Majola: There is a future for white players in SA
Bob Dubery
many promising young white cricket players have about their future in
the game:
"Do not think that there is no future for white cricketers in South
Africa," Majola told a gathering of the Highveld Cricket Society.
"Their place will be protected and there will always be a role for
them to play. The UCB, as you know, works closely with the government
and several prominent figures when structuring our policies, and we
can assure the young players of this country that all of them will
have a fair crack at the ultimate privilege and challenge - playing
for South Africa."
Asked if this mean that the UCB were going to uphold their earlier,
controversial decision to do away with the quota system Majola replied
that the system was not being scrapped but that it had been revised.
The plan that Majola revealed amounted to an extension of the quota
system with a number of places in touring parties and playing XIs
being reserved for "non-black" players.
"The UCB is very concious of the need to level the playing field",
said Majola. "We have to be mindful of the lot of players who are
artificially disadvantaged. So much money, so much policy, so may
resources been deployed to improve the lot of young black cricketers,
and once we confronted our conscience we realised that we had to do
what we could to make sure that the opportunity of playing for South
Africa is a reality for all South Africans."
To this end, continued Majola, the UCB will, starting with the tour to
England later this year, reserve 3 places in every Protea touring
party for non-black players.
"What is more," he added, "there will be a system of checks and
balances imposed on the selectors. If they don't pick at least one
non-black in the playing XI they will have to have compelling reasons
for having done so."
Majola refuted a suggestion from one of the audience that the new
policy was geared towards political expedience and not towards
on-field excellence.
"Simple arithmetic will show this not to be so. We have said that
there will always be 5 black players in a touring party. We have also
said that there must be 3 non-black players. That will leave 6 or 7
places open for which merit will be the only criteria, and so we can
rest assured that, fitness permitting, we will always send our best 15
players to represent the country."
Shatadal
> [Johannesburg] UCB CEO Gerald Majola has adressed the concerns that
> many promising young white cricket players have about their future in
> the game:
<snip>
very wicked Bob!! ;-)
Shatadal.
JLichterm
Bob, this better be an April Fool's joke...
Andrew Dunford
"Bob Dubery" <mega...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3e892295....@10.100.2.1...
> [Johannesburg] UCB CEO Gerald Majola has adressed the concerns that
> many promising young white cricket players have about their future in
> the game:
<snip rest of article>
Three questions:
1. Are there in your opinion actually three "non-black" players worthy of
selection for the England tour?
2. Does the revised quota system require that the captain of the team be
selected?
3. Did anyone drop his trousers at the Highveld Cricket Society gathering?
Andrew
Bob Dubery
<adun...@artifaxsoftware.com> wrote:
>3. Did anyone drop his trousers at the Highveld Cricket Society gathering?
Percy Sonn
JLichterm
So was it an April Fool's or not?
Andrew Dunford
"JLichterm" <jlic...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:f127ed0b.03040...@posting.google.com...
I think the mere fact that you have to ask speaks volumes about cricket in
South Africa. I vote Bob's post the best April Fool this year on rsc (apart
from the "Graeme Smith is new South African captain" one which was
disqualified for being a few weeks early).
Andrew
JLichterm
Actually, it speaks more about South Africa, period.
Sadly, in RSA, these things are not beyond the realm of possibility.
Bob Dubery
Yes, it's always likely that the President of the UCB is falling out
of his trousers.
And, as Justin may recall, there was a stink up in Limpopo last year
when a district schools hockey team was chosen and the provincial
government stepped in because the team was not representative of SAn
society: IE there weren't any white players selected.
Bob Dubery
There is no Highveld Cricket Society.
Andrew Dunford
Surely to be representative of society it's also necessary to pick the kid
who always hides in the toilets during sports period, the kid who is so
uncoordinated he trips over every time he walks, the one with only one leg
etc. etc.?
Andrew
Shripathi Kamath
Well then, don't keeping us hanging there Bob, where *did* Percy Sonn drop
his trousers?
Bob Dubery
<adun...@artifaxsoftware.com> wrote:
>Surely to be representative of society it's also necessary to pick the kid
>who always hides in the toilets during sports period, the kid who is so
>uncoordinated he trips over every time he walks, the one with only one leg
>etc. etc.?
It becomes a real bugger in a team of only 11. Ok... you can round the
27% of the SA population that is Zulu to 3 (and try and pull a fast
one by picking Klusener) but the Portuguese, the Chinese, the Indians
and the Khoissan end up with one player between them. Hard to find
somebody who fits all those requirements.
Mad Hamish
Probably in the washing hamper...
--
"Hope is replaced by fear and dreams by survival, most of us get by."
Stuart Adamson 1958-2001
Mad Hamish
Hamish Laws
h_l...@aardvark.net.au
Aditya Basrur
In Sandaas Mahal. Aggy tells me you leave your trousers at the door
for ease of access ...
Aditya [Couldn't resist.] Basrur
Yuk Tang
>
> Yes, it's always likely that the President of the UCB is falling out
> of his trousers.
I'm surprised Aditya hasn't picked up on this, but I thought that kind of
activity was the sole preserve of Joel Garner.
Cheers, ymt.
Dianne van Dulken
<adun...@artifaxsoftware.com> sang the following in a piercing false
falsetto:
>Surely to be representative of society it's also necessary to pick the kid
>who always hides in the toilets during sports period, the kid who is so
>uncoordinated he trips over every time he walks, the one with only one leg
>etc. etc.?
Finally!! My chance has come!
