Notes from this week
Dala Magala Dala, Verreynne, Braithwaite and his shades, and Steve Smith and The Unforgiven
South Africa vs Pakistan - The Ones To Watch This Series
Sisanda Magala in T20s
While I am excited by the South Africa ODI team, no one has me as excited as Sisanda Magala. And not just because he has a fan in the form of Dale Steyn, but it does help when one of the country's finest bowlers is consistently hyping you up. It creates an amazing image (I mean, if Dale Steyn says Sisanda Magala is unfuckwithable, then he has to be unfuckwithable, right?)
Such endorsements lend unknown quantities credibility. Our perspective of athletes who come with praise from the masters is really different from how we look at the rest. We pay closer attention to their strengths, understand their weaknesses and root for them to achieve great things.
When an iconic individual says a batter has flair, is electric, aggressive, flamboyant, we become less critical of their shot selection and watch in awe as they do things very few can. Look at Rishabh Pant. No one will want him to play any differently now, as he has not only been a positive impact on the Indian team but has all the voices that matter praising him.
Even when he fails, because he will fail soon. I am not saying this in a bad way. At the end of the day, cricket is a sport where failure is ever-present. Batters fail more than they are successful. In 245 innings, Virat Kohli has 43 hundreds and 62 half-centuries. Kohli is the best ODI batter of his generation, but those figures tell us that he has failed (to reach 50 or better) 145 times. That's a 43% success rate.
Then there's Steve Smith, a phenomenal Test player. He has 27 hundreds and 31 half-centuries from 139 innings. Again, a 43% success rate.
So you can bet on it that Pant will go through rough patches. And when he does, we will not question his technique or approach, because when it works, it works so well even the greats praise him. And like many, I will want him to be given more and more chances, so he can mesmerize us again. The Matthew Effect.
So, yes, part of my evaluation is based on what Dale Steyn says of him. I will not pretend to be immune to the effects of celebrity endorsement (as some of you might choose to do), but that is not the only thing that has me excited about Magala's potential ODI debut.
His skillset also has me going.
Sisanda has a skill-set that will come in handy for the Proteas. His death overs ability to keep things tight with precise yorkers and slower ball variations, which includes slower ball bouncers, is an asset for any T20 squad.
Sisanda also bowls a really "heavy ball." His run-up and action belie the fact that he can crank up the speed gun to over the 140km/h.
For the uninitiated, a heavy ball is when a delivery is quicker than it looks and hits the bat harder or higher than is expected. Heavy ball bowlers look like medium pacers, going at 120 - 125 km/h, and take batters by surprise with higher speeds of up to 135 - 140 km/h. Notable examples include Ben Stokes, Freddie Flintoff and Jacques Kallis.
For this to make sense consider this, in the past two seasons Sisanda Magala has bowled 157 balls in the death overs, about 26.2 overs, at an economy of 8.33 runs an over.
Kyle and his numbers
Welcome to the Kyle Verreynne fan club.
Who would not be excited by the prospect of the young man playing limited-overs cricket for South Africa, especially if one considers his numbers against spin? There is an
It's not a lot, but anyone from South Africa, a country that produces batters who feel at home against pace and crumbles against spin, Verreynne's numbers are good. In the 2019 and 2020 Momentum One Day Cup seasons, Verreynne had a batting average of 56.20 against pace and 42.50 against spin. Dot ball percentage of 40.41 against pace and 44.81 against spin. Those numbers are not something to sneeze at.
And they get even better.
Verreynne has a reasonably low dot ball percentage of 26% against in T20s, accompanied by a strike rate of 134%. Only Temba Bavuma has a lower dot ball percentage against spin in franchise cricket in the past two seasons (25.30).
Captain Kraigg makes batting with sunglasses cool again
(Picture: Randy Brooks)
Kraigg Braithwaite made batting with sunglasses cool again, following in the footsteps of Gordon Greenidge, Brian Lara and Chris Gayle. But Braithwaite didn’t just carry on the tradition, he did his predecessors one better by scoring a century with his knock of 126 from 311 balls which rescued the match for them after a wobbly start.
Braithwaite batting with his shades on reminded me of a May 2009 article that I read. The reason being that batting with sunglasses is generally frowned upon by most.
One of the views against batting with sunglasses states that batsmen don’t wear sunglasses because they need to see the ball as clearly as possible. The assumption being that cricketers wear regular shades.
The 2009 article mentioned an ECB study done on the best eyewear led by Dr Nick Dash, an English optometrist and expert in sports vision.
The research, which was done in collaboration with Adidas, concluded that with the right eyewear, a player’s ability to spot the ball is improved by up to 28 per cent, compared to wearing no sunglasses.
Not only do cricketers' shades provide protection from UV radiation and the fatigue elements of visible glare, but also help with sight.
I am sure that in some clean and neatly arranged, antiseptic-smelling office there are health and safety fans fretting over the possibility of a ball hitting the eyewear, leading to serious eye injuries. However, while it is a possibility, it is only limited in its probability. For instance, in their paper “Severe Eye Injuries In Cricket,” Jones and Tullo find that it is rare for a ball to hit a helmet-wearing batter on the eye. Not only that, but the brow offers protection from serious injury. - Of course, this would change if the batter is wearing shades that can shatter easily.
Tullo and Jones also found that it is the rising ball coupled with a batter’s decision to play the hook shot that can lead to eye injuries. And even then, the occurrence of such events is pretty slim. So, a batter wearing glasses really isn’t exposed to significantly greater risk, if you consider the paper by the two researchers.
Steve Smith and The Unforgiven
This week I have just started reading Ashley Gray's The Unforgiven, a book that explores the aftermath of a decision taken by 20 black West Indies cricketers in the 1980s. In the book, Gray unveils what became of the band of cricketers through face-to-face interviews, giving them a voice, years after they were rejected both at home and abroad.
I mention the book because I am enjoying the coincidence that in the same week, Steve Smith and his Australia coach, Justin Langer, appeared to be telegraphing messages to each other through the press. In an interview with News Corps, Smith admitted that hopes for a second chance when it comes to leading the Australia squad.
"I've certainly had a lot of time to think about it and I guess now I've got to a point where if the opportunity did come up again, I would be keen," Smith said.
Scarcely ten hours later, Justin Langer told ABC, “We have two very good captains and two important competitions coming up – an Ashes and a T20 World Cup. Our future looks good."
“Despite the media chatter there is no captaincy position available,” he added.
The exchange made me ask if Smith was still unforgiven for the "sandpapergate" scandal. Is it possible that there are still people within CA who will not consider Smith for captaincy because of that history? Otherwise, why would Langer feel the need to state CA's current position as a response?
I once asked this question before, does cricket as a sport embrace a culture of reform, redemption and learning from past mistakes? Or is it a grudge-holding culture? Is there a way back after one has served their time? Or is it that forgiveness, after penance, is grudgingly given and people will never move past the event, therefore they will always bring up the incident at the slightest provocation?
Articles from this week:
PODCAST: Allan Donald, “I want to add value, so I won’t stop learning.” [The Idea-Sharing Project Ep. 04]
When teams do not do very well, what is most often touted as the best course of action that leads to improvement is more game time against top opposition. - Playing More Improves Ability: Fact or Myth?
An Article From The Archives:
To paraphrase Phil Collins who said, “You can’t hurry love.” You can’t hurry development. If you doubt it, ask Rassie van der Dussen, Aaron Finch, Pieter Malan, Tim Thomas, Mike Hussey and all other late bloomers. - Late Bloomers: You Can’t Hurry Development
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