Ken Borland

Sisanda Magala says he is proud of himself for the perseverance he has shown and is enjoying his journey as a professional cricketer now turned international, but warned what he has shown so far in a Proteas shirt is not the best he can do.

Magala showed glimpses of his superb death-bowling skill in the four T20s against Pakistan, but ended with just three wickets and conceded 9.85 runs-per-over. Some of his overs went seriously off the rails, including when he twice bowled back-to-back no-balls during the series, but he showed impressive ability during the 15^th and 17^th overs and the first four balls of the penultimate over in the fourth T20; the 14^th, 18^th and last overs in the second T20 and his second over in the first T20.

The softly-spoken 30-year-old said nerves were a major factor in his performance.

“I’ve been through lots of obstacles before and I just tried to block out all the noise and control what I could control. But my emotions were really up-and-down and on that day I made my debut, I just didn’t know how to react. Normally when you get told you’re playing it’s a bit of a surprise, but the coach told me 24 hours before. During the game I just told myself to never forget that I’ve wanted to play at the top level since I was young.

“It’s my greatest achievement even though I did not perform the way I wanted. But the intensity at international level is very harsh, it’s make-or-break, and I definitely made mistakes. But I’ve enjoyed the journey and to play for my country was reward for all my hard work and because I did not give up regardless. I stayed true to myself and kept persevering,” Magala told Saturday Citizen on Thursday night when he was named the Imperial Lions’ player of the season.

Magala, who was the leading wicket-taker in the domestic T20 tournament which the Lions won, said he struggled to fulfil the different roles he was given in the Proteas attack.

“I definitely learnt to trust my skills more, some things are out of your hands, sometimes you can’t control getting punished by the batsman. It’s a mental challenge as much as anything out on the field and it’s very important to develop a strong mind. The way I bowled my first couple of overs doesn’t really compare to how I bowl at the death.

“At the death I know what to do. Normally at domestic level you have time to get into your spell. But the great thing about the experience is that I can see where I am as a player.”

As one of the most skilful, heavy-ball bowling players in the country, there’s little doubt Magala will be better for his experience in the T20 series. The man who left his comfort zone in the Eastern Cape and fought his way through fitness issues, will surely be seen in the Green and Gold again.

“It is in your power to save cricket,” is what Dr Stavros Nicolaou, the chairman of the Cricket South Africa Interim Board, told the Members Council on Thursday as he addressed a teleconference to update the media on the current state of the crisis in the game.

Nicolaou said his information is that Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa is currently gazetting action against CSA because of their failure to agree to a new board with a majority of independent directors and an independent chair. If their punishment is written into law it can only mean that it is serious, but the Interim Board head said there was still a last-ditch way to save the day, which he pleaded with the Members Council to take.

“I don’t want to speculate or speak on the Minister’s behalf on what those measures will look like, but I have been told they will be gazetted, so the game is in extremely dire circumstances. What can be done? Well the ball is firmly with the Members Council, if they can show the will and conviction to agree to fundamental principles of good governance.

“The Members Council can instantly remedy this situation if they pass a special resolution that they will get a 75% vote in favour of the Memorandum of Incorporation, which will trigger a Section 60 resolution, which if they all sign in 24 hours then the crisis is averted and they can save cricket. The alternative is too horrible to contemplate,” Nicolaou said on Thursday.

The Interim Board slammed the Members Council’s statement alleging the MoI was not negotiated in an inclusive fashion and was thrust upon them, with Nicolaou detailing a timeline from when the Interim Board was appointed on November 15 and their mandate accepted by the Members Council.

He said a working group comprising three members from  each body had been working on the MoI since January 31. The scheduling of a Special General Meeting on April 17 to vote on the new constitution had been set on March 11. Nicolaou said by April 15, every query of the Members Council had been answered and the final MoI was distributed.

“The Members Council statement has immense inaccuracies and a number of misrepresentations. We were exceedingly disappointed with what happened at the SGM, where many prior agreements unravelled. Calling for an indaba of sorts will not help because it is just another tactic to delay the process.

“The chronology shows there was extensive consultation and bringing in Sascoc, who themselves earlier withdrew from the process, has only clouded the issue. Now we require a special resolution because we can’t have another undertaking that the MoI is over the line and then we get to the SGM and it’s rejected. The Members Council keeping kicking this can down the road,” Nicolaou said.

While Proteas captain Heinrich Klaasen said he did not really know what his team could have done differently to stop the incredible Babar Azam onslaught that led to a crushing nine-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan in the third T20 International at Centurion on Wednesday evening, the skipper is not just sitting back and accepting the hiding that was dished out.

“I’ll be going back tonight and doing a lot of homework to see how we can improve and make sure we draw the last game on Friday,” Klaasen said after Babar had slammed 122 off just 59 balls, allowing Pakistan to romp to their stiff target of 204 with two overs to spare. Perpetual nemesis Mohammad Rizwan scored 73 not out in an opening stand of 197.

“It was a very good pitch and watching that batting from behind the stumps was quite something to be honest. We tried a few things, but you don’t want to be trying too many different things on a good pitch like that. They made a lot of good, well-executed balls look bad with great placement. They batted brilliantly and we did not have enough answers.

“Babar is a special player and when he comes off, it’s very difficult to defend. You always feel maybe you could do something different, but what I don’t know. Maybe we’ll reflect on some execution. But I reckon we were 10 runs short, both openers made more than 50 but we were again guilty of not having a set batsman at the back end. And we were very poor in the field, that was especially bad,” Klaasen said after the chastening loss.

Even though South Africa’s bowling – not well supported by lacklustre fielding – looked utterly toothless, Klaasen did not seem that keen on any major changes for the final T20 on Friday at the same venue, which the Proteas have to win to level the series.

“We’re going to be up for it and we have to bounce back and nail our skills. I don’t feel like we need a big change in personnel, we need some consistency in fact. The question is how do you take wickets on a surface like this where there is no turn, the slower balls skid on and the ball travels miles on the Highveld?

“I reckon the way to take wickets is to defend, we need to build pressure by executing our balls. The bowlers need to work harder to do that. We tried to go to death bowing a lot earlier this evening but that didn’t come off. And we strive to be better in the field, we’ve been brilliant in training but I think the guys are trying too hard, they’re not calm enough,” Klaasen said.

Temba Bavuma’s hopes of starting his Proteas captaincy tenure with a series win were scuttled like a ship being hit amidships by multiple torpedoes when six of his first-choice starting XI were unavailable for the deciding match at Centurion, but it is always good to see what the fringe players can do out in the middle.

Unfortunately, South Africa’s depth would appear to be of rather middling quality at the moment. Especially in the pace bowling department.

Kagiso Rabada was classy as ever and although he only took a couple of wickets, his accuracy was such that his economy rate of 4.70 was the best for any seamer in the series. Lungi Ngidi had a poor series, but he has produced the goods many times before in white-ball cricket, so it should just be considered an aberration.

Anrich Nortje was a revelation, bowling with tremendous aggression and control, and the way he rips batsmen out in the middle overs is crucial for the Proteas. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a ready-made replacement for him yet in what bowling coach Charl Langeveldt described as the “enforcer” role.

Andile Phehlukwayo was relied on to bowl at the death, with mixed success. He did take five wickets, but finished as only a little bit less expensive than Ngidi; the all-rounder bowled some excellent overs, but there were some rubbish ones as well.

One big positive in terms of the attack, though, is that Keshav Maharaj is hot on the heels of Tabraiz Shamsi as the first-choice spinner. Slow left-arm orthodox may not be as sexy as Shamsi’s mystical wrist-spin, but Maharaj showed in his outstanding performance in the third ODI that tremendous accuracy allied with teasing flight and changes of pace make him a very effective limited-overs bowler as well.

The moment Bavuma probably regrets most in the series was when he called on Jon-Jon Smuts to bowl the penultimate over in the Centurion decider. The left-arm spinner had gone well up to that point, conceding just 42 runs in his seven overs, but Hasan Ali deposited him on the banks at SuperSport Park four times in an over that cost 25 and took Pakistan past 300 and enough for victory.

Smuts is the sort of gutsy cricketer that typifies the Eastern Cape’s make-a-plan, find-a-way attitude, and he is most certainly more than the sum of all his talents. He has done well for the Proteas in ODI cricket, averaging 45 with the bat and having an economy rate of 5.46 with the ball. But the time has probably come to call on George Linde, the left-arm spinner and hard-hitting batsman who has done so well for the Cape Cobras, and for South Africa whenever he has had the opportunity.

Coach Mark Boucher also spoke about the need for another left-handed batsman in the batting line-up, and Linde certainly fits the bill.

The batting as a whole looks in better shape and the middle-order is surely settled now with Bavuma steering the ship at three, along with Rassie van der Dussen at four and then David Miller and Kyle Verreynne in the finishing roles.

Heinrich Klaasen has not really set the world alight since being Player of the Series against Australia last year, and Verreynne, with two half-centuries and 163 runs in his four innings, deserves an extended chance now, having shown he has the temperament for international cricket.

Janneman Malan is another of the replacement batsmen who should keep his place. Aiden Markram has just not been able to capitalise on how damn good he has looked at the crease and an average of 25.33 for the series pretty much sums up his ODI career thus far. Malan, meanwhile, has put up the numbers – an average of 74 and a strike-rate of 89 in his four ODI innings – and those are figures that should not be ignored.

The other big positive from a batting point of view was the return to form of Phehlukwayo. His innings of 29 and 54 at Centurion were not enough to secure victory for the Proteas, but they were exactly the sort of contributions the team are looking for from their all-rounder.