Yes, it is necessary to pick the first two, and you could have gotten
them combined in one super clutzy package in ME
Cheers
Di
--
Dianne van Dulken
http://www.dogmac.com
http://www.cricketwoman.com
See Adara's page - http://www.dogmac.com/adara/
or Bartholomew's - http://www.dogmac.com/bartholomew/
Aditya Basrur
"Dianne van Dulken" <dia...@dogmac.com> wrote in message
news:e4gv8vo6j5r8u5bbp...@4ax.com...
> Coyly clenching a rose 'twixt the teeth, "Andrew Dunford"
> <adun...@artifaxsoftware.com> sang the following in a piercing false
> falsetto:
>
> >Surely to be representative of society it's also necessary to pick the
kid
> >who always hides in the toilets during sports period, the kid who is so
> >uncoordinated he trips over every time he walks, the one with only one
leg
> >etc. etc.?
>
> Finally!! My chance has come!
>
> Yes, it is necessary to pick the first two, and you could have gotten
> them combined in one super clutzy package in ME
>
> Cheers
>
> Di
Somehow, ihug isn't showing me any posts. I don't know why. In the last 6
hours, I've only had 30 posts come up. Surely normal volumes are higher than
that?
Anyway, I think the above description also suits me perfectly. I never hid
in the toilets during sports period, but I did get laughed at when I tried
to do anything. At 19 (that's how old I am, apparently), I still trip over
about twice a week. Auckland footpaths can be deceptively flat. When I was
10/11, I fell down some stairs and broke a tooth. 2 years later, I chipped
the bottom off another one on the bottom of a swimming pool.
I've been hit on the head by cricket balls several times in the outfield,
where I was being 'hidden', despite my specialist fielding position. My
forehead still has a discernible bump. My top score is 6. I rate it as my
greatest and most technically correct innings. I hope you don't mind if I
indulge in some nostalgia ...
My team had made something like 90 until no. 9 (ADB) came in. (On that
thought, for those who haven't read it, read "Sane Warne is 9" and
descriptions of his activities with left handers by Pandiyan some time.) Due
to the vagaries of schoolboy cricket, we needed to get to 10:40 am to avoid
giving the opposition extra batting time.
I walked in at 10:15. I played a forward defensive to every ball as the
bowler was running in - no qualms about premeditation. I actually stayed in
for a while, and managed to protect the kid at the other end who'd been
drafted in as a punishment for smoking from facing the strike. The bowlers
couldn't seem to get me out, despite the bat being in the same place at the
same time on every delivery. The gate between bat and pad must have been at
least a foot. The problem was, the bowlers were bowling straight (and, now I
think of it, not all that fast). The over-rate was quite good, I think. My
strike rate would have been about 16.66 (1 off every over) - and I made
about 5 runs by 10:35.
By 10:35, my teammates' cheers had started. Unfortunately, they were
cheering for the smoker at the other end, who'd faced, I think, 1 delivery
up to that point. I'd come up with the brilliant tactic of a premeditated
cross-batted slog to midwicket on the last ball of the over. It seemed to
work. I also started some sledging, saying things like "Here comes Heath
Davis - I wonder if it'll hit the pitch this time" to the bowler.
I had given one chance, off a cross-batted slog to midwicket funnily enough
(shades of SRT in the W/C final, if you like). I'd narrowly avoided
dismissal by yelling "Catch it" to the guy trying to catch it. The umpire
told me that if they'd been sharper, they could have appealed for
interference with the field. I promptly said "Sir, they've come here to
watch me bat, not you give me your narrow interpretation of the rules". He
laughed in my face. I'd actually felt like WGG several times during the
innings. This was especially true when I realised I hadn't needed to shave
for 6 months or so, but liked to pretend there was stubble there anyway, so
scratched my chin.
10:36 rolled up. Interesting I say 'rolled up', as the smoker at the other
end seemed to roll his own. Anyway, in a rare moment of bad judgment, I
decided to let our friend face a delivery. (Decided is one way of putting
it. Probably more correct to say "I couldn't get to the other end in time".)
Anyway, Mr. Roll-Your-Own found himself unable to leave a bad ball outside
off-stump, gave a faint nick, and was snapped up by a jubilant and relieved
keeper. (I don't know if the fielding side knew about the time delays.)
I decided to try and talk to the new batsman - our captain's 11 year old
brother - for as long as possible. He wasn't very responsive to my advice -
"Brush your teeth three times a day"; "Late to bed, slow to rise"; "Show me
the money!"; "Don't sleep in the subway, darling"; "If you want to be my
lover, you've got to get with my friends" (it was 1998; Ginger Spice was
still a member) - but I thought it had taken up enough time.
At 10:39 am according to my Titan watch, I took guard.
"Middle and off", I said to the umpire.
"Towards you, towards you, away from you" he replied.
"What are you talking about? That's where I want the bowler to pitch it."
Play resumed. I fended off the first ball with my gloves. With the second,
tragedy struck. I attempted to play a daring pull to what I thought was a
short ball. Unfortunately, it wasn't that short, and ended up bowling me.
I expected a hero's welcome on returning to my teammates. Unfortunately, the
wicketkeeper was asleep and the opening batsmen were playing house under the
pavilion. (What are they teaching at schools nowadays?)
I said "wasn't that good coach?". The gentleman in question replied
"Would've been even better if you'd stayed another minute."
"What?" I replied, crestfallen. "I thought my watch said 10:40." The
pavilion clock told a different story. It was still 10:39. I knew how Mark
Boucher felt. Duckworth and Lewis may not have nobbled me, but the Gods of
time certainly had. We had to give the opposition full batting time to
overhaul our total of 99.
I needn't have worried. They made it in a quarter of the allotted time.
Aditya Basrur
Poetic licence has been taken. I hope the above was a Cricket related post.