CricketZA

It's not easy being the chairperson of the David Miller fan club. For whatever reason, he seems to have less latitude than similar players. Maybe it is because his destructiveness is never quite enough, although this is hardly ever his fault. In the 2015 World Cup, South Africa's efforts at securing a berth into the showpiece game was not enough, but Miller himself scored 49 runs off 18 balls in a whirlwind final assault. Crucially though, he got out in the final over. His dismissal cost South Africa a handful of runs in a game which went down to the penultimate ball. Similarly, in the 2013 Champions Trophy, as the entire Protea batting squad elected to commit hara kiri, Miller, who had come in at seven scored a defiant 56 to help South Africa score a less embarrassing 175. It was never going to be enough, but considering they were 80/8 at some point, 175 could be considered blushes spared. Regardless, though. South Africa lost. Add to that the fact that Faf du Plessis picke...

‘Dear cricket-loving fraternity, ‘It is painful to pen this letter. However, there is just too much at stake to permit our great sport of cricket to fall any further. Silence would be much more painful. Therefore, I write this open letter of appeal to our cricket family members, the CSA board, the CSA members’ council and the paid CSA administrators to act before it is too late,” writes Arendse. ‘I suspect, however, that the horse has bolted, and that we are beyond the precipice, and into the abyss. ‘As a former CSA president, and until just over a year ago, the CSA lead independent director, I have the utmost respect for prescribed procedures and protocols to be followed when differences arise within the cricket family. ‘It appears, however, that for several reasons that have manifested publicly, the family differences cannot and will not be resolved through the prescribed route. ‘What prompts me to say this is not sourced from any insider knowledge or some whistle-blo...

Cricket South Africa has a lot of problems. It has gotten to the stage where they probably have more problems than they have positives. This year, for the first time, the Proteas lost to a subcontinental team at home. Not only did they lose, they got whitewashed by a Sri Lankan team which was without their two best batsmen. This disastrous home summer was then followed by a disastrous World Cup where South Africa went a month without a win and managed to lose every single must-win game they had that tournament. On top of all that, they then had a PR nightmare when it was revealed that AB de Villiers had had a literal last minute change of heart and wanted to go to the World Cup. In whose stead we can not say. Finally, South Africa went to India and outside of the first innings with the bat, where they scored over 400, they were basically pummelled from pillar to post. As a rule, with very little exception, a team needs 20 wickets to think about winning a Test. South Africa didn't ...

Standing at 4 feet 9 inches tall, Kruger van Wyk is officially the shortest cricketer in the history of the international game. But what he lacked in height, he more than made up for in determination, intelligence and a never-say-die spirit. Van Wyk left South Africa to pursue dreams of a career in international cricket, moving to New Zealand as a young adult. A successful career which included nine Tests for New Zealand was to follow. Following his retirement from the international game, van Wyk took up coaching, as the head coach for the Assupol TuksCricket academy (University of Pretoria). He recently tasted success with the team, winning the latest edition of the Varsity Cup (South Africa’s premier inter university tournament). ZA cricket : Mr. van Wyk, let’s start with the latest news, congratulations on the Varsity Cup victory. Kruger van Wyk : Thanks a lot. It was an exciting week for the lads, and they performed beautifully. ZAC : Could you take us through the d...

Ottis Gibson wants to continue, Faf du Plessis wants Ottis Gibson to continue, CSA might even want Ottis Gibson to continue, but does that mean that Gibson should indeed continue? To call the last two years of South African cricket a roller-coaster would be an understatement. For a while the boy have shamed us with embarrassing world cup performances, and back to back whitewashes at the hands of Sri Lanka of all countries, they have shown glimpses of genuinely good and exciting cricket. It is easy to forget, such is the fickle nature of fandom, but the Proteas have had sustained moments of genuine success over the last two years. They beat India, who were the world #1 side, at home with a Test to spare. They beat Australia at home for the first time in 47 years. They whitewashed Pakistan at home in the Tests. With the white ball, the picture is even prettier. South Africa went into the world cup having lost only one ODI series under Gibson. That is a seriously impressive record. ...

