Rickelton rocks, Whitehead rolls

11 centuries, 8 five-wicket hauls in latest round of four-day matches.

Telford Vice | Cape Town

RYAN Rickelton banked his sixth score of 50 or more in his last nine first-class innings at the weekend. The wicketkeeper-batter’s 117 for the Lions followed an effort of 159 for the same team last month, which came after scores of 92 and 109 for South Africa A in June, and 58 and 194 for the Lions in March.

Rickelton’s latest feat was central to the Lions’ division one victory over Boland by an innings and 30 runs at the Wanderers. In the same division, the Titans hammered Western Province by an innings and 139 runs at Newlands thanks to first-innings hundreds by Grant Mokoena, Dean Elgar, Jiveshan Pillay and Ayabulela Gqamane. The Warriors beat North West by 130 runs in Potchefstroom with the help of undefeated centuries by Matthew Breetzke and Rudi Second, and the Dolphins and Knights drew at Kingsmead despite Matthew Kleinveldt’s unbeaten 177 — the highest score of the round — for the visitors. The 141 overs lost to rain and bad light on the first three days in Durban proved the deciding factor. 

After three rounds, the Lions, having won all their matches, lead the division one standings. They are 15.26 points ahead of the Knights, who lead the Warriors by 3.7 points.

Noteworthy history was made in division two, where left-arm spinner Sean Whitehead followed the 66 he scored in the first innings for South Western Districts against Easterns in Oudtshoorn by taking 5/64. He made 45 in the second innings — and then claimed all 10 of Easterns’ wickets for 36.

That made Whitehead only the second player in first-class cricket to take five wickets in one innings, 10 in the other and score 100 or more runs in the same match. The other was EM Grace — the most prominent of WG’s three brothers — who made 192 not out and took 5/77 and 10/69 for Gentlemen of MCC against Gentlemen of Kent in Canterbury in August 1862. Whitehead’s 10-for was the fourth in first-class cricket in South Africa and the first since fast bowler Mario Olivier claimed 10/65 for the Warriors against the Eagles in Bloemfontein in November 2007.

At the Wanderers, Duanne Olivier and Sisanda Magala took four wickets each in Boland’s first innings of 170, of which Janneman Malan made 54. Rickelton’s ton and Kagiso Rapulana’s 65 — and their stand of 140 — steadied the Lions’ reply of 350. Rickelton was caught behind off fast bowler Ferisco Adams, who took 5/24 in a dozen overs. Olivier claimed 5/57 to finish with match figures of 9/95 as Boland shambled to 150 all out with No. 11 Siyabonga Mahima’s 32-ball 47 — 40 of them in boundaries — their top score.

WP chose to field first at Newlands, where the Titans batted for 172 overs before declaring at 647/7. As opening batters, Mokoena’s 154 and Elgar’s 117 — they shared 231 — didn’t raise eyebrows. But when No. 7 Pillay scored 113 not out and No. 9 Gqamane made an unbeaten 117 in an unbroken stand of 199, the annals were consulted. Turns out that’s not the highest eighth-wicket stand in first-class cricket in South Africa, but it’s only the sixth time four centuries have been scored in an innings in the country and just the second time in a game not involving at least one national or international team.

Off-spinner Simon Harmer snapped up 7/76 as WP crashed to 195 all out, their last nine wickets tumbling for 103. The home side followed on, and although Daniel Smith made 83 and Kyle Verreynne 50 in a decent total of 313, the damage had been done in the first innings. Harmer and slow left-armer Neil Brand shared six wickets, which gave Harmer match figures of 10/225.       

Edward Moore’s 79, Lesiba Ngoepe’s 88 and Diego Rosier’s 52, and Alindile Mhletywa’s patient 46, which came off 131 balls, helped the Warriors reach 334 in Potch. The visitors lost their last four wickets for one run.

North West mustered 350 in reply, thanks to another three half-centuries — Wesley Marshall made 94, Delano Potgieter 74 and Nicky van der Bergh 64 not out. Medium pacer Mthiwekhaya Nabe and slow left-armer Tsepo Ndwandwa took seven wickets between them.

Breetzke and Moore — who scored 55 — shared 118 for the Warriors’ first wicket, and Breetzke and Second put on 170 for the unbroken third. Breetzke was 152 not out and Second scored an unbeaten 103.

