Kwazulu-Natal News Round-up
Ken Borland
17 November 1998
The Natal cricket selectors have backtracked and a more balanced team,
with a beefed up bowling line-up, will take the field at Kingsmead on
Friday against Border in the SuperSport Series.
One of the three changes to the team that lost to Gauteng sees the
long-awaited return of Lance Klusener, who had ankle surgery in
August, while spinners Anthony Botha and Robbie MacQueen will want to
cash in on their recalls.
Out of the team are slow left-armer Craig Tatton, wicketkeeper Bruce
Hughes and, in a big blow to the side's hopes of securing their first
win of the competition, captain Dale Benkenstein.
Benkenstein has been battling through back problems for a couple of
seasons, broke his toe while in Bangladesh with the national team and
then broke his finger against Gauteng ‹ the injury that has finally
put paid to his chances of leading Natal this weekend.
The axing of Hughes, who replaced the unavailable Keith Forde as a
wicketkeeper batting at eight, signals an about-turn by the selectors.
With both Errol Stewart and Mark Bruyns having kept for Natal on
numerous occasions, the selectors nevertheless chose to play Hughes
against Gauteng, and the youngster scored just eight and nought while
the four-man Natal attack toiled with little success.
Stewart will take over the gloves, and the captaincy from the injured
Benkenstein, with coach Frans Cronje saying yesterday that the change
was no reflection on Hughes's performance behind the stumps. ``Bruce
did nothing wrong, but having a specialist ¹keeper meant the bowlers
just had to work too hard.''
With the balance of the team now paramount in the selectors' minds,
Tatton, who took six wickets in the opening four-dayer against Griquas
a fortnight ago, but is a rank tailender and a less than agile
fielder, finds himself dropped after being lured back to Natal having
joined Boland in the off-season.
Cronje admitted that the Zingari spinner's axing had much to do with
Natal's batting problems, with the team failing to register decent
first-innings totals on pitches that favoured the batsmen. ``The
first-innings batting has not been good and the tail is just too long
if Tatton plays along with Gary Gilder and Jannie Dreyer.''
At least when Natal take the park on Friday it will be with an attack
of Shaun Pollock, Klusener, Gilder, Dreyer, MacQueen and Botha ‹ a
mixture of pace and spin that should be at home on any pitch. So,
with the make-up of the team seemingly sorted out in the boardroom,
what are Natal going to change on the field, because it's what happens
there that matters.
Cronje said the first priority was to sort out the batting. ``Forties
and 60s may be nice to watch, but batsmen need to get hundreds if you
are going to be able to get the match-winning totals like the 500
Gauteng got against us because Nic Pothas scored a top-class century
and so did Andrew Hall.
``The loss came about because of one bad session of batting. We were
215 for three against Gauteng on the first day, but then we were
bowled out between tea and the close of play, just like against
Griquas when we were bowled out practically in a session in our first
innings too. This has got to change and the batsmen have to occupy the
crease for longer periods.''
Cronje was also yearning for more consistency through the batting
line-up, with other batsmen following suit after those before them had
made runs, instead of gifting their wickets away. The batting line-up
had to lift their game as a unit, Cronje said.
Cronje said the Wanderers pitch had little in it for the bowlers, but
he confirmed the fine impression Gauteng paceman David Terbrugge has
made in the early stages of the season. ``He bowled very well and
Gauteng have certainly got a talented bowler there. I wouldn't be
surprised if he was called up against the West Indies some time this
season.''
As far as the Natal bowling was concerned, Cronje singled out Pollock
as being close to his previous levels of excellence. ``He led our
attack really well and bowled brilliantly.''
Cronje said Tatton's first-innings figures of one for 141 in 27 overs
were due in the main to a pitch unsuitable to spinners and that when
compared to Clive Eksteen's match analysis of one for 113 they did not
look so bad. He also pointed out that when Tatton dropped Hall before
he had scored in the first innings the chance ``was a very difficult
one''.
Natal team: Mark Bruyns, Doug Watson, Errol Stewart (capt),
Andrew Hudson, Jonty Rhodes, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Anthony
Botha, Robbie MacQueen, Gary Gilder, Jannie Dreyer. Twelfth man:
Bongani Zibane.
Supersport Series Table
P W L D Bat Bowl Pts
Border 3 3 0 0 8 12 50
Eastern Province 3 2 1 0 10 12 42
Gauteng 3 2 0 1 14 7 41
Free State 3 1 2 0 9 6 25
Western Province 2 1 0 1 5 5 20
Griqualand West 2 0 1 1 4 6 10
Boland 2 0 2 0 3 5 8
Natal 2 0 1 1 2 6 8
Northerns 2 0 2 0 0 8 8
The abandoned match between Boland and Northerns is not included in the
above table.
Other news
Bruce Hughes will captain a Natal B team coached and managed by Graham
Ford in a UCB Bowl match against Griqualand West in Kimberley from
Friday, with one other A side discard, Craig Tatton, also included.
Other players in the side who have seen senior action are Wade
Wingfield, Jon Kent, Keith Storey and Shaun Adam.
The team includes development players in Ashraf Mall, Desigan Reddy
and Zingari member Mehmood Badat.
Natal 'B': Wade Wingfield, Grant Rowley, Jon Kent, Ashraf Mall,
Kevin Pieterson, Mehmood Badat, Bruce Hughes (capt), Keith Storey,
Desigan Reddy, Shaun Adam, Craig Tatton, Warren Gray.
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