A champion for South Africa's lost generations
Although he was scarcely seen after the warm-ups, this was Makhaya Ntini’s day
George Binoy
25-Feb-2013
Although he was scarcely seen after the warm-ups, this was Makhaya Ntini’s day. On a different continent it is not a good time to be a black sporting icon, but here in South Africa millions were with Ntini yesterday as he joined that exclusive club of cricketers who have represented their country 100 times, writes Mike Atherton in the Times.
Inevitably, the colour of Ntini’s skin has been a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he has been afforded the kind of international opportunities and patience that might — only might — not have come his way had he not been black; a curse because that knowledge has sometimes camouflaged his achievements as a cricketer, rather than as a black cricketer. It is time he was given his due.
To have played 100 Test matches as a quick bowler — white, brown, black or yellow — in the modern game is a magnificent achievement. Just ask, say, Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough or Jason Gillespie, fast bowlers with as much talent as Ntini but without the hardness of body to enable them to cope with the problems thrown up by a sport that is increasingly batsman-friendly.
On Supercricket, Neil Manthorp recounts an anecdote from Ntini's first overseas tour - to Australia - when the fast bowler got carried away by the bounce at the WACA and peppered Brian McMillan with short balls.
Half an hour later a tight jawed McMillan suggested to coach Bob Woolmer that it might be a good idea for the new kid to have a bat at the end of the session. And that he was also happy to break with convention and have a second bowling session instead of putting his enormous feet into an ice-bucket and resting his bear-sized muscles. What followed may rank as amongst the shortest – but quickest – spells McMillan ever bowled in a Proteas shirt. “I thought he was trying to kill me,” remembers Ntini. “Actually, he was. I’m sure he was.”
George Binoy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo