This cartoon says it all. PC, anyone?
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
This article published in The Times 9 December
5 ASHES LESSONS FOR SA
FRANK HEYDENRYCH
By every empirical measure, Australia have collapsed as a cricketing power. No 1 for decades, they are now No 5 and heading for No 6 in the world rankings. There is an element of schadenfraude for us as South Africans in the rapid and seemingly unstoppable decline of cricket Down Under.
But we must pause and reflect on the lessons England and Australia have for us, and our own alarm bells should be ringing. Here are five lessons we should be heeding:
1) We need a strong and competitive domestic infrastructure. Australia’s has collapsed. It used to be the feeder of the great Australian team, and grade cricket in turn was the feeder for state cricket. Both are fading away, a consequence of lifestyle change and competition from other sports.
2) Your A team is a benchmark for future strength. Time was our selectors played around with the A team, picking players who were clearly not the next taxi out of the rank. The A team is deathly serious stuff. A decade or so ago the Aussie A team was as potent as the Test team, with unimaginable riches. “World” series featured Australia, Australia A and England, and the final was always between the two local teams. Our A team would feature Jacques Rudolph, Dean Elgar, Andrew Puttick, JP Duminy, Etty Mbhalati and the like. Is our A team strong enough? More importantly, how does the B team look? The Test team is only as good as the pressure it is facing from the next XI in line.
3) Fire the selectors if they are incompetent. There is no doubt whatsoever that Andrew Hilditch and his team of selectors are the least competent in the world. To choose and not retain any of eight spinners after the retirement of Shane Warne settles that discussion. There is also no doubt that Geoff Miller has created a settled, dependable and predictable selectorial environment in England.
4) Plan, plan and plan again, with the right coach and captain in place. England had their Test team settled in July. Australia had theirs settled the day before the first Test. Andrew Strauss pre-programmed Mitchell Johnson’s bowling into a new-generation bowling machine and faced it for four months.
5) Build succession into your system. Ricky Ponting is out of form, strategically and tactically inept, and presiding over the worst deterioration of any Australian team, ever. But there is no one to replace a hapless 35-year-old, just as there is no one to replace Simon Katich, whose career ended this weekend.
Allan Border inherited Kim Hughes’ mess and through sheer bloody-mindedness turned affairs around. Can anyone fix Ponting’s utter shambles, and can South Africa ensure it does not go down the same road?
FRANK HEYDENRYCH
By every empirical measure, Australia have collapsed as a cricketing power. No 1 for decades, they are now No 5 and heading for No 6 in the world rankings. There is an element of schadenfraude for us as South Africans in the rapid and seemingly unstoppable decline of cricket Down Under.
But we must pause and reflect on the lessons England and Australia have for us, and our own alarm bells should be ringing. Here are five lessons we should be heeding:
1) We need a strong and competitive domestic infrastructure. Australia’s has collapsed. It used to be the feeder of the great Australian team, and grade cricket in turn was the feeder for state cricket. Both are fading away, a consequence of lifestyle change and competition from other sports.
2) Your A team is a benchmark for future strength. Time was our selectors played around with the A team, picking players who were clearly not the next taxi out of the rank. The A team is deathly serious stuff. A decade or so ago the Aussie A team was as potent as the Test team, with unimaginable riches. “World” series featured Australia, Australia A and England, and the final was always between the two local teams. Our A team would feature Jacques Rudolph, Dean Elgar, Andrew Puttick, JP Duminy, Etty Mbhalati and the like. Is our A team strong enough? More importantly, how does the B team look? The Test team is only as good as the pressure it is facing from the next XI in line.
3) Fire the selectors if they are incompetent. There is no doubt whatsoever that Andrew Hilditch and his team of selectors are the least competent in the world. To choose and not retain any of eight spinners after the retirement of Shane Warne settles that discussion. There is also no doubt that Geoff Miller has created a settled, dependable and predictable selectorial environment in England.
