Ken Borland

Rassie van der Dussen, the reliable batsman who made yet another half-century on Friday as the T20 series against Pakistan was lost 3-1, admitted after the game that it has been a particularly tough time for the Proteas, and especially the regulars left behind to play with the second-stringers.

With five first-choice players departing for the IPL, South Africa’s resources were always going to be stretched against a full-strength Pakistan side that had already clinched the ODI series, and the home team then suffered another two major blows when captain Temba Bavuma and Van der Dussen himself suffered injuries.

Van der Dussen was able to return for the penultimate match, but his 52 off 36 balls was not able to prevent a three-wicket defeat with a ball remaining, to end another disappointing summer for the Proteas.

“We’ve had our challenges with the guys leaving for the IPL and then the injury blows. If you take seven of the best players out of any team they will be out of it for a while, but that has allowed guys to come in and show what they’re about, a lot of them are experienced franchise players with a lot of cricket under their belt this season.

“There were individuals who were brilliant at different stages, but as a team we weren’t consistent enough, we didn’t deliver a complete performance except in the second match at the Wanderers. We were patchy, which was not going to be good enough for a series against a Pakistan team that is settled with world-class batsmen and bowlers. It’s a bitter pill but we will use these lessons to grow,” Van der Dussen said.

Van der Dussen lauded his bowlers for their effort in almost defending a sub-standard total of just 144, saying the info from the South African batsmen was that it became harder to score as the ball became softer. Both innings reflected that, with the Proteas losing seven wickets for 36 runs from the 13^th over, and Pakistan suffering a collapse of 37 for five from the 10^th over.

“This pitch was bit dryer than for the previous game, the cracks had opened up more and it became slower as the ball got softer, the cutters started gripping, and the scoreboard reflects that. Par score was probably 170 to 180 though, so we were definitely short of runs. At Centurion, on a good pitch, to defend even 200 is tough.

“So I’m very proud of the way our bowlers went about it and the way they have grown this series. At the end of the day you have to look at yourself in the mirror and you know if you have given your all. We wanted to fight every ball, be relentless and never give up. And we fought back very well, which I’m really proud of. If you have to lose then that’s the way to do it,” Van der Dussen said.

Sisanda Magala is a “very, very good bowler” are words you are likely to hear from time to time, but when they come from one of the greatest bowlers of all time, then it is time to sit up, take notice and put him in the Proteas starting XI.

Magala’s fan is none other than Dale Steyn, indisputably a legend of the game because he has taken over 400 Test wickets at an average lower than all but four of the other 16 bowlers in that club. Steyn has previously tweeted how impressed he is with Magala and on Tuesday he explained to The Citizen why he rates the 30-year-old so highly ahead of what will hopefully be his Proteas debut in the ODI series against Pakistan starting on Friday.

But as Steyn reveals, they did not have a very good start to their relationship …

“The first time I played against him was for the Titans against the Warriors and I had heard amazing things about him. So I gave him so much stick, I basically just abused him, because I wanted to see what he was made of. He was upset, but after the game I spoke to him and told him I just did that because I heard you were really good. I wasn’t sure he liked me much after that though … ” Steyn said.

“Then we played together at the Cape Town Blitz, and as team-mates he just impressed me more and more. He’s really quick, he’s a good fielder, extremely athletic for his size, and just a flippen nice guy. He has that fight in him. He has a bit of a strange action so he’s quicker than you think.

“I always look for things that make someone better than the rest and he has a wicked wrist – it’s really cocked back, whippy, giving him extra pace. With good coaching and as he gets more familiar with how to use that wrist, he could get even quicker.”

There have been whispers that Magala’s size – he is certainly burly – is considered an issue by Proteas management and is why he has not yet taken the field for the national team. But Steyn says his physical dimensions and not passing certain fitness tests should not be a factor in selection.

“The testing is one thing but I don’t mind if a guy looks slightly overweight as long as he is hitting the same numbers or even a bit better over a period of time, it’s only a problem if there’s a massive slump. For some people it’s just very difficult for them to do anything about their weight, but I’ve often seen cricketers lose a couple of kilograms and then they can’t hit the ball as far or bowl as well.

“As professional cricketers, we don’t necessarily have to look like Michael Jordan or Usain Bolt,’ Steyn said.

The Sharks’ Currie Cup stars have enjoyed a five-week break in the sun and fun of Durban, but now is the time for them to start filtering back into action, with coach Sean Everitt on Thursday naming 13 of the squad that played in the final in the line-up for Saturday’s preparation series match against the Lions in Johannesburg. New arrival Siya Kolisi is still conspicuous by his absence, however.

Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Lukhanyo Am, Dylan Richardson, Thomas du Toit and Curwin Bosch will all return to action on Saturday, but Springbok captain Kolisi will have to wait a little longer for his first match in the Black and White jersey following his move from the Stormers.

“These matches are about opportunity and game time for the whole 45-man squad and we’ve rotated after two matches because it’s time to make changes now and bring the seniors back. After a five-week break they ae ready to rock-and-roll. We showed we can vary our play in the Currie Cup and now it’s about developing confidence in our style of play.

“Siya is still in his pre-season, he’s just completed his first full week of training. Our defence and attack systems are very different to what he’s used to and it does take time. We’ll give hm a go next week if we feel he understands our systems well enough, but it’s by no means a definite,” Everitt said on Thursday.

A couple of interesting new youngsters will make the trip up to the big city with the Sharks.

Centre Rynhard Jonker, the son of leading referee Marius, is a Glenwood High School product who Everitt said the Sharks have recruited for his utility and creative skills, while replacement lock Emile van Heerden is an U21 star who is the son of former Springbok Fritz.

Sharks – Aphelele Fassi, Werner Kok, Lukhanyo Am (C), Rynhard Jonker, Yaw Penxe, Boeta Chamberlain, Sanele Nohamba, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Mpilo Gumede, Henco Venter, Reniel Hugo, Le Roux Roets, John-Hubert Meyer, Dan Jooste, Mzamo Majola. Bench: Dylan Richardson, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Thomas du Toit, Emile van Heerden, Thembelani Bholi, Grant Williams, Curwin Bosch, Marius Louw.

The Sands of Time are running out for Cricket South Africa’s Members Council so their last desperate attempts to block progress and the restructuring of the Board should be no surprise. The same self-serving administrators who put their own interests ahead of those of the game as a whole and allowed cricket to be captured were never going to vacate their seats on the gravy train without an almighty struggle.

That they have been operating in poor faith becomes clear when one considers that they themselves agreed to the establishment of the Interim Board on the basis that they would introduce a majority independent board chaired by an independent director, but now that the memorandum of incorporation amended to include these prerequisites has been presented, they have refused to accept it.

Their excuse for not ratifying the changes was that they were instructed to do so by their constituencies, but it seems this is a flimsy reason. Follow-up investigations with the provincial boards have shown that the ones who mandated a vote against the new MoI did so based on the incomplete picture they were presented by their provincial president sitting on the Members Council. And eager to have more of a shot at a place on the new Board.

The major sticking point appears to be the definition of an ‘independent’ director and those wanting to stymie progress have warned that this will lead to cricket being run by people who have no love nor knowledge of the game. Which is pure fear-mongering and much of it has been deliberate and not just the understandable caution when approaching a landmark change in how things are done in cricket administration.

There is an inevitability that the recalcitrant administrators will eventually lose, but some of them seem willing to hold out for as long as possible, never mind if it breaks the game in this country. As has been said, and proven, several times before, the Members Council cannot take on the Minister of Sport and hope to win.

Nathi Mthethwa holds all the aces and has all the legal weaponry he needs to force them to comply. Unfortunately, many of these will devastate the game – much like a couple of nuclear bombs ended World War II but also caused immense suffering and damage. The sports minister can withhold funding or remove the right to award national colours from CSA, effectively suspending the Proteas’ involvement in international cricket.

Let’s hope that matters do not have to go that far.

It causes immense frustration that the players – through a strongly-worded statement from SACA, sponsors, media and the general public have all expressed their great dismay at the attitude of the Members Council and yet the stubborn miscreants who have already done so much damage to the game continue to defy all calls for them to embrace change or move out.

Minister Mthethwa will justifiably be enraged by the lack of respect he has been shown and that is certainly the emotion I feel when confronted by the sheer, selfish obduracy of the parasites on the Members Council.

In their desperation, the Members Council have also, when it suits them, invoked Sascoc’s policy that members need to have a majority of non-independent directors on their board. Never mind that CSA ignore what goes on at Sascoc 95% of the time, that organisation is squelching through the mud of their own corporate governance crisis.

In 2017, then Minister of Sport Thulas Nxesi instituted the Zulman Commission to investigate the governance and management of Sascoc. It red-flagged conflicts of interest surrounding board members and recommended that they follow the benchmarks of international best practice and amend their board to have more independent directors.

Having more non-independent, hands-on directors in provincial structures might make sense, but a national board, considering their oversight function and the billions of rands they deal with, must be dominated by an independent contingent whose only concern is the overall good of the game.

The world has changed, top-level sport is no longer an amateur endeavour that can be run by the blazer brigade. It is big business and one needs heavyweights of the corporate world to steer the organisation.

Hopefully the light bulb will come on soon in the Members Council boardroom and they will ensure a more certain future for the game in this country.