|
|
|
|
|
  |
|
A devil of a task Wisden CricInfo staff - March 6, 2002
Wednesday, March 6, 2002 In the Namibian desert, there is a small town called Usakos. It is said that God gave Usakos to the Devil, and in turn the Devil passed it on to the railways. Devoid of water, and with a temperature hovering around 48 degrees in the shade, Usakos is as unmanageable a location as there can be. In sporting terms there is only one post it can equate to - if the Devil were in charge of South Africa's cricket team against Australia, he would certainly be tempted to pass the job on to the railways.
Daryll Cullinan's decision to withdraw from the squad, after learning that the UCB would not offer him a contract, has only compounded South Africa's problems. I have to say I have very mixed feelings about this, and I have to question Daryll's commitment to the team. Was he driven by a fear of failure when confronted by his nemesis, Shane Warne? Was he driven by despair at the ineptitude of South Africa's administration? Was he driven by greed? Only Daryll himself knows. But he has gone, and Shaun Pollock's late withdrawal with a side strain has intensified the gloom surrounding the camp. Coach Graham Ford and his assistant Corrie Van Zyl are under immense pressure to deliver, and they now have the unenviable task of resuscitating the team for the second Test in Cape Town. It would be very interesting to be a fly on the wall when they give their team talk. If I was in their shoes, how might I approach the problems surrounding the team? As so often happens when your team is down, events that are out of your control start to creep in as well. Their star player and captain has dropped out with injury, and Cullinan's withdrawal – though I suspect it might have been dealt with better – is clear evidence of disquiet behind the scenes. At moments like this, it is too easy to dwell on the negatives and allow yourself to be dictated to by circumstances beyond your control. But instead, South Africa must find an inner peace and refocus their energies on those aspects of their game that they can control. It's back to basics time.
In addition, the team members need to address their sense of priority. They did not start out on a cricketing career for money, but for the love of the game, and as the Monty Python team might say: "Always look on the bright side of life". Mentally, the players are at rock bottom. There is interference in team selection. There is a lack of communication between the chairman of selectors, and the coach and captain. And the Australians are rampant. But none of these factors can be controlled. Instead, each player must adopt his own personal mantra. A positive attitude alone will not be enough against a side as talented as Australia. But allied with careful planning and skilful strategies, nothing is impossible. South Africa can take heart from Australia's recent drawn series against New Zealand. In that series, Glenn McGrath was blunted by New Zealand batsmen who knew where their off-stump was. They realised they didn't always need to move into line when the ball was getting big on them, and were happy to let it pass safely over the stumps. Similar strategies will have to be concocted against each of Australia's danger men. Should South Africa be hooking Brett Lee early on? Where should they look to score against Shane Warne? And what line and length should the bowlers adopt against Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer? The behind-the-scenes problems will rumble on for South Africa, and the Board should try to create some support structures for the players. But in the meantime it is down to the players themselves to help themselves. "I, not we" is the attitude they must take. "I, not we" have to be proud of our country, "I, not we" have to play the game for the right reasons. If each player takes on his own responsibilities, then the team as a whole has a chance. Otherwise they might as well hand this one straight to the railways. Bob Woolmer is Warwickshire's coach and ICC's high-performance manager. He was coach of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.
More Bob Woolmer
The Cullinan conundrum
© Wisden CricInfo Ltd |
|
|
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
|
