Times Media
TELFORD VICE, Cape Town
A ridiculous runout was all that stopped Graham Ford from taking a team to a World Cup final. But, 15 years after Lance Klusener and Allan Donald lost the plot in SA’s semi-final against Australia at Edgbaston, Ford has regained his sense of humour.
Asked what the team he used to coach needed to do to make a success of the 2015 World Cup in Australasia, Ford said, “Draft in Willem Alberts, Willie le Roux and Victor Matfield.”
The three Springboks starred against the Proteas in a marketing and fundraising exercise at the Wanderers on Friday. If the T20 spectacle served any cricketing purpose, it took the edge off SA’s 4-1 drubbing in their one-day series in Australia last month.
That result can be pinned on the absence of the injured JP Duminy and an under-performing middle order. SA needed more from David Miller than his 140 runs in five innings. But he had a happier time than Ryan McLaren, who scraped together 14 runs from three trips to the crease.
McLaren also struggled with the ball, taking one wicket and joining Morne Morkel as the only other regular bowler to concede more than a run a ball.
The received view of McLaren is that he is an understated but dependable source of handy runs and tight bowling. In 41 ODI innings, he has finished not out 15 times and scored at or better than a run a ball on a dozen occasions. But he has made more than 30 only twice.
In 51 bowling innings, McLaren has conceded runs at more than one a ball 18 times. He has yet to claim a five-wicket haul, but he has taken four wickets in five matches. His strike rate of 31.2 is second only to Morkel’s 29.8 on the SA all-time list.
McLaren is the premier allrounder in a team that has enjoyed the services of some of the modern game’s finest double-edged swords.
SA have been blessed in the quantity as well as the quality of their allrounders. Brian McMillan, Jacques Kallis, Shaun Pollock and Klusener have been the stars, but there can be no sneezing at a supporting cast that has featured Adrian Kuiper, Craig Matthews, Steve Elworthy, Alan Dawson, Andrew Hall, Justin Kemp and Wayne Parnell as well as wicketkeeper-batsmen of the calibre of Dave Richardson, Steve Palframan, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers and Morne van Wyk.
In their six trips to the World Cup, SA have never had fewer than six players in their 15 who could reasonably be described as allrounders. In 1999, under assistant coach Ford - Bob Woolmer was the boss - they had 10.
SA’s squad on the tour to Australia included six multi-taskers. But the quality has slipped since Kallis, Pollock, Boucher and Klusener played in the same XI.
“The only thing SA lack is a top notch allrounder,” Ford said. “We had Nicky Boje batting at No. 10 and he could score hundreds.
“SA don’t have that anymore, and they don’t have the luxury of being able to balance the side like we did when we had Kallis and Pollock. Instead, they will have to rely on specialist performances.”
The side that tied that Edgbaston semi-final was studded with allrounders - Hansie Cronje, Kallis, Pollock, Klusener, Boucher and Elworthy.
And they still could not get the job done. Calling Messrs. Alberts, Le Roux and Matfield ...
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