Lara begins his charm offensive on Cronje's kids (12 November 1998)
THE bloke from the BBC, bless his heart, opened his inquisition of Brian Lara in a hail of hyperbole
12-Nov-1998
12 November 1998
Lara begins his charm offensive on Cronje's kids
By Rodney Hartman
THE bloke from the BBC, bless his heart, opened his inquisition
of Brian Lara in a hail of hyperbole. He wished to convey, he
said, the disappointment of "the children of Soweto" who
hero-worshipped the West Indies captain and felt let down by his
late arrival in South Africa.
"Thousands of poor, young black South Africans idolise you. How
can you treat them like this?" indignantly inquired the man from
the Beeb.
"Well," replied Lara, immediately playing from the back foot at
the team's welcoming press conference, "we'll be there [in
Soweto] tomorrow morning and all 15 of my players would love to
play this match."
Then the next day he walked out on to the Elkah Oval in the heart
of Soweto, the West Indies 46 for two in their limited-overs
match against a local invitation XI, and several hundred
schoolchildren gathered neatly on one side of the ground. There
was neither a murmur of recognition, nor indeed admonishment, as
he strode to the middle.
It was a day off school and, to make it even more special, Lara
turned on his renowned charm by scoring 65 before the rains came
to spoil everyone's fun. By the end of his delightful innings
many of the kids probably
still did not know his name (the scoreboard was no help), but
they certainly enjoyed his batting artistry.
For all the noble pronouncements of its historical and
sociological significance, the West Indies tour of South Africa
is simply an opportunity to find a winner over a series of five
Test matches. Anyone who thinks or says differently is ignoring
the nature of professional cricket in an age beyond romanticism.
If by leading his team through South Africa for 13 weeks, Lara
somehow manages to encourage a local youngster to reveal himself
as a champion left-handed batsman, or if perchance Soweto just
happens to produce its own Curtly Ambrose, well, that would be a
wonderful bonus.
Role models are all well and good but, for half a dozen years at
least, any number of wannabe Allan Donalds have perfected little
more than the white greasepaint on their noses and cheeks. When
Shane Warne toured South Africa, young boys quickly shortened
their Donald run-ups and started rolling the ball out the back of
their hands. But several years after Warne's departure, South
Africa has yet to unearth a decent right-arm wrist spinner.
The United Cricket Board of South Africa has done an exemplary
job in introducing the game to thousands of black youngsters from
disadvantaged backgrounds. With a better understanding now of how
the game should be played, they will enjoy watching Lara and his
men, and they will attempt no doubt to emulate the swashbuckling
Caribbean style of play; but their admiration for Hansie Cronje
will continue undiminished and, judging from what one sees of
their games, they would sooner perfect the famous slog-sweep of
the South African captain than the cannon cover drive of his West
Indian counterpart.
There is, after all, a style of cricket peculiar to each nation;
and, in South Africa, simply being black and eager to learn does
not necessarily mean suddenly wanting to become a West Indian.
It may well happen that Lara is booed by some when the big
matches start; but that may have less to do with his late arrival
than with good, old-fashioned opposition to visiting
match-winners. Ask Shane Warne.
Rodney Hartman is sports editor of the Sunday Times in
Johannesburg
Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)