‘Jo’burg always had fast pitches, no question of anything else’
A man of few words, head curator at the Wanderers, Butuel Buthelezi, was beaming when he was told that curators in India don’t have an office as big as his. “But my real workplace is outside,” said Buthelezi, pointing at the room in front of his office. Stuffed with lawn mowers, pitch rollers and ground equipment of every shape and size, getting to Buthelezi’s office involves a bit of hopping through this room.
It is in this office that the fate of this series will be sealed. South Africa may have already won the series against India but the pitch talk has only got more intense after a rather sub-continental wicket was prepared for the Centurion Test. Wanderers, it has been assured, can’t get an Indian pitch even if groundsmen tried to. And Buthelezi would be the last person to go against what has been the norm so far. “At Wanstadium derers we have always had fast and bouncy wickets. There is no question of preparing something else,” he said.
Having worked at the Wanderers since 1984, Buthelezi is familiar with every blade of grass at the Wanderers. For a long time he worked under former curator Chris Scott. Only in October, 2015 did Buthelezi take over, becoming the second black to be head curator of a Test venue in South Africa. The first black to get this honour was Wilson Ngobese, who is the head curator at Kingsmead in Durban.
Despite his long association, Buthelezi got to prepare a Test pitch for the first time during England’s visit in January, 2016. That Test proved to be a three-day affair with England shooting out South Africa for only 83 in the second innings before going on to win it by seven wickets. India have a good seam attack and South Africa know a pitch similar to Cape Town could give them an equal chance in the Test match. But the Proteas also don’t want a repeat of Centurion.
Locals say that even if Wanderers was bare, there would be something in it for the seamers on all days. Four days to go for the Test though, the pitch seemed fairly lush from a distance. Buthelezi too seemed confident about the way the pitch is being prepared. But has Du Plessis asked him to prepare anything specific? “No he hasn’t,” said Buthelezi. “And even if he would ask, I would prepare the pitch my way,” he added laughing.
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Touring a country outside the subcontinent presents its own set of problems. The maximum a willing host may provide are a few practice games and local bowlers at every Test venue. India though were bold enough to opt out of the only practice game in Paarl ahead of the South Africa series and focus on playing among themselves instead. As the top Test nation, they couldn’t be faulted for believing in their ability to adapt quickly, though the decision is now being questioned in the wake of their 2-0 loss.
But did India miss a bigger trick by not seeking a former South African cricketer as consultant for this series? With a number of former South Africa players available and some of the more prominent faces commentating in this series, it’s difficult to believe India wouldn’t have found someone.
The concept isn’t new. The idea of hiring consultants on a shortterm basis has been embraced more by teams outside Asia. Teams like Australia have explored this option ahead of every tour though the results haven’t gone their way often. Like when they had appointed Muttiah Muralitharan as spin consultant for their tour of Sri Lanka in 2016. Sri Lanka went to win all three Tests by big margins but Australia hadn’t given up on the idea.
When it was time for the India series, not only did Australia hire Monty Panesar — who had wrecked havoc for England in the 2012 tour of India — but also got on board S Sriram as spin consultant. India did win the series
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