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 15th 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
