South Africa's go-to man

Whoever that was pretending to bowl on a sultry Durban afternoon in the second Test against Australia, it sure wasn't Makhaya Ntini. Yes, he tore into his run with the same bracing relentlessness. Yes, his shoulders seemed cleared for take-off as he loped hurriedly back to his mark, which made him look like Makhaya Ntini. But he bowled like Shaun Pollock Lite.

There was no snap, crackle nor pop in his deliveries, and the ball seemed to ooze towards the batsmen at a limp 120kph. A week later in the third Test at Jo'burg, Ntini bristled with his full array of weapons. The Aussies' tendency to lapse into dead-rubber mode has to be factored in, but he deserved his figures of 10 for 178.

What gives? Ntini's body, that's what.

"He tweaked a hamstring (in the first Test) in Cape Town, and he was just feeling the effects," said South African coach Mickey Arthur. There's more to it than that. Consider that until a few months ago Ntini had never - not once, at any level of cricket - missed a match through injury. For any fast bowler of comparative age and experience, that is remarkable. For one who plays the game with the throttle as wide open as Ntini does, it shouldn't be allowed.

In fact, it isn't allowed. Ntini discovered that in December, when injured tendons behind his left knee ruled him out of the Sydney Test and the entire VB Series. Everything changed.

"He is back to full fitness, but there have been signs that his body is taking a bit of strain," said Arthur. "He is on the physio's table more than he has ever been before in his career." According to Arthur, Ntini's enforced absence from the field is also part of the reason that he has roared through the second half of the summer.

"I think his success comes down in large part to the fact that he had two months off when he left the tour of Australia because of that injury," said Arthur. As if an indefatigable Ntini wasn't a big enough worry for opposition batsmen, they have had to contend with a well-rested Ntini in the bargain.

Remember that this is a man who bowls his heart out for a living, and rides his lungs out on a mountain bike for fun. The upshot has been a haul of 28 wickets at 24.60 in the five Tests that Ntini played against Australia in 2005-06. The next best South African average is the 32.50 that belongs to Jacques Kallis, and Andre Nel is second on the wicket-taker's list with 20.

But, at the age of 28, Ntini has made the startling discovery that he is, despite all previous suggestions to the contrary, mortal. "His injury in Australia was the first of his career," says Arthur, "and even though he has recovered I think he's a bit scared now because he's not sure of the signs when things start hurting."

For Kallis, who captained South Africa in Johannesburg after Graeme Smith pulled out of the match with a finger injury, Ntini remains South Africa's go-to bowler. "He's the one guy you can turn to when the other bowlers are tired, and he knows what he's doing so you leave him alone to get on with it," Kallis said. "He's pretty close to the ideal bowler."

Mike Procter, an Ntini from another age of South African fast bowlers, would no doubt agree. "His perseverance is incredible, he bowls as if every ball is the most important one to him, and of course he's very fit," said Procter. "He's the sort of bowler who will have figures of nought for 60 at tea and five for 80 at stumps."

Procter reckoned that Ntini represented a third of South Africa's attack. Imagine if they could find two more where he came from...