Why Black Cricket Is Dying

For months now I’ve not been writing about cricket or anything which affiliates itself with it. I was sick and tired. Angry at seeing the entire South African cricketing forum bring down and discriminate black cricketers regarding their talents and skills; yet act all clueless in front of the media when asked why they cannot field a single black cricketer in the Proteas Test starting 11.

But on Wednesday, after watching Chevrolet Warriors seam bowler Lundi Mbane’s performance against the Chevrolet Knights at the Buffalo Park Stadium in East London, his performance made me break out from my defiant ways and write what was on my mind. Mbane was called up to bowl his first spell of the 20-over match by Warriors captain Andrew Birch in the 15^th over of the game. He ended with match-figures of 1/11 in 3 overs. Why had he not bowled earlier on in the game?

The only justified answer to this question would be that it was part of the plan for him to bowl in the back-end of the game as his style of bowling becomes very effective in the back-end of the innings with his gentle pace, toe-crushing yorkers and slower balls. But if this is how they are going to use him, how strong are his chances to make the Proteas T20 squad if he is not recognized as a leading bowler for the Warriors?

But in honesty these are the little things which kill a black cricketer’s career. If he is a bowler, where is he bowling in the innings? If he is a batsman, what number is he batting for the team he is representing? What are the reasons for them to be bowling and batting in that position? And finally are the reasons justifiable? In regards to a batsman, it’s really no point if he is batting at nine. He simply has no value and no role as a batsman at nine. The same thing goes with Mbane’s situation against the Knights.

For example, this is what they did to Bizhub Highveld Lions wicket-keeper batsman Thami Tsolekile in 2004 when he represented South Africa in just three Test matches. Judging Tsolekile by his performance in the national team from a decade ago; having played only three Tests is unfair. The man has proven himself to be worthy of a selection for the Test squad over the past few seasons, yet all his form and stat records seems to be falling into the selector’s outbox file.

The big question being asked by patriotic black South African cricket supporters is how players like Thandi Tshabalala, Loots Bosman, Ethy Mbhalati etc. suddenly fell off the selection radar? Did they perform that drastically for them to have been lost and forgotten from the South African cricketing system? Then we get angry and become bitter when young black players like Siphe Mzaidume go play cricket abroad, qualify for selection in their foreign country simply because they were not victims of the career-butchering of black cricketers supported by the entire South African cricketing forum along with the various national selectors.   

-Mandilulame Manjezi
@JizzyjakesTheIn