Sunday Times
TELFORD VICE, Cape Town
PICK leaders extra carefully. Sweat the small stuff. When in doubt, go with your gut. Ensure you have plans beyond A. And step away from the talent.
“Darryl Cullinan always told us: ‘Talent has the knack of letting you down when you need it most’,” Kruger van Wyk said this week when he was asked what made Kiwis such crafty cricketers.
What can SA, top heavy with emphatic talent and toughness but could do with a crash course in cleverness, learn on the subject during their current tour to New Zealand, especially with a World Cup coming?
“Talent is massively important but there are a lot of other ways to be good,” Van Wyk said. “The big positive of any limitation is that you simply have to find another way, or just a way of making sure that you are very competitive. That’s where Kiwi ingenuity has come to the fore.
It’s a long way from Wolmaransstad, where Van Wyk was born 34 years ago, to Waikato, where he will captain Central Districts this season. Along the way, this epitome of the terrier-like wicketkeeper has played 45 first-class matches for Northerns or the Titans and nine tests for New Zealand, which has been his home since 2006.
Van Wyk knows he has some tough acts to follow in his new role: “New Zealand has been blessed with really good captains who make the most of their resources.
“Their tactical nous is something which goes hand in hand with all the successful Black Cap teams of the past. They know how to be creative tactically, challenging the opposition in areas where they least expect it and to try and break up the rhythm or routine of opposing teams.
“It goes back to Martin Crowe opening the bowling with a spinner (Dipak Patel) in the 1992 World Cup, which was unheard of. New Zealand captains find a way to challenge the conventional with good, creative, tactical decisions.
“Through all the eras of New Zealand cricket you can point to very street smart captains and players who had a natural feel for the game - Crowe, (Stephen) Fleming, (Daniel) Vettori, (Ross) Taylor and now (Brendon) McCullum.
“Successful leaders and players build on a brand of unique and creative cricket tactics to challenge the sometimes more talented teams of the world.
“Their ability to adapt as leaders tactically, to any situation regardless of the ‘Plan A’ that might have been spoken about and that has always energised their players and got them excited to perform during these situations, is vital.
“World Cups are good examples of this and how these decision-makers lead their teams, not just performance-wise but through their shrewd and knowledgeable cricket ideas.”
Fleming played against SA in 56 of his 396 matches for New Zealand. He captained the Kiwis in 46 of those SA games and guided his team to victory in 14 of them, and only twice in tests.
Despite that lack of success, Fleming is still held up in SA, as he is in other countries, as the thinking man’s cricket captain; the Mike Brearley of his era. Perhaps, in SA’s case at least, that was because the captains ranged against Fleming were either bigger players or bigger personalities: Hansie Cronje, Shaun Pollock, Graeme Smith.
Even so, Fleming competed as a leader and his teams - almost always overmatched by the talent and toughness of the South Africans - were invariably in the game. Of his 27 defeats as captain against SA, two were by fewer than 10 runs and five by four or fewer wickets.
Besides his own fine batsmanship, Fleming’s gift was knowing how to get the best out of his men. Which required him to know how to see the best in them. And that needed a sound system.
“There are more talented players in SA, which is a sports mad nation and a very healthy competitive environment for kids to grow up in,” Van Wyk said. “The schools do a great job of developing the talent and there are countless opportunities for any young sportsman.
“In first-class cricket you have more ‘X factor’ players who can win you a game on their own, but in New Zealand the teams are better balanced and you have more variety in different skills.
“There are more swing bowlers and Chinamen bowlers, and there is a big focus on developing not just the important skills that make you successful but also the tactical and decision-making part of the game.”
SA will come face to face with all that in the first one-day international in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday. Back to school, boys ...
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