Going Back To Aus For Seconds

I tend to often reflect back to my childhood growing up in East London, Eastern Cape. My friends and I would occasionally climb over the neighbour’s fence for a sweet treat of some guavas or berries –the fruits you’d rarely find stored neatly in your household’s refrigerator. Not that this was acceptable, but those fruits tasted much sweeter than the ones bought for me by my mom –and because of that, my friends and are would be in the neighbour's tree on a regular.

This is the same mentality the Proteas have to install in themselves going down to Australia, striving for success in November. The Proteas had previous won Test Series they had played down under in 2008/09 with a very convincing display of individualism cricketing performances. We witnessed the introduction of young flamboyant batsman, JP Duminy, scoring a 50* on debut and a massive 166 in the following Test match –securing the Test Series for South Africa.  Not that he was underrated, we all knew what he was capable of as he was scoring runs on the regular for the Nashua Cape Cobra, but the media was very sceptical having him ahead of Ashwell Prince. The selectors were very fortunate to have had Prince injured in the nets off Makhaya Ntini’s bowling because then this initially gave Duminy a chance to prove himself in the big stage against then the best team in world Test cricket.

The Proteas now have a similar situation with their vice-captain, AB De Villiers being injured with a back injury. Many people in the public are very sceptical in having Thami Tsolekile to step in the wicket-keeping batting role in place of De Villiers (in case he’s still battling with his back injury). Similar to recently retired-veteran South African Wicket-keeper, Mark Boucher, Tsolekile is not the most gifted batsman in the world, but he tends to have very big partnerships with his fellow batting partners –often when needed the most. But what’s so useful about Tsolekile is that his glove work is unquestionably one of the best in the country. That shall be something we eagerly need –consistency behind the stumps. Many critics must also understand that this is definitely not the young, radical Tsolekile that was then making his Test match debut in Kanpur, India. Everyone deserves a second chance to prove their worth to represent their country –especially when you have proven in the domestic scene that you much capable of doing an outstanding job.

Not that we should really focus much on the Australian camp, but much controversial selections have been made for the Test Series. The major one would be the exclusion of wicket-keeper batsman, Brad Haddin, for the young 24-year-old Tasmanian glove-man, Matthew Wade. I sincerely feel that Haddin would’ve been the best option to opt for as he’s a fighter to core, despite the team being in any trouble or situation in a match. The Australians shall need those fighter-characteristic players in their changing rooms throughout the series against the fearsome bowling attack South Africa have in their disposal.

Not that it’s a big threat for the Proteas –but let us forgot that Mickey Arthur is the Australian cricket coach. Arthur had been the Proteas coach for five years before heading to Australia. He knows much about the Proteas cricketing culture and how the Proteas go about their ways. South Africa’s top six’s strengths and weaknesses shall definitely be emailed to the bowlers the night before each Test match for homework.

#ACB #CSA #Test Match Cricket #Second Chances #Repeat of Success 

-Mandilulame Manjezi

Future Prospect

Many cricketers would agree that there’s barely anything Murray Graeme Coetzee can’t possibly do on the cricket field. The 18 year old wicket-keeper batsman hails from Pretoria School Boys High where a few talented schoolboy cricketers have been developed in Pretoria. Just like Proteas Test captain Graeme Smith, not only does Coetzee share a second name with talismanic batsman, but as well the leadership qualities that motivate his fellow teammates around him to do more than the impossible.

Coetzee was selected for the U/19 Northerns Cricket team were he captained the squad heading to the annual Coca Cola Khaya Majola Week in December 2011. Going into the tournament, Coetzee’s only major ambition was to simply do well in the tournament and make past cricketers having represented Northerns proud. Leading from the front, Coetzee managed to produce a number of match winning performances which got him the Batsman of the Tournament award. Despite Coetzee having injured his finger before the tournament, his consistent performances with the bat saw him get selected for the Titans Cubs squad and chosen to represent the SA U19 team in the 5-match ODI Youth Series again Pakistan in Cape Town and Stellenbosch in early January this year.

Coetzee performed moderately well for the SA U/19 outfit scoring 31*, 44 and 55 when he was given the chance to showcase his abilities against the visiting Pakistan U/19 team. “We were made to work for our national caps. I had a few hiccups on the tour, early on especially, but once I had adjusted to the Jet’s [Ray Jennings] different style of coaching, I really enjoyed it and we made a lot of good memories on the tour.” explained Coetzee with a grin on his face about his time in the SA U/19 team. Coetzee’s plans for the near future are to hopefully represent his country at the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup in Australia this year in August. Not only does Coetzee excel on the cricket field, but he’s also very passionate about his studies. Coetzee wishes to study medicine at the University of Pretoria next year [2013] where it would be possible to represent the Northerns Amateurs outfit and hopefully soon for the Nashua Titans just as his father Lance Coetzee had done so in 1980.

-Mandilulame Manjezi
@JizzyJakes

World Cricket Bullies

From my judgement, when it comes to us South Africans and our sports – we are bullies. We tend to bully around the regular underdog teams on the rugby and cricket field (won’t elaborate much about our soccer). Like typical bullies, when someone who matches us with size and strength confronts us, we will then retaliate in a way were we would then try to keep our dignity intact.

So here now lies the problem. Our major national sports winning teams aren't doing relatively well. Not initially by the standards we are capable of playing. Our gutsy Springboks are currently second on the Castle Rugby Championship log, while our mighty Proteas team can’t seem to win any rewarding silverware in limited over cricket. We got the players, the coaching staff and loyalty support from the faithful supporters. So what is it that seems to be lacking for both South Africa’s sports giants?

