How outlier Erwee came back to fulfil his dreams
Broad says his old pal can carry on taking wickets for a while yet
FOr the antithesis of Bazball, perhaps even an antidote, look no further than south africa’s 32- year- old opener sarel erwee who patiently chiselled his way to his team’s top score of 73 from 146 balls at Lord’s yesterday as the Proteas scrambled their way to lead of 124.
erwee is not just an outlier in south african cricket, but, in many ways, south african society, which remains uncompromisingly unempathetic towards those who are not ‘strong’ in the face of challenges, or who cannot pretend to be.
erwee’s determination to make a career in the game that he loved gripped him throughout his 20s during which he struggled to establish himself beyond the second tier of the domestic game. For seven years he plied his trade for the KwaZuluNatal Inland province based in Pietermaritzburg, feeder team for the KZN dolphins franchise in durban.
Like many run ‘accumulators’ without a dazzling repertoire of strokes or the habit of putting together purple patches of form, his nevertheless steady consistency was respected and quietly admired without ever prompting suggestions of higher honours. there were a couple of false dawns, notably when he attempted to reinvent himself as t20 player and scored a century in a rare appearance for the dolphins in 2017. But he was soon back in the lower ranks.
On the verge of quitting and battling with depression as he approached his 30th birthday, erwee was persuaded by his parents to book a few sessions with a sports psychologist. It was the phone call which saved his career and led to an extraordinary rise through the ranks and now, just two years later, a test match at Lord’s.
‘We don’t focus on it enough in south africa, not just in cricket, in all sports,’ erwee said before the tour started. ‘It’s something that is lacking, not just in sports, but in life in general. as a man, it’s kind of laughed at if you show a bit of mental weakness or softness.’
Captain dean elgar spoke admiringly of erwee’s ability to ‘bat time’ when he was first selected and enjoyed the prospect of having a partner with the same grit and determination at the top of the order. Unlike elgar, the snarling pitbull, erwee is more reflective and unconfrontational. Which makes them an even better combination.
elgar and coach Mark Boucher have spoken repeatedly about the need for the tourists to play ‘smart’ cricket. another word for that would be ‘traditional’. elgar and erwee grind the shine off the new ball, do the dirty, often thankless work, and whoever is there at the end of the day can take advantage against tiring bowlers. the old format worked perfectly yesterday.
erwee, who prepared for the series playing club cricket for Weybridge, won’t be getting carried away by one good innings. He’s seen far too many of the game’s vicissitudes and life’s ups and downs. Cricket remains extremely important to him but it is no longer everything.
‘I try to stay in the moment, keep my mind calm. I did look around at times and thought, “Wow, I’m playing a test for my country at the home of cricket”, but then you have to refocus because it’s not about you, it’s about what you can do for your team,’ he said yesterday.
erwee is playing just his sixth test match but elgar is playing his 78th during which time a first innings lead of over 100 would have placed the south african team in an invincible position given the strength of their bowling attack and the tendency for home pitches to deteriorate by the fourth and fifth days.
But Bazball’s most important effect is to make the opposition reevaluate the way they have always read the game. anything is still possible with this england team.
In the build-up to this LV= Insurance test series, Sir Andrew Strauss was reflecting on the fact that it had been a decade since he retired from the game.
‘the most bizarre thing of all,’ he said, ‘is that Jimmy Anderson made his england debut before I did. that is crazy.’ he paused for a moment to consider just how crazy.
Much has happened to Strauss since then. he lost his wife, Ruth, to cancer at the end of 2018, and was at Lord’s yesterday as the ground turned red for the charitable foundation that bears her name. he is very much an excricketer, doing brave things with his life long after it moved into its next phase.
Out in the middle, Anderson — who turned 40 less than three weeks ago — could hardly have felt more contemporary. this is his 173rd test, an absurd figure by any standards, let alone for a fast bowler, and he appears to be as up for the fray as he has ever been.
‘I look at Jimmy,’ said Stuart Broad after play, ‘and he’s not really changed physically since he was 35. he still looks young and fresh and fit, and he still really enjoys it. As long as he keeps that competitive streak, he can go as long as he wants.’
In the 145-year history of the game, only Sachin tendulkar, with 200, has won more test caps. For both men, the lure of cricket — wickets for Jimmy, runs for Sachin — has proved irresistible. In an era full of instantly forgettable white-ball cricket, thank goodness for that.
For much of the second day of this first test, Anderson fulfilled a role familiar to him throughout the second half of a career that began at Lord’s in 2003 — a year before Strauss won his own first cap. Quite simply, he looked the england bowler most likely to do the business.
the breakthrough, admittedly, was a fluke. South Africa’s openers had replied to england’s 165 all out with a stand of 85 when Anderson bowled Dean elgar via his back leg and right elbow, the ball trickling sadistically back towards the stumps. ‘elbowled’, suggested a wag on twitter, after the bails tinkled to the ground. elgar did not see the funny side.
Anderson was already the first 40- something specialist seamer for england since Derbyshire’s Les Jackson played in 1961. But now other stats bobbed to the surface.
he was the first 40-something to take a test wicket with seam since Graham Gooch in 1994. And the first 40-something bowler of any description to take a test wicket at Lord’s since off-spinner eddie hemmings in 1990.
there will be plenty more where those came from between now and his retirement, whenever that happens.
When South Africa reached tea at 158 for two, Anderson had one for 28 from 14 overs, while england’s three other seamers — Matthew Potts, Broad and Ben Stokes — had one for 116 from 28 overs.
With Stokes, who briefly led a fightback in the final session, continuing to attack in the field, at times posting five slips in search of wickets, there were gaps aplenty for South Africa’s batsmen to exploit. Yet Anderson alone was keeping them to two an over.
One of the most extraordinary features of his career has been the extent to which opponents have grown wary of taking liberties. In 2021, he went at 2.12 an over — the most economical year of his career.
So when Keshav Maharaj belted him for a few fours in the final half-hour, Anderson kicked at the turf — in disbelief, perhaps, as much as frustration.
Others might have been tempted to do more kicking than that as the tourists built a lead.
Potts, bowling with a red ball for only the second time since the start of July, looked rusty and lost his line. Broad wasn’t at his best, even if his economy-rate suffered partly because of the aggressive fields.
Stokes threatened to turn things round, bouncing out Sarel erwee for 73, then out-witting Rassie van der Dussen with a fulllength ball.
But the captain kept flexing his left knee, and by the time he removed Maharaj, the seventhwicket pair had added 72.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was that it took Stokes 41 overs to use Jack Leach, whose confidence soared during the whitewash of new Zealand — partly because Stokes kept bringing him on early. Leach immediately looked dangerous, and with his first delivery after tea had Aiden Markram caught behind, poking at one that had been cleverly held back.
Anderson will soon have a new ball at his disposal this morning, when Stokes — like the seven others who have captained him in test cricket — will turn once more to his attack leader.
It’s an old story, made no less fascinating for its constant retelling.