Sometimes, players are bigger than their teams

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

Kevin O’Brien disregarded two of sport’s silliest conventions when the Irish and Zimbabwean teams lined up for the national anthems before their World T20 qualifier in Sylhet on Monday.

As the television camera panned across O’Brien, he winked and smiled. With that, the nonsense that sport is about solemn patriotism was exposed.

At another level, O’Brien was saying: “Hello everybody - I’m back.” He did not say, “I’m bigger than this team.” He didn’t have to.

Cricket aficionados could tell you that Ireland’s captain, William Porterfield, has scored six first-class centuries and that their Dublin-born No. 3, Ed Joyce, played 17 one-day internationals and two T20s for England before seeing the green light.

But anyone who can tell a googly from a thigh pad remembers O’Brien drilling England’s bowlers for 113 off 63 balls in Ireland’s improbable victory in Bangalore during the 2011 World Cup. Suddenly, chubby redheads were dead sexy.

Plenty who saw, heard or read of that innings will want to see whether O’Brien will slay more giants at the WT20. They will want to do so more than they will want to watch Ireland play.

Does the 20-over format - considering its audience and the fact that games can look more like action movies than cricket matches - lend itself to individuals becoming more prominent than their teams?

“That can happen, especially with the younger players - guys like Quinton de Kock and David Miller,” Lance Klusener said yesterday.

“In every tournament, people are watching the big redhead or the bowler who throws, or whatever, and they want to see how those guys go. There are always players who will set things alight.”

Having blazed SA to victory from several difficult situations at the 1999 World Cup, Klusener knows how to start that fire and keep it burning. Did his personal profile overshadow the team’s?

“It’s tough to feel that from the other side of the coin, but maybe when you look back you can say that,” he said.

For Lonwabo Tsotsobe, the attraction was violence. “Fast bowlers, they just want to hurt people,” he told reporters in Bangladesh.

“You can see that when Dale Steyn bowls. He’s aggressive, he’s passionate. He loves what he’s doing.

“Most youngsters want to grow up to be Dale Steyn or Morne Morkel. It’s very seldom that you’ll ask them who their icons are and they’ll say a leg spinner. It’s either a good hitter of the ball or a fast bowler.

“But T20 was made for batsmen and you guys pay money to see us travel.”

Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene have been travelling salesmen for cricket for much of the past 16 years, but both will retire from T20s after the WT20.

Will Chris Gayle dominate this time, or will Shahid Afridi show him who’s boss? Or will the old guard be upstaged by David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan or AB de Villiers?

Those answers will be had in the next two-and-a-half weeks, but there is no question that any of those players is capable of rising above his team.