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WI
Will Seek Revenge For 1998 Whitewash |
While South Africa has retained most of the players who were instrumental in the 5-0 whitewash of the Caribbean team in 1998-99, they will rely heavily on captain Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald, Gary Kirsten, Daryl Cullinan, Mark Boucher, Jacques Kallis and Lance Klusener.The red-haired Pollock, the son of the former South African player Peter and the nephew of renowned batsman Graeme, have led the team successfully in the aftermath of the bookmaking controversy, with wins against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, while Nicky Boje has fitted in well as the team's main allrounder.
Despite the strength of the Springboks batting, it will be the depth of their bowling (with the injury-prone Roger Telemachus joining the team on the eve of the third Test) which can tilt the balance in their favour. Pollock, Donald (the lone South African remaining from the 1992 tour of the Caribbean), Kallis, Klusener, the reinstated and rejuvenated Makhaya Ntini, Justin Kemp, who toured the islands with the African's 'A' team last year, Andre Nel, selected due to the shoulder ailment of Mfuneko Ngam, as well of left-arm spinners Boje and the 'frog-in-a-blender' Paul Adams represents the largest bowling attack to tour the West Indies in recent memory.
Pollock is one of the most underrated of players, an excellent fielder at any position, and a wonderful batsman to watch, added to his impeccable accuracy with the ball. Donald's credentials are well known, while the powerfully-built Kallis has leaped from a 'bits-and-pieces' bowler before their 1998 tour of England to their first choice pacer. His pace and outswing, from a rocking action, will test the technical aspects of the West Indies strokemakers, as will Klusener and Ntini, who has rebounded well from an overturn in his rape conviction.
While Ntini, the first black international cricketer to represent South Africa, will raise eyebrows, the player arriving with the biggest expectations is the 23-year-old Nel, who floored Donald with a bouncer during a state game in February. According to their selection convenor Rushdi Magiet, "He is young and strong and doesn't give up. He is the sort of bowler who is likely to be just as quick in his third spell as he is in his first." But there is not much anticipation in store for Kemp, once Klusener and Boje remain fit during the Tests.
Boje has grown from leaps and bounds with the bat, cementing his place in the team after a broken finger forced first-choice spinner Adams out of contention since January 2000. He is also an orthodox spinner, contrasting to Adams who is prone to inconsistency from time to time. But Adams, who has played in 30 Tests and reaped 94 wickets, "has the experience and is an attacking spinner who can take advantage if the team encounter pitches likely to give a lot of help to spinners," as indicated by Magiet.
With Cullinan at first slip, Kallis at second, Paul Adams (if selected) or Kirsten at forward short-leg, Klusener at gully, Herschelle Gibbs, Pollock and Boje patrolling the outfield, and Donald on the boundary, this Springbok side will surely rank among the best fielding teams to have visited the Caribbean.
The batting will revolve around the experience of Kirsten at the top order, and his ability as the sheet anchor of the side, and the flair of Gibbs, Kallis, Cullinan, new-boy Neil McKenzie, Boje, Klusener, Boucher and Pollock.
On the other side of the coin, the West Indies will be at the stage where they were in 1992, with a conglomeration of inexperienced players as well as a few experienced heads, once again, in a rebuilding mould.
Nine years ago, David Williams was the incumbent wicket-keeper (same as Ridley Jacobs), and Courtney Walsh was the bowling leader, just as he is now in what may be his farewell to international cricket.Leon Garrick, Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds, Ryan Hinds and Ramnaresh Sarwan represent a new wave of batsmen reminiscent of the early 1990s when Jimmy Adams, Brian Lara, Keith Arthurton, Phil Simmons and Shivnarine Chanderpaul were given extended stays in the squad.
Following the inability of Sherwin Campbell and Darren Ganga to kickstart the innings in Australia, Garrick, Gayle and Wavell Hinds are the chosen opening batsmen, the most inexperienced since 1995, when Campbell, Stuart Williams and Carl Hooper were given that task. Garrick is a compact but dashing right-hander, with a penchant for the cover-drive, while Gayle, tall and left-handed, relies more on power than style for his favourite off-side shots. Wavell Hinds, despite his improvement during his debut season last year, has the tendency for leaden-footed drives. The middle order will revolve around the new captain Hooper, the grace and class of Lara and the injury-prone Chanderpual as well as the youthful Samuels and Sarwan with the likes of Ricardo Powell, Ryan Hinds and Sylverster Joseph waiting in the wings.
The contest between ex-Warwickshire members Donald and Lara is expected to be the highlight of the series while Chanderpaul and Hooper will use this contest to re-start their stalled careers. Samuels had an impressive taste of international cricket during the turbulent tour Down Under while Sarwan overcame a troubled time against Brett Lee with high scores in the recently-concluded Busta Cup.
The bowling is severly weak this time around, with the onus more on the spin of Mahendra Nagamootoo and Dinanath Ramnarine than ever before. Nagamootoo is a quickish leg-spinner, relying more on speed than spin for his wickets. Ramnarine has overcame a nagging shoulder injury on the South African tour to take 41 wickets at the Busta Cup. But the fact that Courtney Walsh is inches away from the 500-wicket plateau will mean that all attention will be focussed on him, with Colin Stuart, Corey Collymore, Nixon McLean, Cameron Cuffy and Reon King as backups.
With regards to the fielding capabilities, Garrick and Wavell Hinds will tussle for the bat-pad position, Lara, Samuels, Gayle, Hooper, Chanderpaul, Ramnarine and Sarwan are excellent in the slips and close-to-the-wicket.
This is South Africa's first full tour of the West Indies, following their loss of a one-off Test by 52 runs at the Kensington Oval in Barbados in April 1992, their inaugural Test after reinstation into international cricket a year earlier. It will certainly be a testing time for the West Indies who would want to use this series to begin to claw their way back to the becoming a team to be recknoned with in international cricket.