Hayward pace booster

A few weeks after turning 21, the fiery red-haired, so hopes Peter Pollock, the national selection panel convener, is going to the fast bowler to take over from Allan Donald.

Yet this particular undertaking is as full of pit falls as any sink hole riddled area. Brett Schultz's career was launched in 1993 amid great expectation. But after one series (against Sri Lanka) he has barely surfaced as a genuine threat.

In fact hardly anyone remembers that it was only eight months ago he was playing in Pakistan.

Then there is the tragic case of another left-arm quick Aubrey Martyn, selected for the 1994 tour of England with the planned hope he would develop, in the asence of the injured Schultz, into a natural test bowler during the tour.

Unfortunately he was invalided home with a serious back injury days after arriving in London and has since disappeared, a folorn figure who has a South African blazer and little else to show for his selection.

Hayward is far different. He's had Kepler Wessels as his mentor and the former South African captain has had a hand in grooming the Uitenhage. Rumours are that Hayward, when he returns to South Africa, will be playing for Natal next season.

But right now his focus is on the tour of England and his hopes of making it either as a one-day bowler in the ODI series or a test quick, supporting Donald, Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener. His plan is to take over the number 4 bowling slot. Ahead of him in the queue are Roger Telemachus and Makhaya Ntini.

``I am confident, given the opportunities on the tour, I can do enough to convince the selectors I'm capable of a place in either side for the limited-overs or test matches,'' he said before the team left.

It is good to have ambition, but so did Schultz, whose departure for Cape Town a couple of seasons ago left the gap for Hayward to take on more responsibility.

``He showed us then how capable he is,'' said Wessels. ``And I think he has learnt a lot last year from attending the Dennis Lillee School in Madras and also the national academy.''

Yet Hayward, who has done much to model himself on Donald, has the same whippy action Donald had when he began his career for Free State in 1985/86 season. Whether he will fill out and learn as quickly as Donald is another matter. Donald admits he owes much to his early years with Warwickshire and close contact with Bob Woolmer.

Hopefully Hayward will get his opportunities in England but if he hopes to one day take over Donald's role he needs to learn there is a lot more about fast bowling than running in and thumping down a lot of fast balls hoping pace and pace alone will do the trick.

Sure he did well against West Indies A, but that was a particularly below average side with batting flaws in their technique which had their coaching compliment becoming more desperate after each game.

A tour of England is different to playing in the comfort of your own country. Pitches are harder and slower and it requires a lot of work to get wickets. Just the sort of trip to mature a young man with Donald and Woolmer on hand to iron out all the other problems.

Trevor Chesterfield Cricket writer Pretoria News Work : tche@ptn.independent.co.za Home : t_chesterfield@hotmail.com

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