4) Plan, plan and plan again, with the right coach and captain in place. England had their Test team settled in July. Australia had theirs settled the day before the first Test. Andrew Strauss pre-programmed Mitchell Johnson’s bowling into a new-generation bowling machine and faced it for four months.
5) Build succession into your system. Ricky Ponting is out of form, strategically and tactically inept, and presiding over the worst deterioration of any Australian team, ever. But there is no one to replace a hapless 35-year-old, just as there is no one to replace Simon Katich, whose career ended this weekend.
Allan Border inherited Kim Hughes’ mess and through sheer bloody-mindedness turned affairs around. Can anyone fix Ponting’s utter shambles, and can South Africa ensure it does not go down the same road?
We do have some very interesting animal life in Linbro Park
And none more interesting than this moth, an oleander hawk moth, which assumes the colour of its surroundings.
And this the other cricket picture that helped shape my total love for cricket
We were banned from international cricket. We could only imagine the greatness of the Test players, who seemed larger than life. Patrick Eagar brought us images of unbelievable brilliance, featuring cricketers, like Rodney Marsh here, catching Tony Greig off Dennis Lillee in 1975. This and the previous photograph appeared in cricket mags of the day, which young men like me devoured. The genius of this picture is how it captures so many moments. See Lillee run off the pitch. See Greig's horizontal bat and how he watches Marsh catch him. See the umpire's garb of the day. Note the person walking across the sightscreen. Note the lack of helmets. And so much more. Photographic art never gets better than this.
One of the greatest cricket pics ever ...
Patrick Eagar has retired. This was one of the pictures he took that inspired me into a life of cricket.
KP IS A SOUTHPAW’S WALKING WICKET
This article appeared in The Times of 23 November
KP IS A SOUTHPAW’S WALKING WICKET
FRANK HEYDENRYCH
Xavier Doherty has yet to play Test cricket, whereas Nathan Hauritz has played 13 Tests, taking 58 wickets at an average of around 32. Yet Doherty has displaced Hauritz ahead of the first Ashes Test starting Thursday at the Gabba for one simple reason: he bowls conventional left-arm spin. Which means he is all but guaranteed Kevin Pietersen’s wicket in both innings, and that means England’s middle order is under pressure.
Andrew Hilditch and his fellow selectors have been pilloried Down Under, but this is a smart move. For more than a year now, KP has not been able to get a run the moment a southpaw bowler comes on. The sequence of dismissals is spectacular, and they cut across all continents, all forms of the game, all quality of bowlers.
He came to South Africa to “find form” and retreated with his tail between his legs, as vulnerable to slow left-arm as he had been in every prior game for the previous 12 months, 20-year-old Dale Deeb among those to claim his wicket. In the most recent game, against Australia A, a part-time leftie dismissed KP, bowled, in a 500-runfest where only KP failed, bowled for 5. In Bangladesh, he fell repeatedly to such luminaries as Shakib Al Hassan, Abdur Razzak and Mehrab Hossain, jnr.
It is well worth looking at any scorecard on Cricinfo, right-clicking the name of the bowler who has dismissed Maritzburg’s most bombastic export, and checking his bowling style, and you’re likely time and again to find it was a slow left-armer – of any kind – who has stuck him.
It is highly instructive that neither batting coach Graham Gooch nor director of cricket Andy Flower can turn this tide of terrible tweaker dismissals.
The Ashes loom, and KP’s arrogance means he won’t correct it. What should he do, if he were to actually listen to anyone? Well, his firm left-footed prod down the wicket and his tendency to play across the line to leg mean he exposes his front or back pad, or reduces the bat-face surface to a ball turning across him. The slower the bowler, the less chance he has of making contact, so he is either LBW or bowled. A return to basics, as Hashim Amla did, would do the trick:
play down the right line, not inside it, get to the pitch, smother the turn, take singles, work the ball around for an hour, play with a straight bat in front of the pad.
Chances are he won’t get this or any advice, he’ll be Doherty’s bunny, and out of the Ashes series by the New Year. And that could be vital to England’s hopes of Ashes success.