I’m not about to criticise, just trying to evaluate the situation just as a typical South African patriotic supporter. So as far as I can remember from my primary school days, from when I was relentlessly bullied, and my high school years, where I was the ‘man to look up to’ (I was never a bully), once the bully has been confronted and defeated, the bully then loses his authority as well as his/her dignity. They would then regain back this authority and start bullying once again, repeating the cycle of bullying. A little bit immature not so? Well that’s how we the South African supporters are witnessing the situation, particularly how the Proteas have been playing in ICC cup tournaments throughout the past decade.

The Proteas’ preparation leading up to the T20 World Cup was not initially a thriller of a performance. The Proteas went over to Zimbabwe in June were they displayed the most atrocious T20 cricket they've played in a very long time. To simplify the outcome, they truly undermined their opponents (Zimbabwe) which at the end didn't do any justice for them as they had done poorly in the ICC T20 World Cup 2012 in Sri Lanka. In that same triangular series tournament in Zimbabwe, 25 year old Lions all-rounder, Chris Morris, was given an opportunity to represent his country – and took it! He was absolutely fantastic with the ball. But he’s not featured in the World Cup T20 squad. I understand that he originally got his chance to play in Zimbabwe because some of the players were being rested for the Test matches in England that following month, but if a player is given a chance and does well; doesn't that at least grant him another chance to really prove his consistency in international cricket?

 After the dismal performance we displayed with the ball (particularly the seamers) against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, I then thought I’d surely see Lonwabo Tsotsobe feature in the next match. But instead Parnell was selected over Tsotsobe. Not that Tsotsobe is a better bowler than Parnell, but Parnell is currently not consistent at the moment. You simply can’t win world cups with inconsistent performances. And after all, Tsotsobe is the world’s third best ranked ODI bowler. Why not give him a chance? He’s third in limited overs cricket for a reason! This then leads to two definite questions that could be answered instantly, if answered honestly. Did they not playing Tsotsobe because he’s not an all-rounder like Parnell? Or did they simply not playing him because his skills are consistently undermined. 

#Underdogs #T20 World Cup #Proteas #Triangular Series

-Mandilulame Manjezi 

@JizzyJakes

An Adventure With The Titans

“Okay boys! You guys shall be training with the Titans today. This is a learning opportunity, I really hope you’ll use it efficiently –and remember, BE VERY PROFESSIONAL OUT THERE!” These words from our academy coach, Mark Charlton, really gave me shivers down my spine.

As the Northerns Titans Affiliated cricket academy in Pretoria we had been invited to join one of the Nashua Titans’ training sessions in preparation for the big cricketing event that shall take over South Africa in a few days’ time –The Champions League Twenty 20. The Nashua Titans, as well as their provincial neighbors, the Highveld Lions, managed to obtain a spot in inaugural tournament by qualifying for the finals of the South African domestic T20 MiWay Tournament.

We the Academy players were thrilled for what the mighty Titans had under their sleeves for us on the day. Instead of sitting around like a flock of chickens ready to be slaughtered, we decided to head on to the green pastures of the historical SuperSport Park and warm ourselves up by kicking a soccer ball around. During our intense warm up, the Titans players emerged from the changing room and led themselves down the long towered stairs of SuperSport Park and on to the field were they would start their own warm up below the stands on the field.

We cut our warm up session to a complete stop and stared at them working on their warm up while we sat on the grass amazed and muttered by how they conducted themselves with just a simply warming up –It was crazy! One of the academy guys screamed excitedly “Shit! There’s Jacques Rudolph!” then realizing afterwards that he sounded like a 5 year old groupie seeing his hero face-to-face for the first time. The other academy boys gave him that “don’t embarrass us bro” type of look after his moment of excitement.

It was now time to get on with the real business. The opening batting pair of Pieter Malan and Henry Davids strolled onto the middle were the practice would take place, after their very long team talk with the Titans coach and former English county cricket Glamorgan batsman –Matthew Maynard. Surprisingly it was the Titans left-arm spinner, Roelof Van Der Merwe, who opened the bowling along with T20 bowling specialist, Alfonso Thomas. I assume that’s their plan heading into their first match against Australia’s Perth Scorchers.

There was good cricket all around with Thomas showcasing the different skills he has gained from playing T20 cricket all over the world and Davids middling the ball with each stroke he played. I managed to get a chance to ask CJ De Villiers for some advice on bowling cutters. He gladly showed me one of his favourite –and then executed it for me to demonstrate how it works. It was all breath taking.

Next pair to bat was the dynamic wicket-keeper batsman, Heino Kuhn, along with veteran county cricket batsman, Martin Van Jaarsveld, who seemed to be really struggling against the Titans pace bowlers that consisted of Thomas, Ethy Mbhalati and CJ De Villiers. Cursing vicious swear-words and relentlessly shouting at himself with every shot he mistimed into the humid air of Centurion.

The session lasted about 3 hours of hard intensive cricket under the hot African heat. It was undoubtedly a really fantastic experience with South African cricket’s T20 champions. The Nashua Titans start their campaign in the T20 Champions League on October 13, so don’t miss out on the action. Get to SuperSport Park to catch the mighty Titans live displaying much elegant and delightful cricketing action!

-Mandilulame Manjezi
@JizzyJakes