New SA coach looks ahead (22 July 1999)

22 July 1999

New SA coach looks ahead

Ken Borland

New South African cricket coach Graham Ford has inherited a team in fine shape, but the former Maritzburg Varsity coach is well aware how quickly things can change.

"You just need to look at our rugby to see how suddenly your fortunes can turn," says the 38-year-old, who answered the call to replace the highly-successful Bob Woolmer after the World Cup. "A year ago everyone was praising Nick Mallett for saving the Springboks, but now it's tilting towards everyone wanting him fired.

"South African cricket has been on course for a while, but I can't just sit back. We must keep looking to improve," Ford said.

In this vein, the former Natal coach has already called in Australian leg-spin guru Terry Jenner to tutor promising wrist-spinners around the country. He will also see Paul Adams in the hope that something will rub off and the young Western Province left-armer will begin producing the goods at Test level in a consistent fashion.

"You could see by the way Neil Johnson played Shane Warne in the World Cup that since he left Natal he has really learnt how to handle leg-spin. That's because Zimbabwe still have two top-class leggies in Paul Strang and Adam Huckle, and Johnno plays against them all the time in nets," Ford said yesterday.

"This is why Terry came =8B hopefully he can unearth some leggies and we can get them into the game over here. That will give our batsmen more practice against that sort of bowling."

Despite the depressing semi-final ending, Ford believes the main message to come from South Africa's World Cup campaign was that "we're doing a heck of a lot right and not too much wrong".

Nevertheless, Ford says that he and captain Hansie Cronje have planned a lot of hard work and preparation for the squad ahead of their first assignment this season. On September 24 they fly out to Kenya for a quadrangular limited-overs series that Ford expects to suit the batsmen.

"The last time South Africa played there (in 1996/97), bowlers got smashed all over the place. All the games are at the Nairobi Gymkhana, which is perfect for batting as it's a smallish ground with a very fast outfield." Still feeling somewhat burgled by their World Cup experience (Ford believes they would have knocked Australia out in their Headingley Super Six match had Jacques Kallis not been injured), South Africa will be eager to win their second title in Kenya.

Not that they will have an easy time of it. Kenya won't be a threat, but Zimbabwe, as they showed by destroying the form book in Chelmsford during the World Cup, and India can both beat South Africa.

Ford said Allan Donald, the man of the tournament when SA last visited Kenya, is likely to be given time off following a busy winter of the World Cup, county cricket with Warwickshire and organising his benefit season, while Gary Kirsten will be off getting married. A 13/14-man quadrangular squad, probably including two spinners for the turning pitches, may therefore have room for a couple of new faces, but no other major absentees are expected.

The Test season begins on October 29 with two games against former-Natalian Johnson and his Zimbabwe colleagues, and Ford says the South Africans are eager to restore their pride after that shock defeat in Chelmsford. "Zimbabwe have acquired a couple of really reliable performers and are now a quality Test team as they showed by beating Pakistan in a series last year in Pakistan. I know they will be very confident."

Bloemfontein cricket fans will get to witness the first Test against Zimbabwe on home soil, from October 29 to November 2, with a return fixture being played in Harare from November 11-15.

England arrive in South Africa in November for a five-Test series that Ford says will be the focal point of the season.

"The guys are really anxious to turn around last year's result (England won 2-1 in controversial fashion at home) and the series is very important for us. The series against New Zealand at the moment works as the perfect opportunity for them to get their team right for the tour and Duncan Fletcher (their new coach) will be able to tell them all about South African conditions and our players. He neutralises home ground advantage and it's no secret that it's a series we can't just expect to win."

It doesn't get any easier for Ford after that as South Africa tour India in February/March and he admits winning that series will also be "a huge ask". But Ford will not sell himself short, though, and he is adamant that the same procedures that Woolmer traded in so successfully, "lots of preparation and hard work, and sticking to the basics", will work again as he begins what is a long-awaited tenure as national coach.

Source :: Ken Borland