A Very Different Gloveman

Kyle Verreynne gears up for Pakistan spin test...

Sheikhupura was making its bow as a Test venue back in October 1997, the second match of South Africa’s three-match series which they were to win 1-0 with an extraordinary victory by 53 runs, bowling out the hosts for 92 needing just 146 to win.

As brilliantly at Pat Symcox (9.3-5-8-3) and Shaun Pollock (11-1-37-5) bowled I will always believe that some batsmen were trying harder than others during the run chase. And some weren’t trying much at all.

The stadium was just about ready but the city wasn’t. There weren’t any hotels so we stayed in Lahore, about an hour and a half’s drive away, we were told. It was for the team, with police escort clearing away the traffic. It was more like two and a half hours in the commentary kombi. The light faded early at that time of year which meant a 9:30am start and a 5:30am departure from the hotel in Lahore.

It also signalled the start of Mark Boucher’s 15-year Test career, arriving the on the morning before the match after a gruelling journey as Dave Richardson’s last-minute replacement following a niggling finger injury. He travelled, as all players were required to do in those days, in his ‘number ones’ – shirt, tie and blazer. He resembled a tired, confused and crumpled schoolboy.

He was anything but the finished article as a ‘keeper and but spent the next decade and a half working tirelessly to improve and became, of course, the most prolific gloveman in history. He was a technician, endlessly focussing on feet position, legs, hips and body angles apart from his hands.

He was far from alone amongst professional ‘keepers. In fact, he was normal and could be comfortably out-technicalled by many ‘keepers of his generation and since. To hear Alex Carey discussing the art is enough to put an end to anybody inclined towards the notion that ‘it’s not rocket science.’ England’s Matt Prior is another who grew into his gloves through technical study and hundreds of hours of technical drills. For him, batting was an art but ‘keeping was definitely science.

All this is why I love Kyle Verreynne so much. Not so much chalk and cheese, more lava and ice. The last Test he played was the Test Championship final at Lord’s. Now he’s in Lahore: “Preparing for the final and what I’m doing now is the complete opposite. I’m not too technical when it comes to my ‘keeping, it’s more of a ‘feel’ thing with me. I’ve been doing a high volume of work with the spinners, standing up to the stumps and being aware of the low bounce,” he said in an online media gathering.

What?

“Yeh, it’s really not technical, I’m more someone who goes about it in a ‘feel-based’ way. So, high volume work with the bowlers who we expect to do most of the bowling in the series, the spinners,” Verreynne said.

It’s just a glorious throw-back to an era decades ago when there were still amateur cricketers who arrived at evening net sessions in their office clothes and changed in the car to squeeze in an hour of practise before sunset, had a beer in the clubhouse and went home for something to eat.

Verreynne, of course, is the ultimate professional. But even his batting breaks so many coaching ‘rules’. He bats deep in the crease, barely moves his feet and resembles an lbw waiting to happen. He’s the first to admit that he doesn’t ‘look pretty.’ Yet there he is with a four 100s in just 27 Tests and a first-class average of 48.4 after 10 years in the game. And nobody, ever, has criticised his ‘keeping. The technique, yes, but not the results. Same with the batting.

He almost certainly wouldn’t have had the chance without the Jacques Kallis Scholarship Foundation providing the opportunity to attend Wynberg Boys High School. But then, perhaps he would. He was precocious and prolific as a young teenager, standing up to the stumps against fast bowlers (to their dismay) and facing them without a hint of fear. Often smashing them.

A fortnight ago he scored the runs to clinch the County Championship for Nottinghamshire during a dazzling innings of 83. “I feel like I’m in good form, good touch, and playing quite nicely. But the beauty of playing in different conditions around the world is that they all present different challenges, so you have to start over and build new confidence,” he said.

Asked whether the sweep shot was going to be employed against the expected spin attack from Pakistan on turning pitches, he said: “Some of the guys don’t sweep but it’s a shot I enjoy so that will definitely be an option.” A team-mate, hearing of his answer, said: “He’s gonna sweep the shit out of them. Or try to…” As hockey players tend to do.

· Nadine de Klerk played an innings to rank alongside any by Albie Morkel or Lance Klusener in the World Cup match against India. Power-hitting isn’t something readily associated with Women’s Cricket but, given the apparent hopelessness of the situation and the context of a World Cup, it didn’t just win the game – it won, and will win, hundreds of thousands of new followers to the Women’s game.