Tribute to best of the best bowlers in SA cricket
IT DOESN’T take Ali Bacher long to reveal who he considers to be South Africa’s greatest cricket bowler: Dale Steyn.
“He has taken the most Test wickets, he’s generally fast. He bowls the away swinger which is always the most difficult to face. He can swing it late.
“He learnt how to reverse swing the ball, and he just was a committed, determined fast bowler, hungry for success. His commitment and drive for perfection was there for all to see. ”
This week Bacher released his latest book,
Among those at the book launch were former great cricketers Michael Holding, Nasser Hussain, Michael Atherton, Makhaya Ntini, Fanie de Villiers, and Vince van der Bijl.
The book, released by Penguin Books, is the latest in his trilogy with David Williams. This instalment, says Bacher, is a tribute to SA’s greatest bowlers going back to the 1950s.
“We should be proud of the bowlers we have produced. Some are regarded as greats in the history of cricket and they deserve to be celebrated.”
The book focuses on South African greats such as Steyn, Neal Adcock, Hugh Tayfield, Ntini, Shaun Pollock,
Paul Adams, Allan Donald, Peter Pollock, Mike Procter, Kagiso Rabada, and Morne Morkel.
Bacher recalls how they discovered a young Ntini in a village just outside of King Williams Town in the Eastern Cape. Ntini went on to become the first black player for the Proteas.
“When I was running SA Cricket, we had a very good township development programme, and in the Border Cricket Board they had a development coach by the name of Raymond Booi. He used to go to the townships promoting cricket and looking for talent.
“He went to a village near King William’s Town, and a young individual came to bowl. He was 14. He had no shoes, no takkies, he came barefoot.
“He bowled just two balls, and Raymond Booi phoned the development convener immediately and said, ‘I found gold’. That young lad happened to be Makhaya Ntini.
“We decided to send Makhaya to Dale College. He couldn’t speak a word of English. Not one word.
“He was fortunate that the person he shared a room with was a young white school boy who came from the farms, so he could speak Xhosa, and so he taught Makhaya English.
“He went on to take 390 Test wickets. And what made him so great was his determination, his commitment, and his work ethic. He was hungry to succeed and he went on to become a great international bowler.”
Bacher also makes special mention in his book of South Africa’s first great fast bowlers Neal Adcock and Peter Heine, who played in the 1950s.
“South Africa’s first Test series was in 1889,” Bacher said. “SA played England in Port Elizabeth, and we lost in one and a quarter days. And from there till the late 1940s, we played England and Australia and generally got thumped.
“The main reason was that we didn’t have any fast bowlers of note. When a country has got a couple of good fast bowlers, generally speaking that country dominates and does well. There are exceptions, like Shane Warne, but generally it’s about fast bowlers.”
In the 1950s , says Bacher, things started to change. The first generally fast bowler was Adcock. He went to Jeppe High School and his first Test series was against New Zealand in South Africa. He took 24 Test wickets.
“In 1955 the first Afrikaner to make the SA Test team was Peter Heine. He came from the Free State. He went to England in 1955 with the SA cricket team and in the second Test at Lord’s he got five wickets in the first innings. Those two were generally quick.
“Since then, in every decade, there was at least one or two good fast bowlers. These bowlers became an important part of the success of South African cricket.”
But while Bacher focuses mainly on fast bowlers in the book, he also makes special mention of spin bowlers like Hugh Tayfield, regarded as SA’s greatest spin bowler, as well as Paul Adams.
“In the 1950s, we had one great offspin bowler, Hugh Tayfield – probably one of the best.
“In 1952 to 1953, we sent a South African team to Australia and it was considered so weak, that a respected cricket journalist from The Star newspaper called for that tour to be called off because we would get beaten so badly.
“We ended up drawing that series 2-2, against an Australian team full of quality. Hugh got 30 wickets in that series, and in the second Test, when we beat Australia in Melbourne, Hugh picked up 13 Test wickets.
“In 1955, we went to England and he got 26 Test wickets. He was an extraordinary spin bowler and probably the best we have ever had.”
Despite South African cricket finding itself in a slump lately, Bacher believes the country will continue to produce great fast bowlers.
“That chap Anrich Nortje is outstanding – he can really bowl. I have no doubt we will continue to unearth and produce these fast bowlers which is healthy for our cricket.”