KP IS A SOUTHPAW’S WALKING WICKET
FRANK HEYDENRYCH
Xavier Doherty has yet to play Test cricket, whereas Nathan Hauritz has played 13 Tests, taking 58 wickets at an average of around 32. Yet Doherty has displaced Hauritz ahead of the first Ashes Test starting Thursday at the Gabba for one simple reason: he bowls conventional left-arm spin. Which means he is all but guaranteed Kevin Pietersen’s wicket in both innings, and that means England’s middle order is under pressure.
Andrew Hilditch and his fellow selectors have been pilloried Down Under, but this is a smart move. For more than a year now, KP has not been able to get a run the moment a southpaw bowler comes on. The sequence of dismissals is spectacular, and they cut across all continents, all forms of the game, all quality of bowlers.
He came to South Africa to “find form” and retreated with his tail between his legs, as vulnerable to slow left-arm as he had been in every prior game for the previous 12 months, 20-year-old Dale Deeb among those to claim his wicket. In the most recent game, against Australia A, a part-time leftie dismissed KP, bowled, in a 500-runfest where only KP failed, bowled for 5. In Bangladesh, he fell repeatedly to such luminaries as Shakib Al Hassan, Abdur Razzak and Mehrab Hossain, jnr.
It is well worth looking at any scorecard on Cricinfo, right-clicking the name of the bowler who has dismissed Maritzburg’s most bombastic export, and checking his bowling style, and you’re likely time and again to find it was a slow left-armer – of any kind – who has stuck him.
It is highly instructive that neither batting coach Graham Gooch nor director of cricket Andy Flower can turn this tide of terrible tweaker dismissals.
The Ashes loom, and KP’s arrogance means he won’t correct it. What should he do, if he were to actually listen to anyone? Well, his firm left-footed prod down the wicket and his tendency to play across the line to leg mean he exposes his front or back pad, or reduces the bat-face surface to a ball turning across him. The slower the bowler, the less chance he has of making contact, so he is either LBW or bowled. A return to basics, as Hashim Amla did, would do the trick:
play down the right line, not inside it, get to the pitch, smother the turn, take singles, work the ball around for an hour, play with a straight bat in front of the pad.
Chances are he won’t get this or any advice, he’ll be Doherty’s bunny, and out of the Ashes series by the New Year. And that could be vital to England’s hopes of Ashes success.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
LARA AND CO TURN UP THE HEAT IN ZIM
This column appeared on 17 November 2010
LARA AND CO TURN UP THE HEAT IN ZIM
By FRANK HEYDENRYCH
There is a bizarre circus taking place in Zimbabwe, where some ageing and some top current cricketers are combining with the locals to put on a cricket tournament of significant quality. Two years into a semblance of normality, an increasing number of external players are swelling the ranks and power of Zimbabwe's domestic sides.
Right now, on DSTV, and on Cricinfo, you can follow the exploits of some of the great cricketers of all time in something that is playing out as a kind of ZPL, termed the Stanbic Bank 20 Series, at the Harare Sports Club.
Top billing has to go to Brian Lara, who at 41 is still scoring runs.
But just look at the rest of the players who have been tempted to Zimbabwe, which now offers a new destination for them to earn a little extra cash and spend their summers: Lou Vincent, the former New Zealand opener; Chris Harris, the ultimate dibbly dobbly bowler and bits and pieces player; Nick Compton, grandson of the legendary Denis; Ryan ten Doeschate, the highly rated allrounder, born in Port Elizabeth but plying his trade for Essex; Andrew Hall, the one-time Protea; Paul Franks, the one-time England and current Nottinghamshire allrounder; Riki Wessels, son of Kepler, plying his trade for Northamptonshire and rated as a future England wicketkeeper; Neil Carter, the former Boland fast bowler now turned opening batsman; Paul Horton, an Australian-born Lancashire opening batsman; and Lance Klusener.
