No ball curse couldn’t keep Morne down
Just a month more than 14 years ago a young Morne Morkel made his firstclass debut for Easterns against a touring West Indies outfit at Willowmoore Park in Benoni.
Fortunately for him, the franchise selectors didn’t judge his bowling capabilities solely on that tour match which the hosts lost by 33 runs, and the lanky quick went on to represent his country in 84 Tests, including this week’s first Test against Australia in Durban, 117 one-day internationals and 44 T20 internationals. He’s gone on to pick up more than 500 international wickets at a respectable average of under 28 across all formats, with his sharp bounce troubling many world-class batsmen – especially left-handers.
This week the 33-year-old said he would hang up his size 12 spikes from international cricket after the completion of the fourmatch Australian Test series.
He’s had a solid career, but it could have been so different had he not got another chance after a nightmare first-class debut.
In 2004, having lost the toss and been put in to field first, Easterns captain Daryll Cullinan opted to open the bowling with the Morkel brothers, Albie and Morne. Albie picked up two wickets in the first innings, and bagged another three scalps in the second. However, in the first innings it couldn’t have got any worse for Morne, who only sent down five overs and went for 54 runs without success. More alarmingly, he sent down 17 no balls. In the second innings, Cullinan resisted the temptation to open the bowling with Morne again, but he did manage to finish with figures of
Trevor Stevens
2/25 from six overs, including capturing the wicket of then Windies skipper Ramnaresh Sarwan. Better yet, he only sent down four no balls.
The no ball curse was a sign of things to come. Morne would over time inherit the unwanted tag of taking wickets off no balls. Umpires would be quick to check if he had overstepped the chalk after he grabbed a wicket. And often the officials were proved right, much to the frustration of Proteas cricket fans.
But no balls aside, astonish- ingly Morne will be remembered for his efforts with the bat in that debut match in Benoni in 2004. He made an unbeaten 44 in just under two-and-a-half hours as he stubbornly combined for 141 runs with his brother in a ninth wicket stand as Albie went on to make a valuable 132 after the hosts were in all sorts of trouble at 169/8.
His defiant debut knock is testament to how big a heart Morne has. Many believe Morne didn’t achieve his full potential, but it’s understandable when he had to pick up scraps left over from an attack that included genuine wicket-takers Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander and even Jacques Kallis. Many believe he was one of the unluckiest bowlers, with his rising deliveries often going past the outside edge without any reward.
A video posted by Cricket South Africa’s head of media and communications Altaaf Kazi on social media this week shows what a good guy Morne really is.
After day one of the New Year’s Test against Sri Lanka in Cape Town, Morne found some time to bowl to a few kids in fading light in the Newlands parking lot on his way home. Morne, in the squad but not selected for the Test XI, sends down a few tennis balls to the youngsters.
After a couple of deliveries, one kid chirps: “bowl faster”. Morne, dressed in jeans and slops, unleashes another shortish ball, putting more back into this time. And then starts to head to his car.
But another kid shouts “one more”. He duly bowls another, much to their excitement.
Those kids will always remember the day the friendly giant bowled to them, not those horrible no balls or disastrous debut.