South Africans lament what might have been (21 June 1999)

21 June 1999

South Africans lament what might have been

Charles Randall

Bob Woolmer yesterday spoke of South African "devastation" as Australia sauntered to victory in the World Cup final.

Woolmer, whose term as coach ended after the tournament, arrived back in South Africa with the playing party in the morning and reached his home in Cape Town in time to watch the final on television. For him it was a case of what might have been.

He said: "There's no doubt in my mind that the two best sides played in our semi-final; that was really the 'final'. We would have felt very confident playing Pakistan with our record against them, if we'd got to the final and all for one run, which will haunt me for the rest of my life."

Some of the players had wept openly at Edgbaston on Thursday when South Africa were eliminated by their semi-final tie with Australia, their last pair failing to make the one run needed to win off four balls.

Woolmer said: "I'll never forget the Australian management's faces when I shook hands with them. They were white and shaking because suddenly the whole thing had changed. They had expected the match to go the other way, which it should have done.

"I'm trying to be rational about the whole thing. It's an experience in life that teaches you that an international game can be the most humbling of experiences, win or lose, and one shouldn't get too excited about it when you do win.

" I think the triumph of victory often doesn't make up for the devastation of losing, unfortunately - in our case especially so, as the Australians have gone through and won the final by eight wickets."

He added: "One can't expect to win the World Cup without that little bit of luck. There's a very fine line between success and failure at the highest level."

Jacques Kallis, the South Africa all-rounder, is to have tests in Cape Town today on his injury in the stomach area, which caused him discomfort in the World Cup semi-final last week. He is expected to be out for a fortnight, though if serious damage is found he could miss his summer with Glamorgan.

Glamorgan are said to be interested in signing Lance Klusener, chosen yesterday as player of the World Cup, if Kallis is unable to turn out for the Welsh county.

Ali Bacher, managing director of the South African board, said that Klusener would first have to seek clearance from the UCB. "If it was a short-term arrangement such as the rest of this season, I suspect we wouldn't object. But I'm not so sure we'd be happy if a longer-term contract was being contemplated."

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph