RSA: South African Youngsters Must Get The Chance (23 Jun 1996)

23 June 1996

South African Youngsters Must Get the Chance

South African Cricket Academy coach Hylton Ackerman has warned that some of the country`s best young players are not getting a fair chance to stake their claim for higher honours. The warning came on the eve of the departure of the South African `A` side for a 12 match tour of England.

"We`ve got some fantastic talent in this country but even some of the `A` players can`t be sure of a regular place for their province`s senior wide when they return" said Ackerman.

Ackerman stated that a key aspect of the winter Academy was to bolster the strength of provincial cricket, and he went on to suggest that strong provinces should release good young players as a loan to weaker teams if they couldn`t guarantee the players a regular place in the first team. "The big provinces would still own the player, and they would also gain because he would come back much better after a season of experience."

Next season sees nine sides - including the newly promoted Griqualand West - playing in the Supersport Series. With the national squad having a full itinerary the 100 odd remaining players will be hard pressed to produce a consistently high level of performance.

And this is Ackerman`s concern; "Some of the provinces are really battling to find players of first class standard, yet others are not giving an opportunity to outstanding young players."

Ackerman cited Western Province and Natal as sides with a surfeit of young talent. Natal have two fine young players, Dale Benkenstein and Doug Watson, who get very few chances at top level. Benkenstein, in particular, suffers from being picked too low in the order and only when there are senior players absent through injury or international duty.

Ackerman, who feels that Benkenstein has tremendous leadership potential, sympathises with Natal`s dilemma: "They`ve got a lot of good players, so it`s not easy for them to find the right spot for someone like Benkenstein."

One player on the `A` tour who will be looking to improve his game is chinaman and googly bowler Paul Adams. Apparently he took some stick from young batsmen during his recent stint at the academy.

"He`s a terrific talent", said Ackerman, "but he needs to work on his variation. When the guys worked out how to read him they were able to attack him."