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Argentinian in South African Academy
Trevor Chesterfield
28 December 1998
DURBAN - Anyone casually glancing at the list of this year's national
academy intake may feel there has been a misprint or that the selection
panel got it wrong, after all Manias Paterson, of the Argentine, could be
mistaken as a soccer player not some one associated with cricket.
But in a country more known for its football and rugby prowess, the thought
of a talented 22-year-old all-rounder emerging from the Pampas is likely to
be met more with a touch of incredulity than a cursory raised eye brow.
Paterlini is the overseas ``development'' connection for the 1999 Plascon
Academy now being run by former Test opening batsman Jimmy Cook, appointed
recently as the director of national coaching.
And along with the top-order batsman and first-change bowler from Buenos
Aries who learnt to develop his interest in the game from former
Warwickshire opening batsman and now Free State coach Andy Moles.
Among other members of the intake are three wicketkeepers, with the SA
under/19 captain Thamie Tsolokile, heading the list which also contains Ray
Jennings' son Dylan, as well as Arno Jacobs, former Gauteng all-rounder
Stefan's younger boet and the only North West member of the 20-strong squad.
There are seven ``players of colour'', the politicians favourite current buzz
phrase, in the squad although Justin Ontong, from Boland, a promising
18-year-old and also in the SA under/19 side to tour Pakistan, is another
who would disown the phrase as demeaning. Another is Goolam Bodi who was in
last year's intake but requires further coaching, according to Imtiaz
Patel, the UCB's director of professional players' affairs.
Northerns all-rounder Quentin Still has also been included in the list
long with Tyrone Henderson who joined Border from Natal before the start
of the season and has made an impact as an all-rounder.
The squad is: Justin Ontong (Boland), Tyrone Henderson
(Border), Geoff Love (Border), Dumisa Makalima (Border), Andre Nel
(Easterns), Murray Creed (EP), James Bryant (EP), Dewald Pretorius
(Free State), Goolam Bodi (Gauteng), Dylan Jennings (Gauteng), Aldo
van den Berg (Gauteng), Shaun Adam (KZN), Wade Wingfield (KZN), Ahmed
Amla (KZN), Quentin Still (Northerns), Arno Jacobs (NW), Mulligan
George (WP), Thamie Tsolokile (WP), Albert Nkomo (WP), Matias
Patterlini (Argentine).
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