This grudge puts a Steyn on game
DALE Steyn has been involved in 33 days of cricket for SA since the Newlands test against Australia in March. And yet, he remains hung up on the 33 or so seconds when push came to shove on the hot afternoon of that match’s climax.
To recap, Michael Clarke said something to Steyn, who levelled his bat at the Australian captain. Cue the umpires assuming SWAT team positions, because the gods forbid cricketers should be seen to be human. Actually, to say Steyn is hung up is unfair. Closer to the truth is that he keeps being asked about the incident and he keeps answering.
The issue returned this week when Steyn told reporters it had been blown out of proportion. That is disingenuous, considering it is Steyn who is keeping it alive.
He could say he has not thought about it. Instead, he has said he will not speak to Clarke until he receives a face-to-face apology from him.
Not that the press can be blamed for wringing all the juice from the story, what with SA’s tour to Australia holding no relevance except as a string of practice matches for the World Cup.
Clarke, canny operator that he is, has said: “I think my apology at the time was well taken and respected by Dale.”
Clarke can think all he likes that he has cleared the air with Steyn. But he knows that’s not true.
Quite what Clarke said to Steyn is not yet out there. Let’s assume the worst: that he used the c-word on him. Not the one invoked against SA when they crumble under pressure, but the other one — four letters; has the United Nations initials in the middle; ends in t.
And so what if he did? Can an epithet that is uttered freely on freeways clogged with rushhour traffic give birth to a grudge that has lasted as long as a pregnancy?
The difference is that Clarke did not have his windows up that day at Newlands and Steyn did not have his music pumping. It’s easy to spit the c-word at the idiot who has cut you off when you know he can’t hear you.
Of course, Clarke wanted Steyn to hear him and he wanted the reaction he got. What he doesn’t want is for the badness to linger, if only because he knows Steyn could kill him whenever they are at opposite ends of the pitch.
Now there’s a thought. Not death, of course, but the threat of injury. For all its insistence on sportsmanship, cricket is comfortable with violence.
Steyn and Clarke know that — and that actions speak louder than words.