Due to the ever expanding international fixture list, it is becoming more and more difficult to squeeze full tours in, so international teams have taken to completing tours in pieces. Not the worst idea, but it does mean we are left with things like seemingly arbitrary one-week tours, over three games, which have no discernible benefit. But, this is the lead up to a World Cup year after all, and with that comes a few questions that need to be answered before the big thing actually happens. Is Aiden Markram our answer at #4?  The retirement of AB de Vlliers has created a power vacuum of sorts in the national team. Now shorn of the value of one of the five greatest ODI players of all time as well as unarguably the most destructive, possibly of all time, but most definitely in his era, the team has spluttered along a bit at the death. It must be said,that AB was present for when India completely ran us over at home, 5-1, in the ODIs earlier this year, with only our Pink ODI kit...

In the history of South African cricket, no spinner has taken more One Day International wickets than Imran Tahir. It isn't particularly close to be honest. He has 149 wickets, no other spinner has 100. He is also currently the leading T20 international wicket-taker in South African history. In other words, in international cricket, he's our greatest ever white ball spinner. He is also, with the ball at least, the most likely reason we will leave England with a world cup, or at the very least our pride intact. See for a bowler to lead a team to a world cup, they need to commit the perfect crime. If 15 years of watching CSI has taught me nothing else, its that to commit the perfect crime, one needs three things. Motive, means and opportunity. Motive. That's the want to. The desire to achieve something improbable. Tahir doesn't just just have the motive to win a world cup. He has the motive to take tail-end wickets against Zimbabwe in a meaningless ODI. The man plays...

They made heavy weather of it, but the Proteas as expected defeated Zimbabwe 3-0 in the ODI series. The bowling was imperious. Whoever was asked to bowl bowled well. Dale Steyn was ramping it up at 150 kph. Kagiso Rabada was Rabada. Lungi Ngidi was who we are beginning to acknowledge he is. Imran Tahir took a hat-trick and Tabraiz Shamsi showed he is a competent back up to the great man. Andile Phehlukwayo continued to take wickets and go at around six to the over. Which is generally what you ask of your fifth bowler. That is the bowling. The batting wasn't a disaster, but it was not encouraging. It took until the third ODI for a top six batsman to get to fifty. There were mitigating circumstances. The first ODI, the chase was less than 150, and in the second, the pitch was not, shall we say, ideal. But there are always mitigating circumstances. This was a show out series. A chance to strengthen your claim for a world cup spot, with the event proper less than a year away. No on...

Many years ago, when the skies were blue and the world was good, Michael Jordan was in the NBA draft. The Portland Trailblazers had the number one draft pick. The Blazers at the time already had a pretty good shooting guard in Clyde Draxler. A scout called them pre-draft and told them to pick Michael Jordan, to which the Trailblazers replied, "We already have a shooting guard. We need a centre". The scout gave the immortal retort "Pick Jordan and then play him at centre". The basic premise behind this modern allegory is that if the moving parts involved are good enough, you can figure out how to fit them in later. Sort of reverse engineer sporting success, if you will. See what you have, and make it fit. As compared to the old way, which was; see what you need, and get pieces that fit. I think of this story today as I write about Wiaan Mulder. In his limited time with the Proteas, he's been put in to bat #6 or 7. He bats at four for his domestic side, The ...

When you properly introduce yourself to world cricket with an unbeaten half-century in a 414-run fourth-inning Test chase, and then embed yourself on world psyche with a 166-run run masterclass, the chances of you living up to the hype you would have created for yourself are understandably slim. Even with that caveat, JP Duminy's career has been rather disappointing. Historically speaking, for the last 40-odd years, the average Test cricket average has been around 31. Duminy's Test average was 32. Decidedly bang average. But that was his Test career. He has thankfully retired from that endeavour, not quite successful, but not really a failure. We have a world cup in 10 months, so we are here to talk about his ODI career. Urbandictionary.com describes the phrase "finesse", as "meaning to make a profit off of someone by fooling them to buy something that is low quality or not real". When you look at Duminy's career average, it seems an acceptable, bor...