Where does Loots fit in?

Mickey Arthur felt so good about South Africa’s performance in the second T20 against England that he labeled the opposition “predictable,” and said that the Proteas “have come out of the weekend far better than England did.” The coach is probably not far wrong, with South Africa recording a resounding 84-run win against England on Sunday. However, as far as intelligence is concerned, all they managed to do was show their illiteracy with a Duckworth-Lewis table again.

The excuses on Friday night were plentiful, and offered by all, including the commentators. “No one actually knew when the rain was going to come down” said some. I was sitting in the stands (not exactly reporter behavior but I had my folks with me) and I could feel drops of water spitting from the heavens from about three overs before the sheets of rain actually came. Unless it was just me that was being targeted by the weather gods, the players could probably feel them too and if that’s not a sign that the rain is coming, then I’m not sure what is.

Even though they probably haven’t worked out how to read the tables properly yet, it looks as though the South Africans are at least trying to understand Duckworth Lewis. AB de Villiers was studying a piece of paper before and during the fateful 13th over. He showed it to Albie Morkel, who understood it so clearly that he knew a boundary was needed off the over. He intended to hit the second ball for four.

Of course, England had access to those magical calculations as well and did everything is their power to save the boundary. Whether that’s the reason Alistair Cook threw himself at Morkel’s shot, or whether he was just feeling particularly athletic, we’ll never know, but his efforts meant that the home team required another five runs off that over to be ahead of the target. They scored four.

Don’t get me wrong, the Duckworth Lewis system is infinitely more complicated than anything sport has ever seen – even the debacle at Athletics South Africa isn’t quite as tangled – but how is it that every other team seems to get around it ok? Maybe the Proteas are just confirming that South Africa does have a mathematics malaise and team management should dedicate a few minutes of every practice session to DL lessons.

Not that that should be the focus of this column though, because the South African team made up for miscalculation on Friday emphatically on Sunday. They were the only national team to record a victory over the weekend – a feat in itself. Graeme Smith and Loots Bosman opened well on Friday, but opened bloody well on Sunday. Bosman, in particular looks like a man reborn. Both batsmen have suffered serious injuries in recent months and while the focus has been concentrated on Smith’s recovery, Bosman has been through a fair bit himself.

The former Free State man had reconstructive knee surgery before moving to Durban to play for the Dolphins. There, he claims Graham Ford has turned him into a sensible cricketer while helping him retain his bludgeoning skills. Bosman is the first to blow his own horn. He told reporters that he “could always hit a ball” but he also admitted, albeit grudgingly, that that was pretty much all he could do. Now, he says he’s learnt to be more patient and take singles after sixes or block the ball after smashing it. In other words, he’s added some finesse to his fight.

His fielding is another matter, and it doesn’t help that he is clearly carrying some extra weight around the middle. Smith, Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher got away with that for a while but even the tubby trio have had to lose the flab. The team doctor mentioned to me that Kallis has dropped 7 kgs recently. Bosman was fielding on the boundary for most of Friday night, and misfielded just about every ball that came his way. When he finally got one right, the crowd gave a sarcastic cheer and he was promptly moved into the ring and Roelof van der Merwe moved to the boundary. Bosman probably makes up for the runs he gives away in the field with the bat, but it seems his liability is too large (pardon the pun) to earn him a place in the one day side.

It seems inevitable that Kallis will open the batting with Smith. The pair joined forces for the second one day international against Zimbabwe, where they put on 107 for the first wicket. Both reached half centuries. The other batsman who may partner Smith at the top is Hashim Amla. Against Zimbabwe, Amla and Smith shared a stand of 67, with Amla going on to score 80. Both Kallis and Amla have the calibre to take first strike alongside the captain, but should they fail to deliver, Bosman should get the nod ahead of Herschelle Gibbs. The selectors don’t seem to be thinking along the same lines though.

Just as we thought Gibbs’ international career was over, the bad boy been given yet another opportunity, and has been included in South African A side to face England. Mike Proctor, convener of selectors, claimed the administrators had lost patience with Gibbs when they dropped him from the one-day side. Now, the selectors have done a 180 and decided that Gibbs’ MTN40 form is good enough to give him another bite at the cherry. Bosman is not so lucky. His MTN40 form has been considerably less impressive than Gibbs’ but so has Vaughn van Jaarsveld's and the Lions’ player finds himself in the A side. That’s probably a sign that Bosman is not an option for the ODIs and will be used as a specialist T20 player, which is a pity indeed. It seems the best he can hope for to keep his form up and get offered an IPL contract.

Firdose Moonda is a freelance writer based in Johannesburg and will be appearing on iafrica.com every week.

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