Dan the Man meets Allan Dawson

Its difficult to imagine Curtly Ambrose or Glenn McGrath sitting in your back garden pruning lavender bushes and trimming the roses.

The brutal, nasty, fast bowler image just doesn't fit the picture. But then Allan Dawson doesn't fit the picture of your typical quick. He's not six foot tall. He smiles a lot. And everyone seems to like him. Yet despite refusing to conform to the image his role generally demands, Allan Dawson, professional gardener, has made a pretty good fist of his other job as the head of the Western Province bowling attack. Now, with Province looking to storm back from the disappointment of last season, the new vice-captain looks set to play a significant part in making Province a title-challenging force once again.

"Ja, we were pretty dreadful last season," admits Dawson. "Nobody performed as they should have, myself included. We let ourselves down, and we let our supporters down." Which clearly hurts. The vast empty spaces that characterised Newlands for much of last season were a clear indication of the general opinion of cricket in Cape Town; bringing back the numbers to the stands is a priority for the whole team. "We need support, but we need to earn it. To do that, we need to play good cricket, and to start getting results. It's an absolute must."

To that end, the team will be looking towards Dawson and his new captain, HD Ackerman, to provide experience to the line-up. Together with Brian MacMillan, the three will form the trio to guide an exciting side through a very important season. "I'm really looking forward to working with HD. We've played a lot of cricket together, and I think he'll do really well. I've got a lot of ideas, a lot of thoughts on the game - I really want to make an input". So, an active vice-captain Ackerman will have, and there is little doubt that he can only benefit from it. The two are already working together, running coaching programmes in Kenya - a perfect chance to run through their mutual opinions on the forthcoming season. Both have international experience, and Dawson in particular has World Cup exposure, even if only as an over-qualified twelfth man. If Ackerman is a strong choice as skipper, then his vice-captain is surely a more than worthy lieutenant.

Added to their desire to see Province succeed this season is the burning ambition to return to the national fold. Dawson in particular is working hard in his characteristically quiet and determined way, keen to force his way back into a team many believe he should never have been dropped from. "I want to play one-day cricket for South Africa again. I can't see myself as a test player, but I certainly believe that I still have something to offer the one-day side", says Dawson. As a genuine swing bowler, Dawson is a rare commodity in South African cricket, and the selectors have surely not discarded him completely; it will take an impressive season to get back into a green and gold shirt. Which is exactly what Province supporters will be hoping for.

Those hopes extend to the rest of the team, and with good reason. 2000 sees the arrival of two more seamers to complement Dawson - the fast improving Charl Willoughby, and Zimbabwean all-rounder Neil Johnson, the man who will fill the overseas professional role. Throw in Roger Telemachus and Jacques Kallis on occasion, as well as Paul Adams and Claude Henderson, and the bowling stocks are looking good at Newlands. With Ackerman leading a quality top six, Dawson's confidence in the imminent recovery of his side does not seem as misplaced as last season's results may suggest.

"The inquiry was great for us last season. It got everything into the open, and allowed us to focus completely on the year to come," says Dawson. " It was tough for everyone, but we're on the way up. Vinny (Barnes) had a rough introduction, but he has what it takes, and with Eric (Simons) and Peter Kirsten in the set-up, I really feel Cape Town cricket fans have a season to look forward to". Those who remember Dawson hitting a match-winning century in the 1998 Supersport Series Final will know him as a man to believe in, and know that they can count on the new vice-captain.

For me, however, it is another memory of the diminutive fast bowler that tells me he is to be believed. I was with Allan Dawson when the World Cup squad was announced last year - a squad that didn't include his name. He cut my sympathy off quickly however, and told me that everything would be alright. No histrionics, no moaning about selectors. That was it, and he accepted it. A month later, and everything was alright (admittedly in unfortunate circumstances); Dawson, deservedly, was at the World Cup. So if Allan Dawson tells me that this season is going to be good, then I'll believe him. Even if he does arrange flowers in his spare time.