Political row mars South African triumph

Sports minister Steve Tshwete hammered the national selectors after South Africa had completed their third successive Test victory over the once-mighty tourists on Tuesday, clinching the series.

Tshwete said the selectors had not picked enough black cricketers for the fourth Test which starts at Newlands here on Saturday.

``The series was already in the bag - this was a good opportunity to let a talented youngster have a chance to play,'' he said.

Tshwete claimed the repeated exclusion of black players from the national side was denying them the chance to improve skills and gain experience.

Ali Bacher, managing director of the United Cricket Board (UCB), said he was disappointed by Tshwete's comments. He planned to challenge the minister when the pair attended a black cricket tournament in the Eastern Cape town of Fort Beaufort late Thursday.

``The politicians must have confidence in us,'' said Bacher.

For Bacher and his fellow cricket administrators, recent criticism has come as a shock. Previously, cricket was hailed as a model sport because of its commitment to black development.

Tshwete himself chaired the talks between rival black and white cricket bodies which led to the formation of the United Cricket Board in 1991.

A picture of Tshwete shedding tears of joy as he hugged batsman Peter Kirsten after South Africa had beaten champions Australia in their first World Cup match in Sydney in 1992 epitomised cricket's status as a unifying force in the new South Africa.

Ironically, at the time it was an all-white team with no player of colour anywhere near contention for a place in the side.

In the past year, though, four ``black'' cricketers have represented the country, including fast bowler Makhaya Ntini, the first black African to play Test cricket for South Africa.

Coloured (mixed-race) cricketers Herschelle Gibbs and Paul Adams have also played in Tests and have both been selected for Saturday's game. Roger Telemachus, another coloured player, played in one-day internationals.

National age group teams have become racially mixed, with an average of about 40 percent black players. Thami Tsolekile, a black African from Langa township near Cape Town, will captain the South African under-19 team on a tour of Pakistan at the end of January.

Bacher's statement in March that in 1998 you cannot have an all-white national team was thrown back in his face when an all-white side played in the first Test against the West Indies.

Gibbs was added to the team for the second Test and the UCB drew up guidelines for the national selectors who were told they should include players of colour in national teams. A monitoring committee was set up with the power to request the selectors to think again, or, when a series was already decided, to direct them to pick players of colour.

Both Gibbs and Adams were picked for Newlands. Peter Pollock, convenor of selectors, said his panel had been under no instructions.

The monitoring committee approved the team but this did not satisfy Tshwete or fellow African National Congress politician Mluleki George, chairman of the country's overriding sports body, the National Sports Council.

George sent out a warning this week: ``The time is drawing near when we will have to take action.''