Two Sides to every Dutch Story

Inquiry looms

    Paul van Meekeran turned to his fellow fast bowler, Fred Klaasen, after four overs of the Netherlands match against South Africa with his team on 33-0, eyes wide open with surprise: “They haven’t pitched up,” he said.  

    It was at that moment, so early in the game, that he realized they could win it. “We actually targeted the match as one we could win before the tournament but, after the way South Africa started the tournament, it didn’t seem very likely,” van Meekeran said after the game when I interviewed him for TalkSport. So what does he think went wrong for the Proteas?

    “That’s a question only the South Africans can answer. We went into the game believing that, if we can get a score on the board, we could put them under pressure. Once we did that, if we could get past Klaasen, with Parnell coming in at seven, we could open up the tail and keep the non-batter on strike.”

    Simple, really. Especially with the Proteas failing to pitch up.

    CSA Director of Cricket, Enock Nkwe, announced a few days later that he would be forming a panel to investigate the Proteas’ miserable exit from the T20 World Cup. A former Protea who retired 15 years ago called me for a rant: “What the actual fuck?” I knew immediately I would not be required to respond. “WHAT is there to investigate? We all saw what happened…it was laid out for the whole world to see!”

    If the investigation is intended to produce tactical answers for the result against the Netherlands, it is indeed a waste of time. If the intention is to find reasons for the team ‘freeze’ on the morning of the match, it might be a useful exercise. But for that to happen, the players will need to be spoken to one-on-one and have complete trust in their interviewer(s).

    Unless they plan to retire from international cricket, there is nobody to whom they would speak their mind. And if they do plan to retire, why would they go through that?

    I have often been asked about New Zealand’s consistent ‘over-performance’ at ICC events. In a country with less cricketers to call upon than an average Indian town, how do they get the best out of their cricketers year after year? The answer, I believe, lies in trust and inclusivity. Both are in short supply in South African cricket – and have been for a very long time.

    The last CSA chief executive to make the national players the game’s priority was Gerald Majola. When he lost the job for divvying up the IPL ‘bonus’ in 2009 amongst his staff without appropriate involvement with the Fincom, it was the beginning of the end for player ‘security’. Never has the trust between players and administrators which existed then been regained. When decisions needed to be made, Majola would make a point of asking the captain and his players: “What do you think? What would be best for you?”

    The current nadir in the relationship was reached at last year’s T20 World Cup when the new, independent board, issued a non-negotiable ultimatum for the players to take a knee before games in solidarity with the prevailing mood of international sport at the time. It was an understandable reaction to the ugly, divisive-looking hotch-potch of gestures, and non-gestures, made by the squad before their first game. But not only was it clumsily handled at the time, but no effort has been made subsequently to repair the damage. And the damage has festered.

    Selection at this year’s World Cup should be another item on the list for Nkwe’s panel. There is obviously the subject of captain Temba (“I didn’t choose myself as captain”) Bavuma’s continued presence at the top of the order ahead of Reeza Hendricks, but Tabraiz Shamsi might enjoy an opportunity to speak to the panel after his Tweet during England’s victory against Pakistan in the final: “Adil Rashid had only 2 wickets until this final. Played every game. Was assured of his place every game. Was backed every game. Now we can all see the result of that backing he received.”

    Shamsi might not quite be at Rashid’s level, but that isn’t the point. If he was disgruntled, the mood would have spread because his personality is infectious. He deserves a seat in front of the panel, and they deserve to hear him. If he’ll speak.

    Almost a decade ago New Zealand Cricket spoke to their best players about the best way forward, in their best interests. Because their bests were also NZC’s. They are now onto a second generation of players who know they will be supported in every plausible way because, like South Africa’s and every other country’s mens team, they account for over 90% of the board’s revenue.

    Sensibly, Nkwe also said that the ‘inquiry’ wouldn’t “dwell on the past” for too long. There’s a lot of international cricket coming up which needs preparation, focus and attention. Van Meekeran spoke about the four South African players in their XI and the two coaches who helped mastermind their heist.

    “No matter who we play against, we are, at that moment of time, wearing an orange jersey. We are there to beat them. We dare to win games. I can’t tell why South Africa lost the game or why they didn't pitch up that day, but that's not our problem. We were there to compete. We did our due diligence, we did our homework on the batters, we did our homework on the bowlers, and it paid off.”

    Perhaps van Meekeran could be on the panel.