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Ready gentlemen? Play.
Yes. Please, let’s play. Often the ten-day break in the middle of a big Test match series leaves us salivating for that first ball of the next Test, and in this belter of a series between the world’s two best pace attacks the urgency to get things back underway is increased tenfold.
Since the now infamous exchange between David Warner and Quinton de Kock and the subsequent hostile reaction from the former, there’s been more drama and hostility than those rubbish ‘reality’ television shows they air on mainstream TV.
With the iron still scorching from Day 5 of the first Test until Day 1 of the second Test, we’ve had a childish ploy from fans to try and get under Warner’s skin, more fireworks and disrespect shown by both sides to departing batsmen and opinion on the remedy to the situation from every man, woman and canine.
The onus has been put on the players to cut it out, stop the chat and get on with playing cricket. While this is fair to an extent, the men out there are representing their country in the most torrid form of cricket there is, and I don’t agree on complete peace and quiet.
Bowling teams can be on the field all day and this isn’t a library, so any subtle edge the fielding side can gain on the batsmen should be exploited. South Africa’s opener, Aiden Markram, said after his dashing second-innings hundred in the first Test that chat on the field, “keeps me in the game and keeps me going, keeps me motivated”.
(Independent Media screenshot)
It formally worked for the Australian side against Daryll Cullinan but it never worked against the great Jacques Kallis, so it’s very much a double-edged sword.
What should not be encouraged and needs to be outlawed is celebrating a wicket over-exuberantly and screaming in a batsman’s face. Once a batsman is dismissed, they have only one place to go. They are defeated and have no comeback, so bellowing in the grill of the man is completely unnecessary and a cheap form of attack.
You don’t see a batsman stroke a gorgeous cover drive for four, charge up to Mitchell Starc or Kagiso Rabada and scream in their face. Good fast bowlers are intimidating enough; there is simply no need for it.
These are competitors, however, and ultimately human beings, all with different personalities, so more of the responsibility needs to be placed on the match officials, specifically the two umpires out in the middle. Some will say they have enough on their plate as it is, but this is their job.
They have the power to step in and curtail any signs of hostility that could lead to unsavoury events, yet too often in recent times mild-mannered umpires, like Kumar Dharmasena and Marais Erasmus, have not stepped in and been the forceful voice of reason that is needed, a la Dickie Bird and David Sheppard.
(AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
Moving forward, if the players need to improve their behaviour, than the umpires need to also improve their diplomacy skills. If players are allowed off the leash, more often than not they’ll run free.
Lastly, the onus needs to be on host broadcasters to show some discretion in what gets aired to the viewers both audibly and visually.
This is a tough sell to TV networks that really only care about ratings and entertainment, but the ICC needs to do more in conjunction with the host broadcasters to ensure content that is not related to the cricket itself is not shown as regularly. This includes turning stump microphones down once the ball is dead, as per ICC guidelines, and avoiding releasing footage that only serves to serve the gossip hunters.
It happened with the James Anderson and Michael Clarke exchange in 2013, and now more than four years later we were given access to Warner’s altercation with De Kock, which took place off the field.
This doesn’t mean cricketers then get to say and do as they please. However, a cricket field is hallowed turf, and hearing on-field talk and making an event out of it – with the way social media is nowadays – diminishes the on-field achievements of these wonderful entertainers.
(Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
Speaking of these entertainers, did you hear about AB de Villiers’s wonderful century? It was quite something. On a pitch where most batsmen struggled, AB counterpunched brilliantly, cracking eighteen fours and generally making it look easy on his way to a hundred off just 116 balls.
With some late-order support from Vernon Philander and Keshav Maharaj he built a matchwinning 139 run lead which, with KG Rabada on fire with the ball, was always going to be tough for the Aussies to haul in and build a fourth-innings total to defend.
The multi-talented De Villiers legend continues to grow, and as is the case with Australia’s batting kingpin Steve Smith, is the prize wicket for their opponents. With neither side having posted more than 400 runs in an innings this series, both teams will be looking for a more even spread from their top seven
The Aussie contingent have all managed at least a half-century – apart from Shaun Marsh and Tim Paine – and are not as out of form as some people are suggesting. It’s the well-documented batting collapses they must avoid, while a well-timed captains knock by Steve Smith would be timely.
The same can be said for South Africa’s line-up, with Dean Elgar, Hashim Amla and the previously indestructible Faf du Plessis all showing signs but not going on with it while talented opener Aiden Markram cracked a smashing fourth-innings hundred in the first Test and looks a player of the future.
(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
While more runs are needed, the bowlers are living up to their end of the agreement, and both attacks are bowling well in combination. The Aussies’ awesome foursome – and Mitch Marsh – had the Proteas in trouble at 6/183 until De Villiers took over, and they will be hell-bent on bouncing back against the great man in Cape Town.
As for South Africa, there’s no denying the loss of Rabada – pending an appeal – will hurt somewhat, but they do have some depth despite Dale Steyn being unlikely to return just yet. Young tearaway Lungi Ngidi already boasts best bowling figures of 6/39, which included trapping Indian maestro Virat Kohli plumb in front, and they also have the experience and of the stingy Philander, who is bowling quite beautifully, as well as the dangerous spin bowler they’ve craved for years in Maharaj.
For Australia, they must win the series to regain the trophy, and you feel that, with Rabada and Steyn both absent, this is the time to make their move. They need to win another Test and prevent the home side from doing the same if they’re to claim a series win overseas, something that has been elusive of Smith’s men of late.
The South Africans will look to keep their cool and hope KG’s loss doesn’t come back to hurt them in the same way it will hurt the rest of this series for the neutrals.
We have two Test matches to play – Cape Town and Johannesburg – and up to ten days of enthralling Test cricket between these two great nations. Let’s hope they’re days to remember.
So let’s talk about the cricket now. The rest is just background noise.
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