South Africa's bright future (30 December 1998)

30 December 1998

South Africa's bright future

Tony Becca

A few minutes before the start of play on the third day of the third Test at Kingsmead on Monday, the United Cricket Board of South Africa launched the Plascon Academy for the development of South Africa's promising young players.

Among the 20 involved were seven from what the UCBSA calls the disadvantaged communities.

The players, coloured, Indians and blacks, are Justin Ontong, Dumisa Makalima, Goolam Bodi, Ahmed Amla, Mulligan George, Albert Nkomo and Thamie Tsolokile, and while the announcement was greeted with approval by non-whites, the whites saw it as nothing but tokenism - similar, based on the government's call for and the UCBSA's insistence that non-whites be included in the national team, to the inclusion of a number of non-whites on the Under 19 team to Pakistan, including captain Tsolokile, and of Herschelle Gibbs in the Test team.

Before the day was over, however, the non-whites were smiling and saying "I told you so", and the doubting whites were looking at each other in disbelief.

Up to tea, Jonty Rhodes, despite the comparable speed, clean pickups and hard, accurate throws of Gibbs and Ashwell Prince, was the undisputed king of fielders in South Africa.

Within 55 minutes of the interval, however, Gibbs brought off two magnificent catches and Rhodes had a challenger for his crown and to the title as the world's best.

With left-handers Brian Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul on the go and South Africa on the run, Gibbs, flying to his left, at the right of the square-leg umpire, took a brilliant catch to cut down Lara and to break the partnership at 160; and 40 minutes later, with the ball going over his head and past him, he plucked a fantastic catch with his left hand to remove Darren Ganga and to leave the West Indies, sailing along at 201 for two before he caught Lara, in a spin at 213 for six.

According to Lara, those two catches probably changed the course of the Test match.

As far as the non-whites were concerned, however, the important thing about Gibbs' brilliance was that it should now lay to rest all the talk about tokenism.

"All I wanted to do when I played was to show everyone that we are as good as the whites," said Omar Henry in Port Elizabeth a few days ago. And as far as the coloured left-arm spinner who played in three Test matches was concerned, he did just that.

That, in a nutshell, is what Gibbs did on Monday. "There are many more like him around," said Khaya Majola - the black man heading the UCBSA's development programme. "All they need is more exposure."

Cricket is a game of batting, bowling and fielding, and right now the non-whites do not have a batsman as good as Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan or Hansie Cronje, or a bowler to match Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock and Lance Klusener.

In Gibbs, however, based on his performance in the third Test, they not only have a batsman good enough to become as good or better than Kallis and company, but a fielder who is already as good as Rhodes.

Those two catches have not only turned Gibbs into a star, they may not only build his confidence as a batsman, but more importantly for non-whites around the country, they may also inspire others to greatness - others like pace bowlers Makhaya Ntini and Victor Mpitsang, left-arm spinner Paul Adams, offspinner Shafiek Abrahams, number three batsman Ontong, and middle-order batsman Prince.

Source :: The Jamaica Gleaner (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/)