Bowling apartheid cricket for a six
In-depth look at transformation
MOST recent cricket books are of the type recording a tour or perhaps the biography of a famous player.
However, University of Johannesburg sociology professor Ashwin Desai’s book takes a different course. It’s an in-depth look at the monumental changes made to cricket in South Africa during the turbulent apartheid years and the factors which helped transform cricket.
Desai does not beat about the bush or mince words. The so-called “rebel” tours of the ’80s and early-’90s – the Mike Gatting England tour – he refers to throughout as “rogue” tours and players.
The author recalls watching the 1970 Australians – the last official team to tour SA for more than 22 years – in a Test in Durban and how he and his father were forced to watch from the non-white enclosure.
Peter Pollock and other writers admitted that during the ’80s the cheque book reigned supreme in South Africa as top players were tempted to tour the country.
Sadly, though, many promises were made but not kept regarding the manner in which rogue tours would benefit black cricket and the culmination really came when there was hostile reaction to the Gatting tour.
Desai’s research reveals the early suspicion of motives by each of the leading administrators and the changes that simply had to be made if the country was ever to return to international play.
The role played by Ali Bacher, the CEO of what is now known as Cricket SA (CSA) is highlighted, as well as that of ANC sports supremo Steve Tshwete.
Then there was the release of Nelson Mandela which helped speed up the unification process. The amazing history-making tour of India at the end of 1991 is covered in great detail and the author writes how well South Africa did at the 1992 World Cup, reaching the semifinal of the tournament under Kepler Wessels.
However, things came to a head in the late-’90s when concern was raised at the omission of black South African players who, at the time, were deemed not good enough to represent the country in Tests or ODIs.
By 1998, Paul Adams and Herschelle Gibbs had each played a few matches for the Proteas, but then a transformation charter was issued by CSA promising an improved transformation process of selection.
At about that time, the selection of Border bowling hero Makhaya Ntini and later Mfuneko Ngam and Monde Zondeki and other black players who advanced through the ranks, left their mark in South Africa’s rich cricket history.
Desai in fact lauds the 2014/2015 selection of batsman Temba Bavuma, who became the first black African to score a Test century, a feat accomplished last season against England.
Cricket lovers in particular will enjoy the book, which faithfully records virtually each and every historical change which set the Proteas on their way to world fame as a cricket power.
Today, South Africa stands proud as the top ODI team – high on the list of Test countries while they perform courageously in the latest money-spinner, Twenty20 internationals.
Desai’s more recent books include The Race to Transform: Sport in Post-Apartheid South Africa (edited volume), Reading Revolution: Shakespeare on Robben Island and The South African Gandhi: Stretcher-Bearer of Empire (co-authored with Goolam Vahed). He is also the co-author of Blacks in Whites: A Century of Cricket Struggles in KwaZulu-Natal.
Reverse Sweep: A Story of South African Cricket Since Apartheid is published by Fanele Books