The declaration of 364/2 left North West a target of 349, but they were dismissed for 218 inside 70 overs with Marshall making 65 and Van den Bergh 64. Nabe and left-arm wrist spinner Lizo Makhosi took three wickets each.

There were also three each at Kingsmead for Knights fast bowlers Gerald Coetzee, left-armer Mbulelo Budaza and Alfred Mothoa in the Dolphins’ first innings of 226. Kleinveldt’s sturdy performance and Jacques Snyman’s 94 — they put on 155 for the first wicket — allowed the visitors to declare at 397/4. The Dolphins began their second innings 171 behind, and were three ahead with five wickets standing when the draw was declared.

Whitehead’s heroics helped SWD beat Easterns by 120 runs — and that after the home side were 5/3 on their way to a total of 193 in a second innings in which the visitors used nine bowlers. Asked to chase 186, Easterns were shot out for 65 in 25.1 overs. Oddly, they lost more than one wicket in an over only once.

In another division two match, KwaZulu-Natal Inland beat Border by seven wickets in East London. Thomas Kaber’s 103 not out powered Border’s first innings of 384, but Tshepang Dithole made 162 to bolster the visitors’ reply of 384 in which left-arm wrist spinner Kaber took 5/109. The home side were rattled out for 106 in 51.5 overs with slow left-armer Luke Schlemmer snapping up 6/31. That left KZN Inland a target of just 107, which they reached in 21.4 overs.

Limpopo and Northern Cape drew their division two game in Polokwane. Off-spinner Aubrey Swanepoel took 7/56 in the home side’s first innings of 290. Northern Cape’s reply of 350 hinged on Rivaldo Moonsamy’s 101. Limpopo were dismissed for 185 with Swanepoel claiming 4/65 to complete a match haul of 11/121. The visitors chased 126 to win, and were only five runs away with three wickets in hand when the match ended. 

KZN Inland and Border top the division two standings with 34.46 points each. Matches involving Limpopo and Mpumalanga are not first-class.

First published by Cricbuzz.

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CSA miss own deadline on Cobras transformation issue

“I can’t comment on what goes on right at the top but I can certainly say there’s great talent in South Africa.” – Robin Peterson focuses on the positive.

TELFORD VICE in Cape Town

CRICKET South Africa (CSA) seem set to miss their self-imposed deadline for getting to the bottom of a transformation target transgression last month.

The Cobras’ XI for their first-class fixture against the Warriors at Newlands included seven black players — one more than the stipulated number.

But only two of them, fast bowlers Thando Ntini and Tladi Bokako, were black African — one fewer than the target.

“CSA has noted the submission by Western Cape Cricket [WCC] in lieu of a request for a deviation from the administrative conditions,” a CSA spokesperson said at the time.

But, according to Cobras coach Ashwell Prince, there was nothing “in lieu” about how he had approached the issue.

“I followed the protocol,” Prince told TMG Digital.

CSA also said they would “launch a further enquiry into this incident and will consider all the related and relevant information in order to arrive at a decision about the strength and the validity of the argument by WCC”, and that, “It is anticipated that the investigation may take up to 14 days.”

That was on October 29 — the 14 days expires on Tuesday.

Asked on Monday night whether CSA had reached a decision, a spokesperson said only, “We will announce the outcome once we have concluded the matter.”

Pressed for a better answer, he became defensive.

The Cobras squad contains four other black Africans — batters Aviwe Mgijima and Simon Khomari, and fast bowlers Akhona Mnyaka and Mthiwekhaya Nabe — while another, spinner Tsepo Ndwandwa, has played for them this season.

None were injured when the game against the Cobras started at Newlands on October 28.

Mgijima has scored just 39 runs in five first-class innings this season while Khomari made two and four in his only match of the campaign.

Mnyaka took 1/30 in the nine overs he bowled on his debut in January, his only first-class match to date.

Nabe also last played for the Cobras in January, and has taken 47 wickets in 31 first-class games at an average of 43.27.

Ndwandwa has claimed three wickets in the two first-class games he has played for the Cobras this season.

In cricket terms, none of those players are banging down the door for a place in the Cobras team.

Who might have been left out to make room for another black African is another consideration.

