Boo-boy Behardien stands in for Steyn - and gets last laugh

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Canberra

FARHAAN Behardien is used to people not wanting him around. For instance, when he took two runs off the first ball of the 49th over of SA’s innings against West Indies in Sydney on Friday.

And that with AB de Villiers incandescent on 127 not out. What the hell did Behardien think he was doing putting himself back on strike?

“When I ran two, the crowd booed me,” Behardien said on Monday. “My friends back home, they actually made a joke. They sent me a message and we had a good chuckle about it.”

So Behardien was fully prepared to see the disappointment on the gathered press‘ faces in Canberra on Monday when he and not the advertised Dale Steyn pitched up for SA’s press conference.

Apparently, the fires near Steyn’s home at Stonehurst in Cape Town prevented him from talking to reporters. Which was a pity, because there was plenty to talk to Steyn about.

Steyn’s best statistic of the tournament going into SA’s game against Ireland starting at 5.30am this morning (SA time) is that he is 46th among wicket-takers. He doesn’t rate in the top 50 in average, economy rate or strike rate. And Steyn, who would play his 100th one-day international if he takes the field on Tuesday, is the highest ranked bowler at the World Cup.

By his skyscraper standards, Steyn has had a simplex of a tournament. And now this - a mountain fire threatening his home and the fauna and flora he holds dear.

“Of course it does affect you in some sort of way, but we have quite a strong support structure around us: the people and the friends and the family that’s here,” Behardien said. “If there's any opportunity to help them out or to be a comfort shoulder or whatever, we’ll do so.”

Steyn could answer the questions about him with a dominant performance against the Irish on Tuesday. “I’ve faced him a few times on the domestic scene, and it’s not fun when he’s at full tilt,” Behardien said.

But, in a team studded with stars like De Villiers and Steyn, Behardien struggles to stick out. “To bat the other night with AB at the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground) was goosebumps,” he said.

De Villiers is a phenomenon from a distance. What is he in his own dressingroom?

“It”s overwhelming. It’s bewilderment. It’s all of the above. It’s just jaw-dropping stuff.”

That didn’t make Behardien feel like a second-class citizen: “It’s been coming a long time, for 20 years. I’ve been prepping for this since I was a little boy.”

What with Steyn having fallen victim to a sore throat early in the piece, De Villiers overcoming gastro to shoot the lights out in Sydney, Vernon Philander hobbled by a hamstring injury and JP Duminy sidelined with a side strain, added responsibility was just a niggle away for players like Behardien.

“You never know there might be an injury or somebody might pick up a stomach bug or whatever. The emphasis is on the 15 instead of just the XI.”

Besides, sometimes even low-key players have the last laugh. Like Behardien did after the crowd booed him on Friday: “Luckily I hit the next ball for six.”