JACQUES Kallis, Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn yesterday gave home supporters much to smile about on a day that started with a bitter taste when veteran bowler Makhaya Ntini failed to appear on the ground for prematch warm-ups, having been told of his omission from the starting XI the evening before.

 

 

 

 

It later transpired that the country’s iconic fast bowler had signed an agreement to finish his career as a Kolpak player with English county Middlesex, effectively ending his international career there and then. A great shame.

 

 

 

 

Ntini was spoken to before the start of the season by various members of the Proteas hierarchy and it was suggested that he be given the brace of one-dayers against Zimbabwe as an opportunity to bow out of the one-day international game in a smaller version of the “Polly Farewell Tour” series against the West Indies a couple of years ago.

 

 

 

 

He declined for two reasons: first, he did not believe his powers were in decline and was determined to fight for a place for the 2011 World Cup. And second, bowing out against minnows Zimbabwe in Benoni and Centurion would have been the equivalent of a cupcake and jelly compared to Shaun Pollock’s parting five-stop banquet.

 

 

 

 

Ntini’s intention, apparently, had been to retire at the end of the series, but the news from London that he would play out his days at Lord’s will almost certainly mean bringing the announcement forward to the end of the Newlands Test.

 

 

Just a fortnight after celebrating his 100th Test, South Africans will be saying goodbye. Sadly, the great man did nothing to require an update on the many, rightly glowing tributes written and produced a couple of weeks ago.

 

 

 

 

Kallis was at his metronomic, reliable best. Not just very good, but outstanding. At 127/5 he was all that stood between England and the Basil D’Oliveira trophy. At least, that’s how it looked and felt. For the umpteenth time he had the full weight of a nation’s hope and expectation on his shoulders, and he responded — again.

 

 

 

 

It was the 33rd time he had reached a century in the 14 years he has been playing Test cricket. After two more he will trail just Sachin Tendulkar (43 and counting) and Ricky Ponting (38 and counting). He has been around a long time and familiarity breeds contempt. In this case the contempt should be reserved exclusively for the fools and Philistines who still can’t see or understand his greatness.

 

 

 

 

Boucher threw off fear of the situation like a matador’s cloak and counter-punched in an effort to take the pressure off his great friend. It was, like so many of his other contributions in a career almost as long as Kallis’s, a delicious hors d’oeuvre that left you thrilled by the prospect of the main course.

 

 

 

 

Instead, dessert arrived at the end of the day in the form of Steyn, who is as easy on the eye as a batsman as he is a strike bowler. A promotion up the order had become inevitable ever since he scored that extraordinary 76 in Melbourne a year ago and Morné Morkel continues to squander his opportunities and talent up the order.

 

 

 

 

Duncan Fletcher has been the making of Steyn the batsman, and simplicity is at the heart of his approach. For all the complexities of the game, every delivery a bowler offers basically falls into three or four categories. The secret is recognising — early — which category the ball falls into and then applying the skills you have, rather than worrying about the ones you do not, in order to play it.

 

 

 

 

Detractors of his long-term prospects at No8 are merely conservatives with short-term memories or no knowledge of history.

 

 

Richard Hadlee, Kapil Dev, Wasim Akram and, more recently, Brett Lee and Mitchell Johnson have led their respective attacks while batting at eight and have routinely benefited from the experience.

 

 

Besides, Morkel and Paul Harris will be straining at the leash to improve their own returns with the bat, and the team can only benefit from that.

 

 

 

 

While the Test match continues, however, there is a vitally important job to be done off the field.

 

 

Ntini must leave the stage with pride intact, head held high and regrets buried.

By BusinessDay

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