah ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq were fixtures at the crease for the last three-and-a-bit hours as defiant Pakistan ended the third day of the first Test against South Africa on 183 for four at the Wanderers.

The Pakistan captain and his 27-year-old partner had added 101 in 191 minutes for the fifth wicket as the tourists made the South African bowlers work hard. The victory target of 480 is still most probably out of reach and the Proteas will be hoping the second new ball, due in five overs time, will end the resistance.

The South Africans had declared their second innings 45 minutes into the morning on 275 for three, after the dashing AB de Villiers had completed his century, and the attack then chipped away to reduce Pakistan to 104 for four at tea.

But the white-knuckle determination of Misbah and Shafiq put thoughts of another three-day kill to bed as they batted through to stumps to finish on 44 and 53 not out respectively.

The 13 858 people at the Wanderers and the many others on their couches thought South Africa had finally broken through midway through the final session when Shafiq, on 40, edged the fourth ball of Vernon Philander’s fourth spell to Graeme Smith at slip.

But it was quickly revealed via TV replays that Philander had over-stepped and bowled a no-ball, and the batsman was hastily recalled. It’s a problem that has bedevilled South Africa in the recent past and there seems little serious effort to correct it as Philander was regularly over-stepping on Thursday in the nets and bowling coach Allan Donald was nowhere to be seen.

And to make matters worse, just five deliveries later, Misbah, on 31, sent a square-drive off Jacques Kallis to Robin Peterson’s right at backward point and the normally reliable fielder moved to his right but fluffed the regulation catch.

Dale Steyn had spoken the previous day about how the South African team can produce “power performances” at the right time.

“This team can definitely take a game away from anyone and it’s not just the bowlers, the batsmen can do it too, like in Perth and Adelaide. When we put our minds and forces together, we’re pretty hard to beat. It’s a very special team that can produce power performances,” Steyn said after his incredible six for eight in 8.1 overs had put South Africa in a match-winning situation.

But with the ball not swinging, the pitch probably at its best for batting and Pakistan putting in an improved batting display, the South Africans were de-powered on Sunday.

There was an element of risk in their early declaration on Sunday morning as it meant Pakistan would almost certainly win the game if they could bat for long enough. There are now 180 overs left in the match and they need “just” 297 more runs, a required rate of 1.6 per over.

“I was a little bit surprised by the timing of the declaration,” Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore admitted. “But the second new ball will be crucial tomorrow, we’ve got to get over that first and it won’t be easy, even for two set batsmen.”

“It crossed my mind that we should just totally bat them out of the game, but obviously Graeme and Gary [coach Kirsten] thought differently. We like to play a positive brand of cricket and no team has scored more than 400 on this deck. I don’t see Pakistan doing it because the cracks are opening up and we have the second new ball early tomorrow,” De Villiers said.

He and Hashim Amla had resumed on Sunday morning on 207 for three and quickly rattled up 68 more runs in nine overs, with De Villiers driving beautifully down the ground and square on the off-side as he scored 40 runs off 33 balls to go to his 15^th Test century.

Amla also scored at a run-a-ball and finished on 74 not out, his 25^th Test half-century and enough to give South Africa a lead of more than 450 which De Villiers later revealed had been the benchmark figure for Smith and Kirsten.

There is no confidentiality about how South Africa will go about winning this Test on Monday – Steyn and Philander will be given the second new ball as soon as it is due and, with the morning the best time for bowling at the Wanderers, and more cloudy weather expected, they will be roaring in against Misbah and Shafiq.

Having done so well on Sunday afternoon, it remains to be seen whether that pair of Pakistan batsmen can muster the same tenacity and sheer bloody-mindedness.

The Wanderers pitch is not easy for batsmen but South Africa boast an amazing bowling attack, Pakistan coach Dav Whatmore said after his team had been bundled out for a record-breaking low of 49 on the second day of the first Test on Saturday.

Pakistan’s total is their lowest ever in Test cricket, worse than their 53 against Australia in Sharjah in 2002/3, and South Africa’s lead is already 411 after they reached stumps on 207 for three in their second innings.

“It’s not an easy wicket to bat on but the way South Africa bowled was incredible. I have not seen two hours of relentless, incredible pace bowling as I witnessed today. Most of our batsmen got out to terrific balls and you really need to give credit to the opposition.

“If you look at the facts and not emotion, then the reason for our score was a combination of a difficult pitch and incredible bowling,” Whatmore said.

While the former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach admitted that he felt the pitch was too difficult for the second day of a Test, he declined to comment on the inconsistent application of the HotSpot technology by third umpire Steve Davis that saw every decision using that camera go against Pakistan.