How good is the cricket? Hugely competitive, with thunderous hitting and high scores. Yesterday saw Southern Rocks score 221 off their 20 overs, with Pakistani Sikander Raza making 93 off 48 balls.
Nick Compton, in an entertaining and insightful blog, shares his
perspectives: "Playing against the great Lara on Saturday was enormous fun. To me, he is the best player I have ever seen and played against and even at 41 he is a force to be reckoned with ... the arrogance, swagger and the way he looks (yes - still looks) at the crease with that notably high backlift are all still trademarks of this legend."
But any thought that Zimbabwe has returned to normality are dashed: he could find no petrol, no one offers change when you make a purchase, and you take your life in your hands when drinking the water, no matter how hot you are.
LARA AND CO TURN UP THE HEAT IN ZIM
By FRANK HEYDENRYCH
There is a bizarre circus taking place in Zimbabwe, where some ageing and some top current cricketers are combining with the locals to put on a cricket tournament of significant quality. Two years into a semblance of normality, an increasing number of external players are swelling the ranks and power of Zimbabwe's domestic sides.
Right now, on DSTV, and on Cricinfo, you can follow the exploits of some of the great cricketers of all time in something that is playing out as a kind of ZPL, termed the Stanbic Bank 20 Series, at the Harare Sports Club.
Top billing has to go to Brian Lara, who at 41 is still scoring runs.
But just look at the rest of the players who have been tempted to Zimbabwe, which now offers a new destination for them to earn a little extra cash and spend their summers: Lou Vincent, the former New Zealand opener; Chris Harris, the ultimate dibbly dobbly bowler and bits and pieces player; Nick Compton, grandson of the legendary Denis; Ryan ten Doeschate, the highly rated allrounder, born in Port Elizabeth but plying his trade for Essex; Andrew Hall, the one-time Protea; Paul Franks, the one-time England and current Nottinghamshire allrounder; Riki Wessels, son of Kepler, plying his trade for Northamptonshire and rated as a future England wicketkeeper; Neil Carter, the former Boland fast bowler now turned opening batsman; Paul Horton, an Australian-born Lancashire opening batsman; and Lance Klusener.
How good is the cricket? Hugely competitive, with thunderous hitting and high scores. Yesterday saw Southern Rocks score 221 off their 20 overs, with Pakistani Sikander Raza making 93 off 48 balls.
Nick Compton, in an entertaining and insightful blog, shares his
perspectives: "Playing against the great Lara on Saturday was enormous fun. To me, he is the best player I have ever seen and played against and even at 41 he is a force to be reckoned with ... the arrogance, swagger and the way he looks (yes - still looks) at the crease with that notably high backlift are all still trademarks of this legend."
But any thought that Zimbabwe has returned to normality are dashed: he could find no petrol, no one offers change when you make a purchase, and you take your life in your hands when drinking the water, no matter how hot you are.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Article to be published in The Times Tuesday
WHAT SA MUST DO TO WIN THE WORLD CUP
By FRANK HEYDENRYCH
At international level, cricket is about marginal moments – those when cricketers produce a magical delivery, take a sensational catch or engineer a runout. These miracle moments seldom relate to batting, which should be a steady, reliable progression to setting or meeting a target.
Instead, the magical, marginal moments occur on the side of bowlers and fielders. (And here, for a moment, let us forget that we were unable to chase down a target of 191 on a ground where we once breezed past 434.)
For South Africa to win the World Cup next month, they need fielders and bowlers who can engineer these magical, peripheral moments.
Unfortunately, all indications are that South Africa have lost that killer ability. And unless they regain it, we will find, again, that one of the most potent one-day outfits ever assembled will choke and be on its way home before the final.
The context of this side is enormous: of the top five batsmen, four are averaging 50 over the last year: Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy. The opening bowlers are widely regarded as the world’s best, and in Lonwabo Tsotsobe they have the best emerging one-day bowler in the world. Johan Botha is unquestionably a fine one-day spinner, and there are a number of young tyros coming through, such as David Miller and Colin Ingram.
