1998 - Year-end Wrap

Thus we had the sight of Allan Donald, pinned behind the left ear and flat on his back, with South Africa team physio Craig Smith and the captain, Hansie Cronje, charging onto St George's Park. For Smith it was a matter of assessing the damage; for Cronje it was to remind Donald of the Devon Malcolm incident at The Oval some four years and a few months earlier.

Not that Donald needed to utter a similar phrase such as ``You guys are history''. The West Indies were already history: gone is the throbbing calypso beat, it has been replaced by the throbbing head. It was a significant event; perhaps as traumatic as the 1998 year which started with defeat Down Under and ends at Durban over Christmas. But, in between, as with Donald's being felled and getting back on his feet, the incident has mirrored South Africa's year.

It is the sort of heat, generated by such head hunting tactics which turns the test arena into a genuine battle ground and far removed from the limited overs contest where rotation of the strike and the white ball makes the shorter game less of a spectacle. There was much about the latter half of the Australian tour which was disappointing After much criticism Jacques Kallis emerged as the firm fixture at three and looked the part, although the New Year match defeat at Sydney, by an innings and 21 runs was, like Kingsmead in Durban eight weeks later one of several low points. At Sydney it was Shane Warne who destroyed South Africa with a bag of 11 wickets. Impressive, penetrating and aggressive, his bowling in that game added to the aura. Yet the tour could have been so different.

Peter Pollock's selection panel controversially left out Fanie de Villiers from the Australia touring party, and when it was over a couple of team members admitted his presence in Oz would have made a major difference to the strength of the bowling attack.

There was a night of magic on January 16, 1998: one Makhaya Ntini, nursed along during the tour, played against New Zealand in one of the drawn out limited-overs series matches. His inclusion attracted added interest and with two for 31 he seemed to have ``arrived''; at least deserving another crack at the opposition. Unfortunately, instead of giving the Border youngster another fling, he was ``rested''. At the time it was a strange decision.

At Adelaide Oval, with Donald injured Shaun Pollock bowled manfully and put together a world-class bowling performance. If there been a question mark about his ability they were left in little doubt when it was over. Unfortunately dropped catches  Adam Bacher dropped Mark Waugh three times as he went on to score a match-saving century -- led to a drawn test and Dave Richardson's retirement was announced almost immediately.

Pakistan were already in South Africa when Cronje led his side back from Adelaide and into a series fraught with more off-field drama and intrigue than there was on it. It was your typical Pakistan tour of South Africa. Wasim Akram was controversially dropped (omitted was the Pakistan Cricket Board's version) after match-fixing claims surfaced, There were alleged muggings of Saqlain Mushtaq and Mohammad Akram which delayed the start of the first test at the Wanderers.

Down to Durban where a section of the Kingsmead crowd, known for its political views and unpatriotic stance, verbally abused Kallis, Donald and Gary Kirsten. When, with the slightest reaction the crowd ``cried wolf'' an objection was laid.  In Port Elizabeth was more off-field trauma.

For De Villiers the decision to announce his retirement came much earlier than he had planned. And however innocent it appeared, such an event was always going to cause a stir as the preceding volatile background suggested intrigue and racial overtones.

What annoyed De Villiers was the insinuation, by implication, he had decided to quit as a United Cricket Board probe into racial allegations involving four players, and a member of The Management team, was being investigated.  It also left a question mark over the ethics of those, removed from the scene, who felt they knew the inside story better.

It was at a time when Dr Ali Bacher, managing director of the UCB, uttered the famous ``In 1998 an all-white South African (cricket) side is no longer acceptable''.

  There was little doubt, however, that De Villiers had in this case, become the victim of circumstances.  He had already been told that Paul Adams and Makhaya Ntini would be playing in the first test against Sri Lanka at Newlands in Cape Town starting nine days later.

In a fairy tale ending De Villiers returned career best test figures the next day and retired, enabling South Africa to share the series 1-1. And in England, he was missed again. His devastating late outswing would have done so much to win games at Old Trafford, Trent Bridge and Leeds. Instead South Africa lost 1-2 to an England side which was out-played at Lord's it was humiliating. The injury to Lance Klusener did not help South Africa's cause much either. He was pushed into the Old Trafford match knowing he might break down.

Limited-overs success in Malaysia (Commonwealth Games) under Pollock and winning the mini World Cup by beating the West Indies in the final did not stem the political rhetoric calling for more ``players of colour'' to be included.  Demands which exceed the abilities of the players who feel that enforced quotas and affirmative action policy is a stigma and a form of embarrassment, adding extra pressure they can do without.

Then we have had the West Indies. Brian Lara's ego, money, a camp divided and performances which would make even the lower fourths at Pretoria Boys High giggle with red-faced shame, has seen them go down 2-0 in the series with Durban and Cape Town ready to welcome the tourists as dubious attractions for the holiday season.