Ken Borland

So the mighty Indian team will indeed be gracing our fields for five weeks of what should not only be intense cricket for the Proteas but a timely financial boost that will help the constrained Cricket South Africa administrators keep the candle wicks burning.

While one hopes the Proteas are able to make it a hotly contested series, there is no doubt that in terms of global boardroom politics, CSA are in a much weaker position than the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Of course South African cricket are eternally grateful for India agreeing to honour their commitment to tour when it looked likely that the Omicron variant of Covid would snuff out the tour.

But hopefully that gratitude does not express itself in timidity which allows the BCCI to bully or ride roughshod over South African cricket.

India have been calling the tune in world cricket for a while now, deservedly so when one considers they bring the most money into the game, but there will come a time when CSA have to stand up for their rights.

India are so used to everyone just kowtowing to them that there are occasions when they take a chance and push the boundaries of fair play.

One such occasion occurred this week in Bloemfontein, where their A team, to whom we are also extremely grateful for completing their series against SA A, displayed some incredibly frustrating time-wasting techniques and skullduggery.

As soon as the SA A team, trailing by just eight runs on first innings, made a solid start to their second innings, reaching 89/1 at tea on the third day, India began to ensure much time was taken out of the game.

In the two-and-a-half hour session after tea, they bowled just 26 overs as their bowlers crawled through their deliveries. Field settings were regularly tampered with and then returned to what they were, and every couple of overs, one of the Indian players would go to ground roaring and writhing in agony. The physiotherapist spent so much time on the field he should have been in the starting line-up.

The responsibility in those circumstances lies with the umpires and match referee to ensure the game is played in the right spirit, and there are laws, penalty runs and fines at their disposal to help them do it.

But this is India, who are doing South African cricket a massive favour remember, so there was a decided reluctance to ruffle any feathers.

The Test series against India is likely to have South African umpires due to the problems of travelling in these times of Covid, and one hopes the International Cricket Council devolve enough power to those officials so that they are seen to be representing the ICC and not CSA.

Otherwise they may not feel empowered enough to make tough calls against India should the need arise.

Hopefully we will be spared any controversy though, and will just be able to enjoy the fine cricket we know both teams are capable of producing. Given the aggressive fast bowlers South Africa have at their disposal, and India’s ability to fight fire with fire, there will certainly be some feisty action.

Which is fine, as long as that mysterious, difficult to quantify, line between competitiveness and unsporting behaviour is not crossed.

But anyone who watches this intriguing series will also be expecting two very passionate teams to sometimes get very close to that line.

I say bring it on!

The Netherlands, with former Protea Roelof van der Merwe leading the way in typical Bulldog fashion on his former home ground, and motivated by the anger caused by the scrapping of the Super League for World Cup qualification, will come out roaring in the first ODI against South Africa in Centurion on Friday, but Tabraiz Shamsi promised that the home side will also be sufficiently fired up to be at their best.

South Africa’s motivation will come from a combination of new faces being given precious opportunity at ODI level, and their own rather poor standing in the Super League at present: They are currently in ninth place. The 2023 World Cup will be a 10-team event, with the top teams from the Super League qualifying.

But earlier this week the ICC decided that the 2027 World Cup, of which South Africa will be co-hosts, will be a 14-team event with a separate, one-off qualifying tournament for non Full Members.

“The Netherlands have a few South African players and I’m sure they’ll have a point to prove,” Shamsi said. “And with the Super League being scrapped, the Netherlands could feel this is their last opportunity to make a statement.

“But we definitely won’t be taking it easy either, we have been preparing as hard as we can because we need points for World Cup qualification. The Netherlands also have some quality players, some of them play county cricket.

“It took me two-and-a-half years to play two ODIs in a row and now we have some new guys who will get to play three games in six days, so it’s a massive opportunity to establish yourself.

“So not much changes whether we’re playing England, India or the Netherlands, every game is an international and we’ll be trying to put in a performance that reflects that,” Shamsi said.

South Africa’s attack will be a pale imitation of their usual firepower, with Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje being rested, Lungi Ngidi testing positive for Covid and Lizaad Williams out injured. Although there are experienced seamers still available in Andile Phehlukwayo, Dwaine Pretorius and the recalled Wayne Parnell, it is likely that the Proteas will rely heavily on spinners Shamsi and Keshav Maharaj.

The duo have enjoyed a purple patch in ODI cricket of late, taking 26 wickets between them in eight matches at an economy rate of just 4.68 runs per over.

SuperSport Park has a reputation for spinners being mown all over the ground, but the actual figures are not so clearcut. Shamsi brushes off the theory that spinners can’t shine on the Highveld.

