Telford Vice's Blog, page 380

SA eyes are smiling at Irish appointment

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

It isn’t often that SA’s players will be inspired to perform by the appointment of some suit to a powerful position.

But Tony Irish is no ordinary suit, and his unveiling on Friday as the executive chairperson of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) should have done do wonders for SA’s morale as they left for Sri Lanka on Sunday.

Since 2002, Irish has been fighting the good fight for the country’s players as chief executive of the...

CSA’s status slips as PCB’s rises

Times Media

TELFORD VICE,Johannesburg

Cricket SA’s (CSA) slipping status among national boards was hinted at yesterday when the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) claimed to be the leading earners among the game’s small seven test-playing countries.

The PCB said in a statement that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had, at their meeting in Melbourne, agreed to “grant Pakistan the fourth rank after the ‘big three’ – India, England and Australia – in terms of the percentage of revenue to be receiv...

Good news, bad news for SA ahead of Sri Lanka ODIs

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

The good news for SA ahead of their one-day series in Sri Lanka next month is that they are a more successful team in sub-continent conditions than they are in England or New Zealand.

The bad news is that their record in Sri Lanka is their worst out of all the countries in which they have played ODIs.

In the similar conditions of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Emirates combined, SA have won 66 of their 117 games, or 56.41%.

That did not surpri...

How Sri Lanka’s tigers have changed their stripes

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

Before their series in England that ended yesterday, Sri Lanka were tigers at home and tiggers on the road. They had won just eight of the 43 test series they had played on foreign ground. Even less flatteringly, five of those successes were achieved in the B-grade backyards of Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

But yesterday they clinched their first series in England by winning the second test at Headingley by 100 runs with one ball left in the match. In the first...

No change, please – we’re South African

http://www.GOcricket.com – http://www.gocricket.com/No-change-please-were-South-African/Telford-Vice/columnshow/37117280.cms

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

You would be forgiven for thinking that, here at the sharp end of Africa, where we talked much more than shot our way out of almost four centuries of racial oppression into something approaching democracy, we are open to change.

We are not. South Africans of all colours and creeds would rather that everything stayed the same. Change? Change is fo...

Super skipper not so super, say pundits

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

Next season, if you change the channel on the world’s only surviving black-and-white television set to see Hashim Amla, AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis all discussing what SA should do next, you might need to know which format is being played to work out who is the captain.

Amla’s tenure as SA’s test captain starts in Sri Lanka next month. De Villiers leads the one-day team. Du Plessis is in charge of the T20 outfit. All of them are important members of a...

Piedt, Van Zyl agreeable in their differences

Sunday Times

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

Stiaan van Zyl is sensible, both as a batsman and a young man. So when he learned of his inclusion in the SA test squad to tour Sri Lanka next month, he telephoned his father with the happy news.

Dane Piedt is a nice kid. But, as a spinner, that most suspicious species of cricketer in SA, he should not be accused of sensibility without compelling evidence.

“I told my dog first because my dog was sitting next to me,” Piedt said.

Dog’s name, please? “Corona. A...

CSA show commitment to finding black African talent

Times Media

TELFORD VICE,Johannesburg

Cricket SA’s (CSA) commitment to finding more black African talent is reflected in the SA A squads announced for a tour to Australia.

Five of the 15 chosen in the four-day squad are black African, as are four of the 15 in the one-day group. Among them, in both squads, is Kagiso Rabada, the fast bowler whose 14 wickets at 10.28 helped SA win the under-19 World Cup in Dubai in March.

Eight of that squad of 15 were of colour, four of them black African. That mad...

World Cup dress rehearsal for SA

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Johannesburg

SA will play two of their eight matches against Australia in November at venues they will visit during next year’s World Cup.

In a schedule announced last night, SA will take on the Aussies in three T20s and five one-day internationals. The teams will play a T20 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and an ODI at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

SA are due to play first round World Cup games against India at the MCG on February 22 and against West Indies five days late...

SA team will have Amla’s back

Times Media

TELFORD VICE, Pretoria

Hashim Amla need not look over his shoulder to know whether his players have his back when he takes charge of SA’s test team in Sri Lanka next month.

The almost 10 years Amla has spent at or near the top as a test batsman and his discipline and humility have already won him support as he seeks to fill the chasm Graeme Smith’s retirement in March would have left.

“We want to play well for Hashim to make his job a little bit easier,” Morne Morkel said yesterday.

No...