Van Wyk shares the passion in cricket-crazy Pakistan
BY ALL accounts, Morné van Wyk had a weekend to never forget last week, as he went from Port Elizabeth on Saturday morning, up to Johannesburg, then Doha, Lahore, Doha again, and then back home to Durban on Monday – only to pack his bags to go to Cape Town on Tuesday with the Dolphins.
“There was actually very little jet lag; well, at least nothing that a shot of green tea or coffee couldn’t sort out,” the veteran keeper/batsman told Independent Media yesterday. As it was, he still snaffled a wonderfully acrobatic catch off Mthokozisi Shezi on the Wednesday in Paarl, to show that he was wide awake!
If ever there was any doubt that the world is small enough for those who dare, then Van Wyk’s itinerary ought to dispel that. He was answering an SOS call to play in the final of the Pakistan Super League, for Quetta, after several international players had pulled out, due to security fears.
Pakistan haven’t hosted an international match since 2009. But their passion for the game has never wavered. Indeed, Van Wyk said the sight that greeted him as he looked beyond the closed off streets of Lahore on Sunday morning, would warm the hearts of all those who hold the game dear.
“I must have seen at least 30 impromptu cricket matches being played, all in the matter of a kilometre or so. Some of them were sharing the same area, but the matches were independent, and they were all very serious.”
Of course, the fact that Van Wyk was part of a police convoy, through streets that had been closed to the public for safety, exposes Pakistan’s Achilles heel. The number of players who excused themselves from duty in the final emphasises this point, but Van Wyk said he felt very safe.
“I can understand those who had reservations, but I felt very safe.
The chief commander was highly recommended, and I think the people of Pakistan really wanted this to happen. Their national sport has basically been taken away from them for all these years, so that match on Sunday was a huge step for them.”
When Van Wyk linked up with the Quetta Gladiators, and they made their way to the stadium, he realised that he was part of something really special.
“The place was packed! It felt and sounded like there were 60 000 or 80 000 people in there, and there was a concert ahead of the match. I remember the speakers being really, really loud, with everything from folk music to hard-core rock!”
The Gladiators lost the final to the Darren Sammy-inspired Peshawar Zalmi, but Van Wyk said the occasion meant a lot more than the result, in a country that hasn’t seen international cricket since 2009, after an attack on the Sri Lankan team bus.
“It was a real privilege to be there, because something like that hasn’t happened in Pakistan in a very long time. Cricket is their national sport, so you can imagine what that would be like if it happened to a country like ours. I was very proud to be a part of that match,” he said.
“From the moment I landed there, till the moment I got back on the plane, I felt totally at ease.”
Van Wyk, whose career has taken him around the world, has previous experience with Pakistan, way back in 2003, when he was called up for the Proteas on tour.
“I think Herschelle had fallen ill, so I got the call-up. I remember flying into Karachi, and having to get to Peshawar. Even on a map, you can see that it’s a long way away,” he chuckled in recollection.
“I got into the back of something like a Toyota Corolla, and I had a soldier on either side of me, each with an AK47. There was another soldier in the front, driving, and then the guy who had met me on arrival.”
Together, they tackled the trek across the country, going through mountain passes, and stopping at roadside cafés along the way for lunch, drinks and toilet pit-stops.
“It was an amazing road trip, and we chatted away the whole way. It was a bit unusual sitting next to AK47S, but you get used to it after a while.”
That image of Van Wyk, flanked by armed soldiers, is a striking metaphor for the game in Pakistan right now. They love it with all their hearts, but their geographic location compromises the safety of
the international stars they would love to have back on their shores.
Just as they packed the Gaddafi Stadium last Sunday, they would surely throng the venue that hosts the first international that is played on Pakistani soil, if top-flight action ever returned to one of the world’s most fervent corners for cricket passion. One day, perhaps. Inshallah.