Five members of the top six who played average more than 30 this summer, with Kyle Verreynne topping the list at 70.66 and Matthew Kleinveldt weighing in at 56.00.

The only merely black — not black African — fast bowler in the side, Dane Paterson, has taken 18 wickets at 21.55 in four games.

The other three members of the team, Zubayr Hamza, George Linde and Dane Piedt, the captain, were all freshly back from South Africa’s poor Test series in India.

It was thus in the national interest that they played. 

And in the Cobras’ interest: before that match they had lost to the Lions and drawn with the Titans and Dolphins.

The game against the Warriors was also drawn, leaving the Cobras second from bottom in the standings.

There was, therefore, no good cricket case to be made for forcing an out-of-form player into a side that needed a win at the expense of someone better equipped for their role.

But, as the Springboks proved emphatically at the men’s World Cup in Japan, quotas can lead to triumph because they open eyes that were previously closed.

There’s a good argument to be made that the Boks would not have done as well as they did had teams not been forced to pick black players.

Decades of selection bias — consciously or not — robbed black players of their opportunities.

With their presence guaranteed, they could not be unfairly sidelined.

And, what do you know, they turned out to be among the best players South Africa had.

That Siya Kolisi, Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe merit their places is beyond question.

As is the likelihood that, without quotas, they would never have been given the chance to prove it.  

It’s a happy ending cricket is still chasing, and the dwindling confidence in CSA’s current leadership won’t bring it any closer. 

Perhaps that vital task should be left to people who know what they’ve doing, like Warriors coach Robin Peterson.

“I can’t comment on what goes on right at the top but I can certainly say there’s great talent in South Africa,” Peterson told TMG Digital during the now controversial Newlands match.

He is about 18 months from completing a Masters in sport directorship at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Peterson hasn’t yet decided what his dissertation topic will be, but he has an idea.

“Maybe I’ll do it on ethical transformation,” he said. “Is there such a thing as ethical transformation?

“I’m living in a situation I can write about, so why not.”

Given South Africa’s past and present, Peterson won’t want for research material.

“It’s very difficult to heal wounds, but if this is your only skill in life it’s very difficult to kill people’s dreams.

“You have to give them opportunities if they’re good enough to play.”

It seems a simple statement, but South Africans will know just how complex it is.

First published by TMG Digital. 

Seven centuries offer SA hope

Three were scored by No. 3s, two by openers, and one each by a No. 4 and 6 — the players who should bank the bulk of the runs, which didn’t happen for South Africa in India.

TELFORD VICE in Cape Town

THERE were no positive results in the latest round of franchise first-class matches, but there were potential positives in the search for batters who can stay at the Test crease long enough to make a difference.

South Africa returned from India on Friday to face the music in the wake of their worst series in 83 years — a 3-0 thrashing punctuated by two consecutive innings defeats.

What with the South Africans averaging only 21.95 per wicket, it can be no bad thing that seven centuries were scored in Kimberley, Pietermaritzburg and Port Elizabeth this week.

Most notable was Reeza Hendricks’ undefeated 168 for the Lions against the Knights, a career-best effort of more than six-and-a-half hours.

Nicky van den Bergh was around for just more than three hours of the same innings for his 116 not out, and shared 200 with Hendricks.

He wasn’t in the centurions’ club, but Rassie van der Dussen’s 75 in almost three-and-a-half hours stuck out in the Lions’ second innings.

Grant Roelofsen spent more than five-and-a-half hours on his 133 for the Dolphins against the Cobras, who celebrated Janneman Malan’s 118, which took him more than four-and-a-half hours, and Matthew Kleinveldt’s 175, which endured for close on nine hours.

Yaseen Vallie’s 137 for the Warriors was the product of just about five hours of hard graft against the Titans, who had Grant Thompson’s 101 stretched past four-and-a-half hours.

Three of those centuries were scored by No. 3 batters, two by openers, and one each by a No. 4 and 6 — the players who should bank the bulk of the runs, which didn’t happen for South Africa in India.

There wasn’t much to report from the bowling side of the fence, although considering the failure of South Africa’s spinners to make an impression in India, Tabraiz Shamsi — whose 5/66 for the Titans against the Warriors was the only five-wicket haul of the round — may beg to differ.

First published by TMG Digital.