But, and this is an enormous but, the fielding of the side is at its lowest ebb since Jonty Rhodes’s heyday, and unless this issue is resolved, South Africa will continue to come down on the wrong side of the hairline decisions.
Consider: The sheer number of dropped catches (five in one innings alone against India in the final Test); the number of missed runouts, or more correctly, the number of actual hits versus misses from close range; and the fumbles on the fence.
Part of the reason is that De Villiers is wicketkeeper. Mark Boucher marshalled his field in an unobtrusive manner. He was the magnet for the field, and he corralled his forces in such a way as to elevate their fielding to a sublime level. Boucher’s genius is seldom acknowledged.
It’s not hard to see why the fielding lapses have happened. Corrie van Zyl is a bowler; Duncan Fletcher is a batting consultant; and the brains trust thought that Boucher’s absence would create a gap for an additional batsman.
To have a chance of winning the World Cup, South Africa need to appoint an emergency fielding coach, such as Rhodes. Boucher needs to return behind the sticks. Duminy must not be at backward point, as he is a liability there and his attention wavers in the most critical position in one-day internationals. And the entire squad needs to understand, and internalise, that 50 overs’ fielding at the highest level of intensity is the only option.
By FRANK HEYDENRYCH
At international level, cricket is about marginal moments – those when cricketers produce a magical delivery, take a sensational catch or engineer a runout. These miracle moments seldom relate to batting, which should be a steady, reliable progression to setting or meeting a target.
Instead, the magical, marginal moments occur on the side of bowlers and fielders. (And here, for a moment, let us forget that we were unable to chase down a target of 191 on a ground where we once breezed past 434.)
For South Africa to win the World Cup next month, they need fielders and bowlers who can engineer these magical, peripheral moments.
Unfortunately, all indications are that South Africa have lost that killer ability. And unless they regain it, we will find, again, that one of the most potent one-day outfits ever assembled will choke and be on its way home before the final.
The context of this side is enormous: of the top five batsmen, four are averaging 50 over the last year: Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis and JP Duminy. The opening bowlers are widely regarded as the world’s best, and in Lonwabo Tsotsobe they have the best emerging one-day bowler in the world. Johan Botha is unquestionably a fine one-day spinner, and there are a number of young tyros coming through, such as David Miller and Colin Ingram.
But, and this is an enormous but, the fielding of the side is at its lowest ebb since Jonty Rhodes’s heyday, and unless this issue is resolved, South Africa will continue to come down on the wrong side of the hairline decisions.
Consider: The sheer number of dropped catches (five in one innings alone against India in the final Test); the number of missed runouts, or more correctly, the number of actual hits versus misses from close range; and the fumbles on the fence.
Part of the reason is that De Villiers is wicketkeeper. Mark Boucher marshalled his field in an unobtrusive manner. He was the magnet for the field, and he corralled his forces in such a way as to elevate their fielding to a sublime level. Boucher’s genius is seldom acknowledged.
It’s not hard to see why the fielding lapses have happened. Corrie van Zyl is a bowler; Duncan Fletcher is a batting consultant; and the brains trust thought that Boucher’s absence would create a gap for an additional batsman.
To have a chance of winning the World Cup, South Africa need to appoint an emergency fielding coach, such as Rhodes. Boucher needs to return behind the sticks. Duminy must not be at backward point, as he is a liability there and his attention wavers in the most critical position in one-day internationals. And the entire squad needs to understand, and internalise, that 50 overs’ fielding at the highest level of intensity is the only option.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Great week at the coast
What a wonderful week at the coast. Kei Mouth simply one of the most beautiful parts of South Africa. Great time with family!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
I am rather pleased with the progress made on bugweed. So far, I can say that three properties are bugweed-free, and a fourth has allowed me to identify just how much bugweed is on the property - and it's over 60 plants, many of them very mature. The property owner was sure she had cleared it all! Not a chance. A long way to go, but I am sure we can clear Linbro park of all bugweed.
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