The boys from the bush

There are many sights to behold on a South African safari: the much sought-after Big Five, countless different types of buck, and skies so clear you can count the stars. Sometimes a rarer breed can also be spotted: a fast bowler.

Although unlikely to be seen pouncing out of knee-high grass, South Africa's "bush bowlers" are increasingly becoming international cricketers. Zululand, Mdingi, Middledrift, Phalaborwa, Vereeniging, Ravensmead and Tzaneen will sound like the names of other planets to those not familiar with South Africa, but they were and have been the breeding grounds for Lance Klusener, Makhaya Ntini, Mfuneko Ngam, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander and Marchant de Lange.

After Shaun Pollock, who came from a family with a rich cricketing heritage, and was schooled in Durban, most of the country's prominent bowlers in the last decade have come from less glamorous places. With so many of South Africa's current cricketers emerging from small towns, more resources will be put into finding them, because of the rationale that they will make robust cricketers.

"They are mentally tougher and not as pampered as other players in their early days," Peter Kirsten, the former Test batsman, who has done extensive coaching work in the Border area, said. "And they are also hungrier."

Small-town circumstances allow these cricketers to develop in a different way to their counterparts, who attend traditionally strong sporting schools and are raised in cities.

Steyn, the world's top-ranked Test bowler, is probably the best example of this. He comes from the mining town of Phalaborwa, which sounds like an industrial hole but is actually representative of the Africa people see in brochures. In the Limpopo province skies are clear, sunshine is golden and warm even in winter, the Kruger National Park is a stone's throw away, and growing up involves getting grubby with nature, not vegetating in front of a television screen. It was here that Steyn learned to play cricket.

"There were only two cricket clubs, and both of them were in Tzaneen," he recalled, remembering the 100-kilometre drives he had to complete on vast, open roads every weekend to play a league match. "And there were very few teams in the league. But I was young, 14 or 15, and I was playing club cricket. In a small town, when you are good at something, you stand out. In a big city, a 14-year-old won't embarrass a 30-year-old, but in a small town it can happen, and it gave me a bit of confidence."

Despite his obvious talent as a bowler, Steyn was more interested in skateboarding and was only persuaded to go for trials at the Northerns Cricket Union by a friend who convinced him that the recreational activities would be worth it. "He told me the nightlife in Hatfield [a student suburb in Pretoria] is great," Steyn said. "When I got there, I shat myself."

He wasn't the only one jolted on arrival to the big city. Former South Africa bowling coach Vincent Barnes spotted Steyn at the University of Pretoria (Tukkies) academy and was immediately impressed. "He was the fastest bowler I had seen in that age group for a long time. He bowled ten overs, and about 15 no-balls. I asked him to come back to play an inter-academy game a few days later. His lips were all cut because he had been hit in the nets, but when you see a youngster coming in and bowling that fast, you get excited."

Steyn's career had begun. He was approached by Eersterust Cricket Club to play for them for two months. "They offered me R400 a day [about US$57]. I was actually earning money to play club cricket," he said. Years later, Steyn's IPL contract with the Deccan Chargers was worth $1.2 million. His journey from small-town hopeful to big-time hero was complete.

"When I was younger I idolised a lot of sportsmen, like Tiger Woods and Roger Federer, and I put them on a pedestal. But now that I have travelled the world, I can tell you that they are just normal human beings. It's not impossible for anyone to do what you see on television. You just have to do it."

Steyn's biggest asset has been the ability to swing the ball at pace, and growing up in Phalaborwa possibly helped. "When you are not coached in the traditional sense, you push yourself to the limit, and sometimes you don't know what that is," Barnes said. "It definitely allows youngsters to express themselves."

He said Philander was another example of this school of self-discovery. Philander grew up in Ravensmead, an area on the Cape Flats where life in general can be a battle. It is an area with a long history of cricket, but the heritage of the game among people of colour has been somewhat forgotten. "You learn your cricket the hard way," Barnes said.

Both Steyn and Philander, who now open the bowling for South Africa in Test cricket, learnt their basic skills by trial and error. According to Kirsten, this creates players more willing to take coaching seriously, when they do get it. "They are prepared to take advice," he said. "Mentoring is very important for those players."

In Ntini's case the mentoring came at an early age, when he was offered a scholarship to Dale College, one of the most prestigious schools in the country. The move paid off for Ntini, who went to become a legend of the South African game, but it was criticised because it took him away from his home, where he could have passed his knowledge on to others.

Steyn has already spawned a successor in de Lange. The 21-year-old is from Tzaneen, where Steyn travelled to play club cricket, and though he did not attend the same academy, de Lange cites Steyn as one of his heroes. "Marchant is in awe of Dale Steyn," Allan Donald said, while Steyn said de Lange reminds him of his younger self. "I see a lot of myself in Marchant. He just loves to go fishing, and bowl and bowl some more."

Like for Steyn, cricket was not de Lange's only love. At school he was a javelin thrower, which inspired his short run-up. "I had to work my way up from Ben Vorster School and got a break when I was picked for the Tukkies Academy," de Lange said. He would have played for South Africa Under-19s but missed out because he broke both his ankles the year he was due to represent them. de Lange has since recovered, made a name for himself at Easterns and been catapulted into the South African side. Hardus Viljoen, who is from the coal-mining town of Witbank, played with de Lange at Easterns and is being talked up as the next youngster to watch.

Kirsten believes there is no formula to determine when someone should be absorbed into the mainstream but thinks that CSA have solid enough structures to ensure they do not miss any talented players. Anton Ferreira, CSA's manager of coaching, said all the provincial affiliates have area coordinators and scouts, and the rural cricket week also helps spot future stars.

"Once we see a talented player, we absorb them into the mainstream, where we can assess and monitor them," Ferreira said. "A lot of their early learning has to do with how they are exposed to the game. Sometimes you'll find it is a passionate teacher or a family member who introduces them to it. Then they get more specialised coaching later on."

The same does not seem to apply to batsmen, as most in South Africa's current lot are from traditional cricketing schools. Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie were pupils at King Edward VII School, where Jimmy Cook was their coach; Jacques Rudolph and AB de Villiers are products of Afrikaans Hoër Seunskool, the most prominent Afrikaans cricketing school; and Mark Boucher attended Selborne College.

Steyn thinks it's because, unlike bowlers, batsmen can be coached. "Batsmen can be taught, but the most important thing about fast bowling is natural talent. We're not going to find our next fast bowler from the best school, but we'll have to find who is the most natural."