Polly' bowls a cracker

'Polly' bowls a cracker, Symcox steals spotlight

Pollock

IN THE GENES -- Shaun Pollock, son of Peter and nephew of Graeme, both former Test greats, delivers in Faisalabad on Monday. Umpire Mian Aslam is about to call no-ball.

FAISALABAD -- Every fairytale has its heroes and villains and South Africa's triumph over Pakistan was no exception.

What with Gary Kirsten carrying his bat to score an unbeaten 100 and Shaun Pollock blasting Pakistan's hopes to smithereens with a haul of five for 37, the tourists had two prime candidates for the man-of-the-match award.

But in the end the vote went to rugged off-spinner Pat Symcox, who is content to be both hero and villain.

The man the crowds love to hate and has to duck more missiles than most -- and there were a couple again on Monday -- accepts all that as a tribute to his natural aggression.

At 37, Symcox epitomises the fighting spirit of a side that doesn't know the meaning of the word quit.

"It's my nature," he explains. "My outlook has always been, 'why play a game if you are not playing to win?' "

Symcox, who started out as a batsman many summers ago, admits he has tended to neglect that side of his game. "But I'm going to rectify that," he says with a conviction that defies questioning.

Somebody who certainly doesn't have any attitude problems is Pollock.

As the son of former great bowler Peter Pollock -- and nephew of the famous Graeme -- his has been a tough road to the top. Comparisons are easy to make, but somehow Shaun has the best of both in him.

And true to family tradition he accepts the good with the bad.

The 24-year-old bowled his heart out in Pakistan's first innings and had to settle for two for 67 which could quite comfortably have been five for 67.

"That's the way it goes," he shrugs. "Sometimes you bowl well and you just can't find the edge of the bat, but then you come out and bowl badly and pick up wickets."

However, he did admit that when Adam Bacher grassed a catch which should have said goodbye to Aamir Sohail, inwardly he groaned, "Oh no! Not again."

But a few balls later Bacher made amends by pulling off a brilliant catch at backward point and the show was on the road.

Rated by everyone except himself as a great allrounder in the making Pollock was "chuffed" at having taken five wickets on a sub-continental pitch.

"It was great when I took my first five against England last summer," he said, "but somehow this one was different, something special."

The South African man-of-the-series, Kirsten, was simply happy to be back in good nick and to have done his bit for his team.

"After last summer it's nice to be back in the runs again," he said. "I just hope I can keep it up. I've never actually done well against the Aussies so I feel I owe them one."

Wicketkeeper Dave Richardson, who equalled Johnny Waite's record 141 Test dismissals, said his feat had been totally overshadowed by the team's effort. "but now that I've had time to think about,yes, I'm delighted. Perhaps next time out I'll be able to set a new record". -- Sapa

Win marks SA's maturity

FAISALABAD -- There was a lot more than sheer guts and determination to South Africa's stunning 53-run victory over Pakistan at the Iqbal stadium on Monday. They've matured, finally learnt what Test cricket is about.

"I think we are no longer under any illusions about how difficult Test cricket really is," captain Hansie Cronje said. "We played good cricket last year and lost series. Now we played average cricket, but knew when to step up a gear and win the series.

"And if that is the sort of thing we can learn -- just to know when to perform -- then I'm happy."

Did he honestly think South Africa could turn the Test around? "Not really. My wife kept reminding me about what we had done in Sydney and said we must just keep on hanging on in there.

"I said 'sure,' but I didn't really have a great feeling about it."

Having featured in both "great escapes", how did Faisalabad's rate against that famous five-run win over Australia?

"Sydney was tighter and was certainly exciting because it went down to the wire, but this was a series victory on the sub-continent and I don't think we realise at this moment just how great that is.

"If you look back down the years some of the top teams have come here -- even the world champions now (Australia) two years ago -- and haven't won.

"I think people just don't realise how hard this victory was."

Cronje certainly hasn't taken kindly to Aussie captain Mark Taylor's barb that his men rate a poor fourth behind his own wizards, Pakistan and West Indies in Test terms.

"He's said we're a poor fourth, so I reckon we've got some unfinished business there," Cronje said.

However, Cronje admitted that as delighted as he was at the way his men had fought back, the middle order batting had been well below par.

"I don't think Cullinan, McMillan and Cronje can go back to South Africa and feel they are batting well.

"I'm certainly happy we've won the series and we contributed in some way, but I'm not happy about the fact that we didn't score enough runs."

But he said he had come to realise that poor form will strike everyone sometime.

"Last season against Australia I averaged 52 and some of the other guys didn't do too well. Gary Kirsten, for example, was really struggling but he's come back here and scored two magnificent hundreds.

"You just have to persevere with class players, and you also have to view performances in the context of the games.

"On that score McMillan's 21 and his two brilliant catches were vital to the success.

"Look, I'm not saying we are world beaters but the guys know how to fight and the rate at which Shaun Pollock is improving, I'm certain he is going to emerge as one of the best allrounders in the world.

"And once we have Jacques Kallis back in harness I think we'll take a lot of stopping." -- Sapa

Synchro

SYNCHRO STARS OF THE FUTURE -- Participants go through a routine at the synchronised swimming development clinic at Clarendon High in East London.

A Border swimming spokesman said it was encouraging to see the enthusiasm and interest shown at the day-long clinic.

Eastern Province sent four coaches, some of their synchro stars and there was a contingent from Queenstown.

The girls learned warm-up routines and basic sculling techniques before moving on to intensive training of the figures required for the age group nationals in Durban in December.

Parents were also involved in learning how to judge the figures and there was an informative session on choreography of routines for solos, duets and teams.

"Apart from the refreshing newness of different coaches and techniques, the friendships and contacts built in such a joint venture bode well for the sport," the spokesman said.

Netballer in SA squad

EAST LONDON -- One Border player, goalkeeper Thandi Ntlama, has been included in the 46-player Netball South Africa squad to attend the next national squad camp in Janaury.

The netball Proteas will have to find a new captain for their international commitments next year, including the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia next September, with Benita van Zyl, who led the team to an historic win over England in July, taking maternity leave.

Also on up-coming maternity leave will be Protea goal-shooting star Irene van Dyk, but she is expected to be available for Malaysia. -- DDR

Poles in SA for 6 games

DURBAN -- A tough and motivated Poland hockey side arrived in Johannesburg yesterday looking forward to a hard-fought series with South Africa.

The Poles are using the six-match tour as part of their preparation for the World Cup in Holland next year. -- Sapa

Home

Editorial Opinion