The Rob Walter ‘era’ really began amongst the peeling paint and debris of East London. Sure, he was involved in every team meeting before and during the ODI series against England but that was via a Zoom link 11 time zones away before he had left New Zealand. Shukri Conrad was the man in the room.
In preparation for the double-header against the West Indies at Buffalo Park Walter not only had 16 players with him but his chosen lieutenant, J-P Duminy, whose title may be ‘batting coach’ but whose role in the months and years ahead will be far wider than that. And Duminy knows it.
“In my conversations with Rob, as much as we have our specific areas to work on, there’s certainly going to be overlaps in terms of that assistant role, particularly when you don’t have a specified assistant coach,” said Duminy on Friday after the first ODI was washed out.
Duminy’s work as head coach of the Paarl Royals in the SA20 was lauded by England opener Jason Roy in January after he finally returned to form after almost 18 months in the doldrums. Roy spoke of the ‘special atmosphere of support’ he enjoyed during a competition in which his slump initially continued before a century in the first ODI against the Proteas when the tournament took a break for a week to fit the three-match international series.
Faf du Plessis revealed throughout his recent biography how much he relied on the calm, reassuring Duminy before and during his tenure as national captain. It was only a matter of time before he was reintegrated into the national team, although many – including himself – might not have believed it would be so soon. But Duminy and Walter go back a long way.
“The beauty of how Rob works is that he is very collaborative. He’s always asking questions about various situations that we need to make decisions on. He doesn’t see it as his sole purpose but, ultimately, he has to make the final decisions. But what I enjoy about Rob, it’s always a collaborative approach. It’s a great formula for inclusivity and where we want to go as a unit,” Duminy said. “And that goes back 10 to 15 years already.”
A much younger, more naieve Duminy connected strongly with Walter during his tenure as ‘fitness trainer’ with the national squad (it was always much more than that) and now they have the opportunity to co-ordinate their modern ideology focussing on the ‘soft skills’ which prioritise people ahead of players. By doing so, they believe they can make better players anyway.
There was much to cheer and appreciate about their first game in charge although the focus, understandably, was on the semi-comical rashness of the middle and lower-order batting which saw them lose by 48-runs. But much better to work with an over-abundance of confidence and self-belief than a lack of it. The wreckage of the batting surrounding Temba Bavuma’s brilliant 144 kind-of fitted in with the rest of the scenery.
If and when South Africa ever redevelops an economy strong enough to rebuilt itself, financially and emotionally, it could much worse than starting with East London. You can’t destroy natural beauty except by building on it and this region has never had enough money to do that. But you can cover it in plastic bottles and other filth, smash thousands of glass bottles on the streets and neglect the basic services that keep cities functioning.
Nonetheless, the basic requirements of once thriving city remain in place. The harbour is still functioning, just, and the majority of the infrastructure is in desperate need of a serious overhaul, but it is still ‘there’. People and businesses continue to live, some even still prosper, in East London but there remains a strong sense of dormancy, made all the more bleakly obvious by load-shedding. When the lights go out in Cape Town, for instance, batteries and generators keep many of them on. In East London, they go out for longer, and stay out for longer. More resilience is required, by the locals anyway, to avoid despair.
Walter and Duminy had more important things to consider than East London’s socio-economic problems during their six days together in the city and, no doubt, had neither the time nor inclination to wander the streets or beaches. If they had, they would have seen tremendous potential based on a successful past and a glorious reality masked by superficial crap.
The next, ‘new’ World Cup campaign begins. Duminy brought it up. “That’s why I’m here, and I’ve been part of the journey before, failures and all. But we keep trying,” he said. It’s nonsense to suggest that Walter, Duminy and the rest of his team might find the right answers but it’s a glorious thought that, if they do, their journey would have begun in grimy, loveable East London.
I have been following one of my dreams to go to all South Africa's international stadium and this time it was East London's turn.
I agree one can clearly see this city was once a beautiful destination and have the feeling that with some basic service delivery and a small amount of investment it can be restored and even surpassed. I still loved my stay as people were friendly, beautiful and atmosphere even better at the game. Thanks for article and hope we can share a beer if the Charles glass society is restored. Go Temba
I have watched a great number of games at Buffalo Park, often deserted.
For these games, my normal spot was not available as all hospitality had been taken by the local president or something - and we were given no alternative (save sit in the packed stands, with mainly drunken locals). This pissed me off - they happily take R500 for womens India v Windies rubbish, but couldnt /wouldnt make a plan for the one game in about 5 yrs actually worth watching.
Its just sad - the place has terrible drainage, attracts rain, no functioning PA and basically no hope.