South African coach lashes out at journalist

It was with anger and frustration that I learnt about the article that appeared in the Argus Newspaper and its sister publications on Wednesday 23rd April. Clearly it was written by a journalist with no understanding or knowledge of the team or our World Cup campaign.

Highly confidential reports have been leaked by a person or people who obviously have little or no sense of moral integrity to a reporter who has acknowledged to the UCB that he knows very little about the game.

The fitness trainer's report is grossly misinterpreted in the article and it is an indictment on the editors of respected newspapers that they are prepared to publish a front page story in a manner that befits the cheapest form of journalism - and under such lurid headlines.

At no stage did the journalist bother to discuss the contents of the report with anyone involved in compiling the report in the interest of presenting a fair and complete picture.

Obviously, as coach I have seen both the report and the article and it is clear that the writer has chosen to exaggerate and twist the content purely for the sake of sensationalism as the article makes no attempt to present the facts fairly.

The bulk of the article refers to an assessment exercise the squad did four months prior to the start of the World Cup. In the exercise we looked for any potential weaknesses that may have existed among the potential squad members. This was done in consultation with each individual and agreement was reached that the areas in need of attention receive the necessary attention well in advance of the tournament.

When the issue of weight is brought up in our assessment we are talking about a few kilograms either way. To use the word "fatties" is a disgrace to all journalists and an example of gutter journalism. When we talk about binges, we are talking about players who prefer to miss meals and to eat once a day. The words "alcohol" and "binge" are each mentioned once in the entire report, yet reference to them managed to find its way to the bloated headlines! The team has a policy of no alcohol from two days before, and obviously throughout any international match, and this was policy throughout out world cup campaign.

Mr Gray's report goes on to state that every provisional World Cup squad member passed a fitness test prior to the naming of the final squad, but the reporter does not bother to mention this as, clearly, it does not suit the overall tone of his story.

I could continue explaining why this article is a disgrace, and simply an attempt to suit someone's own selfish ends.

As a squad we wanted to leave no stone unturned in our preparation for the World Cup, and even the smallest potential problem - such as the injury potential of someone like Jonty Rhodes - was considered.

Obviously as a squad we are desperately disappointed in our performance and the outcome of our World Cup campaign. But the issues raised so sensationally in this article were dealt with months before the tournament and were not, in any way, a factor at any stage in the tournament.

I have found the endless, destructive attacks by certain sections of the SA media disappointing in the extreme, particularly when the positive angles are so often ignored.

In this case, it seems that the need to be destructive was motivated by the need to sell newspapers and enhance careers. All of which is very frustrating as we endeavor to make our nation proud of their team.

None of us has ever claimed to be perfect, but we do need and appreciate the incredible support we have from our public in spite of these attempts by some media to be destructive.

The South Africa cricket team is in an exciting transitional phase, and we are already seeing some encouraging signs on our tour in Bangladesh.

The story reached us just before our team meeting on Wednesday night, and I can honestly say I have never experienced a more subdued and dejected meeting as the one that followed. And this, just twelve hour before a Test match!

The team expects justified criticism when playing at the highest level, but the sense of hurt and disappointment felt at the injustice of this article was tangible in all those affected.

The captain did his best to pick the team up in the meeting, and in the end they understood the need to look forward and focus on the Test match and an exciting future.

This team will move forward not because of articles like this but in spite of it.