Markram burns bright on dull day

“You appreciate the nice things people say to you, but it probably doesn’t outweigh the … I don’t want to say nonsense, but the not nice things you read.” - Aiden Markram

Telford Vice / Centurion

IT started with a dot ball, blocked into the covers in moth-eaten fashion. Immediately, the sightscreen went on the fritz. Once that was straightened out, in a minute or three, some unfortunate wandered across said sightscreen as the bowler reached the business end of his journey, causing the batter to wave a halting hand.

Five more barren deliveries followed. One over done, and it only took eight minutes. Just another 89 to go. Welcome back to Test cricket, South Africa.

After seven weeks of T20 spills and thrills to pay the bills and make the game look like something straight out of Beverly Hills, and a sliver of ODIs, we’ve come down to flannelled foolery with a bump.

Consequently, perhaps, there were more reporters and commentators than spectators at Centurion on Tuesday for the start of the series between South Africa and West Indies. There’s a clue in the day. Tests that begin on a Tuesday are doomed to be played to the sound of one hand clapping. Especially when the home side currently are the least attractive entity in the game in their country and the visitors aren’t exactly drawcards.

Aiden Markram smeared the 11th ball of the match, a leg-side offering from Alzarri Joseph, into the grey area between square leg and midwicket for four to register the first runs of the series. The openers should have been separated seven overs later, when Dean Elgar edged a drive off Kyle Mayers. But third slip, Roston Chase, couldn’t do anything except palm what should have been a straightforward catch towards gully, where Jermaine Blackwood also failed to hold on.

With 11 minutes left in the session, a brass band slid into a soggy version of Stand By Me that sounded freshly fetched from a New Orleans funeral and matched the mood perfectly.

That chimed with Elgar and Markram, too, who seemed less than intent on playing emphatic cricket. They had three overs to score four runs and bring up the hundred before lunch. When Elgar resolutely defended the last ball of the session, bowled by Chase, South Africa were 99 without loss.

But the tempo picked up and the partnership swelled to 141 before Elgar’s newfound penchant for the ramp led him to attempt the stroke once too often, off Joseph, and fall to an acrobatic catch by at deep third by Blackwood — who rushed in then dived backward to snare the ball one-handed.

By then, Markram was 60 runs into his masterclass, which was studded with cover driving of Wolvaardtian calibre. Recognised as the purest batting talent of his generation in South Africa, Markram can come across as joyless. So a scene almost empty of enthusiasm seemed perfect for a man who can look as if he plays without passion.

It’s an unfortunate and unfair opinion, but it’s also unsurprising given Markram’s unshakeably serious demeanour on the field. Another view on Markram could be had from what he told the Sunrisers Eastern Cape team he captained after Joburg Super Kings had beaten them with two balls remaining at St George’s Park on January 21.

“Tonight’s pretty simple,” Markram said, as captured on a dressing room video. “Fifteen, 20 runs more and this fucking changeroom is smiling. So we’re not diving fucking deep into what-ifs and buts and all that bullshit. But the one thing I wanted to touch on is that it was a fucking incredible game to be part of. To stand on that field and watch how you guys fought is something you can’t teach. It’s something you can’t encourage guys to do. It comes from within.” The next day at the same ground, Markram’s team hammered Durban’s Super Giants by 124 runs.

Passion? The man has plenty, and it showed itself 11 balls into the third session when — a delivery after he survived a review for caught behind to a delivery from Joseph that hit his shoulder — he carved a cut through point for four. It took Markram to his first century in 17 innings in which he reached 50 only once and 30 just three times. His lean run cost him his place in the squad for the series in Australia in December and January. Maybe that was why, as his bat swung skywards and he whipped off his helmet, his eyes looked hot with wetness. Were those tears?

“I was fighting them off,” Markram said. “It meant a lot to me. It’s been a strange journey but I’m grateful that it worked out. There was a lot of relief going through me.”

Losing his place, he conceded, “might have been a good thing. Today felt like starting with a clean slate. Things work out weirdly at times, and I was heartsore not to be in Australia. But I was satisfied with the reasons why I was not on the tour. As batters we need runs on the board, and if you’re not scoring runs in a team that wants to be the best in the world your position should be under scrutiny.

“Those were the frustrations; sometimes getting in and not going big and other times just not scoring because of a good ball or a bad shot. Those frustrations build and you find yourself not in the squad, but you understand why.”

Markram regained his place by decree. Shukri Conrad, South Africa’s new Test coach, said bluntly Markram would open the batting in place of Sarel Erwee — who scored one of only two centuries made by South Africans last year. “It’s great when a coach backs you like that,” Markram said. “It gives you extra confidence. You want to do him justice for backing you. That’s one of his biggest strengths — he’s always clear in his messaging and you always know exactly where you stand.”

Conrad made known his bold decision, among several others, on February 17 — six days after Markram’s Sunrisers had beaten favourites Pretoria Capitals with 22 balls to spare in the final at the Wanderers. Only Jos Buttler and Faf du Plessis scored more runs than Markram in the tournament and he was one of just three century-makers. That, Markram said, had boosted his morale going to the Test series.

“It’s very different, but when you have runs under the belt you can take confidence from it. The SA20 was a great competition and we finished well. Those sorts of happy vibes, you do carry them forward.”

Markram said he had blocked most of the bad vibes that had been aimed his way: “I’ve binned social media and I’m not very good on my phone. A couple of years ago I decided to get off Twitter and not read [cricket]. Whatever you don’t read you can’t look into. You appreciate the nice things people say to you, but it probably doesn’t outweigh the … I don’t want to say nonsense, but the not nice things you read.

“After having a tough day there’s no point in reading the negative things people are sending to your notifications. A couple of bad innings and you feel like you're the worst player in the world because you’re reading what everyone has to say. Some people have thick skins, but there’s no point reading it because it’s not doing any good.”

So he’s not going to bother finding out what people thought of Joseph yorking him for 115 in the eighth over after tea. Markram’s wicket was among the seven that tumbled for 79 with the help of a quickening surface that harboured movement and the odd delivery that refused to get up, and the renewed focus and application by West Indies’ attack. Joseph, who also trapped Temba Bavuma in front for a second-ball duck in his first innings as South Africa’s captain, took 3/60.

The home side should have scored more than their 314/8, but they will be relieved to have reached 300 for the first time in 10 completed innings in which they passed 200 only twice. Much of the credit for that belongs to Markram, who took the trouble to properly greet reporters individually at his press conference. So who was the real Aiden Markram — the well-mannered, measured young man whose inner fire had brightened what might have been a dull day, or the tough-talking Sunrisers captain?

“There’s a lot of passion that comes out in changerooms, but you’re in the public eye and you have to try to be a role model to the kids who are looking up to you and try to make people proud of you. You don’t want to go too far away from your authentic self but you have to understand the role you play.”

He won’t read this, but good on him.

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