“It’s weird that the chat is that the Wanderers and SuperSport Park are not spin-friendly, but I made my international career playing at Centurion and I don’t see any stigma for spinners there.

“Yes the ball flies, there are smaller boundaries and not as much assistance from the pitch, but we have developed different game-plans that take the pitch out of the equation if it doesn’t turn,” Shamsi said.

Quinton de Kock may have left his team in the lurch by pulling out of their last game a couple of hours before the start, but the Proteas are all looking forward to having his services once again and will welcome him back with open arms, Rassie van der Dussen said on Thursday.

De Kock on Thursday issued a statement apologising for, and explaining, his reasons for refusing to take a knee in support of BLM ahead of South Africa’s T20 World Cup match against the West Indies earlier this week, and has now agreed to follow the CSA Board’s directive.

Fellow batsman Van der Dussen said all is forgiven and the team are really looking forward to having him back in the line-up for their game against Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Saturday.

“Quinny has been extremely remorseful and everyone understands and supports what he did, even though the timing was not great,” Van der Dussen said.

“It speaks volumes for the open environment the team and management has. He did not have to explain himself to us really, but we have come a long way in creating a safe space within the squad.

“He’s one of the best players in the world and of course we will welcome him back with open arms. We understood why he did what he did, and that’s the end of the story for us.

“I’m sure he will be selected on Saturday and it will be like nothing has happened as far as the team is concerned. Hopefully he himself will be in the right frame of mind to deliver a matchwinning performance like he has done so many times before. But it’s going to be great to have our brother and friend back on the field,” Van der Dussen, one of the strongest supporters of taking a knee amongst the White contingent in the team, said.

The statement De Kock issued earlier on Thursday said his actions were guided by the lack of engagement on the issue between the CSA Board and the squad, with the “take a knee” edict seemingly coming out of the blue for the players.

CSA Board chairman Lawson Naidoo and two other directors subsequently held a virtual meeting with the Proteas squad and management on Wednesday night, in which the reasons for their directive were clarified and the players’ concerns addressed.

A CSA statement on Thursday said De Kock and the rest of the team had now agreed to align themselves with the stance against racism as a moral issue and not a political statement.

Springbok prop Thomas du Toit will be tasked with ensuring the Sharks get in the game way quicker than they did last weekend as he has been handed the captaincy for their United Rugby Championship match against the Ospreys in Swansea on Friday night.

Coach Sean Everitt was quick to add that regular captain Phepsi Buthelezi is merely having a bit of a breather on the bench and will be back in the starting line-up next weekend.

The Sharks were horribly unfocused at the start of their match against Glasgow Warriors last weekend, trailing 19-0 in the first quarter, before dominating thereafter to only lose 35-24. Everitt believes Du Toit has the credentials to ensure that does not happen again.

“Thomas is full of confidence and playing his best rugby at the moment, he is a leader and he is certainly leading by performance at the moment. The more he plays, the better he gets and he was outstanding against Glasgow, his game has grown a lot lately.

“Phepsi is just resting, we want to take the pressure off him a bit, but he will be back next weekend. He needed a break, we just wanted to lighten his load a bit,” Everitt explained.

“Chasing the scoreboard away from home is always very difficult and if you look at the three tries we conceded early on, they were all quite soft. The guys were a bit shellshocked in the first 20 minutes, but then we managed to get some momentum for the rest of the game,” Everitt said on their poor start at Scotstoun.

The Sharks team announced on Wednesday shows plenty of rotational changes and, up front, tighthead Du Toit and blindside flank Gerbrandt Grobler were the only players to hold on to the same jersey, while in the backline, halfbacks Ruan Pienaar and Boeta Chamberlain and exciting wing Thaakir Abrahams are the only players still in the starting line-up from last weekend.

“There are a lot of rotational changes and some performance-based ones. But we wanted to freshen up the group, the changes don’t weaken the team, they are there to strengthen it. And Murray Koster, Fez Mbatha and Yaw Penxe are carrying injuries,” Everitt revealed.

Sharks: Anthony Volmink, Marnus Potgieter, Jeremy Ward, Marius Louw, Thaakir Abrahams, Boeta Chamberlain, Ruan Pienaar, Henco Venter, Gerbrandt Grobler, James Venter, Hyron Andrews, Ruben van Heerden, Thomas du Toit (Capt), Kerron van Vuuren, Ntuthuko Mchunu. Bench – Dan Jooste, Khwezi Mona, Lourens Adriaanse, Le Roux Roets, Phepsi Buthelezi, Dylan Richardson, Sanele Nohamba, Werner Kok.