DocHead said:
Thanks, don't follow CC, didn't know that.
For some reason the SA selectors don't like line & length bowlers like David, they even take a dip at Pollock sometimes like Oh, he's dropped a yard of pace, he's getting on a bit, doesn't hit batsmen on the head enough and rubbish like that.
You wonder if Glen McGrath would have even got a look in if he was South African? "He's not too quick, and he really can't bat. It's a no then?" is probably how that meeting would have went.
Jennings: A kick up the backside by Ken Borland
Posted on 31 August 2004 - 14:29
Given the apocalyptic goings on in Sri Lanka with the national team, South African cricket followers are probably wondering what the players in reserve - the SA A side - are up to.
Well, the SA A team have been learning about the gospel of cricket according to one Ray Jennings. Their tour to the troubled land of Zimbabwe saw them win one five-day international and draw the other, and complete a 3-0 whitewash in the limited-overs games, but the trip was always more about giving their inexperienced opposition some exposure rather than the results.
But it did allow the newly-appointed Jennings to do the groundwork for the far more challenging visit of the New Zealand A team next month. And the former South African wicketkeeper is nothing if not forthright about what he wants from his players.
"The tour to Zimbabwe was useful because it allowed me to get to know the players and just how mentally tough each one is. I'm trying to instil hardness in them and sometimes they need a kick up the backside," Jennings told SuperCricket.
He has always enjoyed doing things differently and players under his tutelage are not allowed to get complacent.
"I like to challenge their mindsets and get them to do something special, something that no-one else has done. So I got Zander de Bruyn to bowl 22 overs on the trot in the one game and in the last one-dayer I only chose four bowlers to set up the challenge. I wanted to see which of the batsmen would put their hands up and take on the responsibility of being an all-rounder," Jennings said.
It turned out to be the captain, Ashwell Prince, who threw himself into the deep end and delivered seven overs - more than he had in his entire previous first-class career - quite tidily.
Considering the ramshackle state of the Zimbabwean economy, it was little surprise that the facilities in Bulawayo, where all five matches were played, were not outstanding. The winter pitches were slow and a bit uneven, according to Jennings, with just one century - Neil McKenzie's 126 not out in the second five-dayer - being scored in 14 innings.
But even though conditions were not in their favour, Jennings said the greatest current ill in South African cricket - the lack of fiery fast bowlers- applied to the SA A team as well.
"We lacked a quick who could really pound the ball in, a shock bowler. We needed a bowler who could hurt guys."
Jennings said Charl Langeveldt and spinner Paul Adams were the pick of the attack.
"Adams underwent a remarkable change in self-confidence and he worked at one or two things which clicked.
"Langeveldt bowled nicely too and hit a couple of guys on the head," the combative Jennings said.
Amongst the batsmen, Jennings said novice opener AB de Villiers was "an exciting young prospect", while the runs scored and class shown by Boeta Dippenaar and McKenzie would have been the envy of their woeful counterparts in the senior side.
The descendent fortunes of the national team, mired in their bog of tactical ineptitude and poor form, means anyone producing top-class performances for the SA A team in their three four-day and three limited-overs games against New Zealand A, must have a chance of promotion. The national team is aching for an infusion of enthusiasm and Eric Simons and Omar Henry will hopefully be keeping a close eye on the series starting on September 8.
At the same time as Simons and his team will be rushing off to England for the Champions Trophy, Jennings and the SA A team will be getting together again for their second assignment.