“We’re not meant to speak about that and we’ll make our comments in the right channels,” was all Whatmore would say, but the animated discussion he and manager Naveed Cheema had with match referee Jeff Crowe after the end of play suggests the International Cricket Council should expect a complaint from Pakistan.

But it did not detract at all from Steyn’s magnificence or South Africa’s dominance.

The world’s number one ranked bowler said it was just one of those days when he was able to hit his stride from the outset.

“We had spoken about the morning being the best time to strike at the Wanderers and I woke up early today, Skyped the missus in LA and dominated our morning game of footie … I just had so much energy today, the ball was coming out sweetly and it was a lot of fun today,” Steyn said of his phenomenal haul of six for eight in 8.1 overs.

The 29-year-old produced a top-class display of fast swing bowling and he said a pep talk from captain Graeme Smith, who is leading a Test team for an unprecedented 100th time, had helped provide a spark.

“We don’t often have these conversations because you don’t have to tell anyone in this team when they’ve done something wrong, but Graeme sat us down, he felt the urge for just a two-minute chat, and said he wanted a 100% day from us because he didn’t feel yesterday was a 100% effort.

“The ball swung more as it got older, but the new ball swung a decent amount too and the pitch obviously assisted as well.”

Steyn brushed aside the Pakistan top-order with three wickets in his first two overs on Saturday and he said that had pleased him the most.

“For the first time in a long while, I got the first three wickets and was able to break through early. I was pretty stoked about that.”

Whatmore praised Steyn for the way he led a marvellous South African bowling unit.

“He’s one of four seamers who never took the pressure off, we scored 34 runs in two hours, about 25 overs, which is unheard of. His skill level plus that of the other three is amazing,” Whatmore said.

South Africa enjoyed a position of complete dominance on 207 for three, leading by 411, after the second day of the first Test against Pakistan at the Wanderers on Saturday, set up by Dale Steyn’s astonishing bowling earlier in the day.

Steyn took six for eight in 8.1 overs as Pakistan were shot out for just 49, the lowest total in their Test history, worse than the 53 they scored against Australia in Sharjah in 2002/3.

It was the third time South Africa had dismissed a team for less than 50 in the last two seasons. Only England, against Australia in 1887/88 and twice versus South Africa in 1888/89 have done this before.

South Africa bowled Australia out for 47 at Newlands in November 2011 and New Zealand for 45 at the same venue last month.

Pakistan’s 49 is also the lowest ever Test score at the Wanderers, the previous worst being 72 by South Africa against England in 1956/57.

Steyn’s magnificent swing bowling, backed by two wickets apiece from Jacques Kallis and Vernon Philander, gave South Africa a 204-run first-innings lead and, after declining to enforce the follow-on, they cruised to 207 for three in 53 overs before stumps.

Coming into bat soon after lunch, Steyn taking the last three Pakistan wickets without conceding a run, openers Graeme Smith (52) and Alviro Petersen (27) were quickly into their stride as they compiled an opening stand of 82 in 21 overs.

Umar Gul removed both openers just four overs into the post-tea session and South Africa then slipped to 99 for three when Jacques Kallis (7) skied an attempted sweep off Saeed Ajmal into the hands of Asad Shafiq at deep midwicket.

But Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers attacked to great effect as they added 108 off 159 balls before stumps, both completing unbeaten half-centuries.

Pakistan had begun the second day on six without loss after making a fine start to the series on day one, but their first innings was a procession of batsmen as Steyn took advantage of their lack of footwork in bowler-friendly conditions.

He ripped through the top-order with ease, having Mohammad Hafeez (6) caught behind off a superb away-swinger, trapping Nasir Jamshed (2) lbw and then having veteran Younis Khan caught in the slips for a duck in his first two overs.

Kallis then removed Azhar Ali (13) and Pakistan captain Misbah ul-Haq (12) with aggressive short-pitched bowling, before an incisive two-wicket burst just before lunch by Philander reduced the visitors to 40 for seven at the break.

Steyn then made an impressive return after lunch, having Saeed Ajmal caught behind off a precise away-swinger and then snaring Sarfraz Ahmed in his next over, wicketkeeper AB de Villiers again taking the catch.

Rahat Ali was then caught at fourth slip by Faf du Plessis for a duck off Steyn to complete a top-class catching display behind the wicket by South Africa, wicketkeeper De Villiers finishing with six catches, a career-best that equalled the national record shared by Denis Lindsay and Mark Boucher (four times).