Petulance
While New Zealand gears up for a month and a half of fingernail chewing (only 22 more sleeps to go boys and girls), there is another World Cup starting soon. OK, the cricket 20/20 World Cup is not to be taken seriously (except as an opportunity for this punter to make money) and judging by the squads selected, most of the participants throw it into the Mickey Mouse category as well.
Which makes the brouhaha over the non-selection of South African's premier batsmen Jacques Kallis intriguing. Here in little ol' NZ, our Coach told our premier batsmen his services were not required and he'd be better off spending more time in England scoring runs for his county. Whether Stephen Fleming agrees with that, or has been muzzled, the point is nary a peep has been heard out of him.
Compare that to what's happened in South Africa. Kallis isn't selected, who promptly throws his toys out of the cot, resigning as South African's vice-captain and "reconsidering" his international future. You have to wonder at the lines of communication between the player and selectors/management - for all his reputation as a slow scorer in all forms of the game, he is one helluva player and not one you'd want to piss off lightly.
But it doesn't end there. Enter Mark Boucher (SAF's wicketkeeper) who vents his spleen in a newspaper column.
According to Cricinfo, Boucher was quoted by the Business Day newspaper as suggesting there were ulterior motives for his omission: "It is either those who have an issue with him, and have a chip on their shoulders, or those who have ulterior motives." He did not elaborate.
Further along the article, we learn Boucher is lukewarm about the tournament. "First prize for those of us who love cricket is to be Test world champions," he said. "Second prize is to be 50-over world champions. Twenty20 only comes after those, really."
Which is what puzzles me about the whole thing. The 20/20 tournament is a bit of hit and giggle and not that serious for anyone, players included. So why get all hot under the collar over Kallis' non-selection? The over-reaction by both Boucher and Kallis suggests all is not well in South African cricket and you wonder what is going on behind the scenes. One thing for sure, I wouldn't be backing them to win the tournament next month, even with it being held in their backyard.
Which makes the brouhaha over the non-selection of South African's premier batsmen Jacques Kallis intriguing. Here in little ol' NZ, our Coach told our premier batsmen his services were not required and he'd be better off spending more time in England scoring runs for his county. Whether Stephen Fleming agrees with that, or has been muzzled, the point is nary a peep has been heard out of him.
Compare that to what's happened in South Africa. Kallis isn't selected, who promptly throws his toys out of the cot, resigning as South African's vice-captain and "reconsidering" his international future. You have to wonder at the lines of communication between the player and selectors/management - for all his reputation as a slow scorer in all forms of the game, he is one helluva player and not one you'd want to piss off lightly.
But it doesn't end there. Enter Mark Boucher (SAF's wicketkeeper) who vents his spleen in a newspaper column.
According to Cricinfo, Boucher was quoted by the Business Day newspaper as suggesting there were ulterior motives for his omission: "It is either those who have an issue with him, and have a chip on their shoulders, or those who have ulterior motives." He did not elaborate.
Further along the article, we learn Boucher is lukewarm about the tournament. "First prize for those of us who love cricket is to be Test world champions," he said. "Second prize is to be 50-over world champions. Twenty20 only comes after those, really."
Which is what puzzles me about the whole thing. The 20/20 tournament is a bit of hit and giggle and not that serious for anyone, players included. So why get all hot under the collar over Kallis' non-selection? The over-reaction by both Boucher and Kallis suggests all is not well in South African cricket and you wonder what is going on behind the scenes. One thing for sure, I wouldn't be backing them to win the tournament next month, even with it being held in their backyard.
Labels: cricket
posted by Rob Crawford at 9:49 AM
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