Some real magic to him to average so far ahead of everyone in recent decades, or just that everyone else has stunk?
It's a tough one. He was very good. For rebel tours, they always used to talk Alan Kourie up for the visitors because he was rated so highly. Also got to remember someone like Mike Procter says he felt Denys Hobson may have been the best spinner (or was it leg-spinner) in the world for a period. They were the main two. Of course Kourie did have the 'Mean Machine' to bowl with. When you bowl amongst Vince van der Bijl, Spook Hanley, Sylvester Clarke, Neal Radford & Hugh Page they may try take risks.
Just out of interest.
Was actually looking at scorecards from about the 83-84 season. Spin bowling was massively prevalent in our teams.
Teams around then
WESTERN PROVINCE (from 13 but often 3 spinners played)
Graham Gooch (118 tests for England)
Lawrence Seeff
Peter Kirsten (c)
Ken McEwan
Roy Pienaar
Adrian Kuiper
Stephen Jefferies
Omar Henry (slow left-arm spin)
John Emburey (right-arm off-spin) (64 tests for England)
Richie Ryall (wk)
Denys Hobson (right-arm leg-spin)
Eric Simons (moved to Northern Transvaal the next season to play games and returned to be WP captain)
Garth Le Roux
* Allan Lamb had stopped playing in SA for a little while and got England debut in 1982
TRANSVAAL (from 12)
Jimmy Cook
Henry Fotheringham
Alvin Kallicharran (66 test for Windies)
Graeme Pollock
Clive Rice (c)
Kevin McKenzie
Alan Kourie (slow-left-arm spin)
Ray Jennings (wk)
Neal Radford (3 tests for England via Zambia/Northern Rhodesia)
Sylvester Clarke (11 test for Windies- Mad )
Spook Hanley
Hugh Page
Final: Western Province v Transvaal at Cape Town, 24-27 Feb 1984
All the eligible above played for SA rebels or SA on re-admission bar Richie Ryall.
But you go Cook (TVL), Fotheringham (TVL), P.Kirsten (WP), G.Pollock (TVL), McEwan (WP), Rice (TVL), Kourie (TVL), Jefferies (WP), Le Roux (WP), Jennings (TVL), Hobson (WP) 12th McKenzie (TVL)
Natal lost Fotheringham
EP/Border lost McEwan/G.Pollock/Hobson
This was around the time of the 2 West Indian rebel tours. Most of the SA squad was chosen from the two best teams above. SA rebel players from below would include Kenny Watson & Titch Smith who played previously with Mandy Yachad & Dave Richardson debuting on these tours .
Only later v Australia did Brian Whitfield from below get a call-up. Think Trevor Madsen too. Tim Shaw played ODIs for SA on re-admission.
The other 3 teams
EASTERN PROVINCE
Ian Daniell
Wayne Larkins (13 tests for England)
Robert Armitage (right-arm off-spin)
Ian Howell (wk)
Peter Willey (right-arm off-spin) (26 tests for England)
Dave Emslie
Terance Reid/David Brickett
Gavin Cowley (c)
Tim Shaw (slow-left-arm spin)
Kenny Watson
James Carse (Rhodesian/Zimbabwean)/Michael van Vuuren
* The great Eastern Province years were coming late 80s early 90s when their batting line-up got Kepler Wessels, Peter Amm, Mark Rushmere, Dave Callaghan & obviously Dave Richardson went back home from Northern Transvaal & they got some Australian quicks.
NORTHERN TRANSVAAL
Mandy Yachad
Dave Richardson
Vernon du Preez
Noel Day (wk)
Lee Barnard (c)
Kevin Verdoorn
Rodney Ontong
Anton Ferreira
Willie Morris (slow left-arm spin)
Paul Robinson
Francois Wiedeman
NATAL
Brian Whitfield
Mark Logan
Robert Bentley (Rhodesian)
Robin Smith (62 tests for England)
Daryll Bestall
Mike Procter (c)
Titch Smith/Trevor Madsen (wk)
Geoff Miller (right-arm off-spin) (34 tests for England)
Paddy Clift (Rhodesian)
Evan Hodkinson/Kenneth Cooper/Michael Clare/Les Taylor (2 tests for England)
* The leg-spinner Richard McGlashan who was called up for the last Rebel England tour 1990 was just about joining the Natal squad this season
** Natal weren't strong for a while. van der Bijl had retired 82/83 but had spent end of his career with mean machine anyway. Barry Richards retired 82/83 & they also couldn't hang on to Fotheringham and like Lee Irvine played for the mean machine.
*** They got West Indians Collis King & Hartley Alleyne in 84/85 and Andrew Hudson debuted
**** Their seam bowling attack kept changing as you can see above bar the Rhodesians Paddy Clift and eventually Peter Rawson came in 1989. Other seamers like David Norman, Trevor Packer were in and out and they also had 41-test Englishman Graham Dilley who was part of the famous Ashes winning team down under.