Centurion: Mornantau Hayward has become, if whispers from the A team
camp are an accurate assessment, a Test bowler in waiting and woe
betide this summers tourists England when they shape up to face
his version of the ballistic missile.
Certainly Dale Benkenstein, the South Africa A captain, was left in no
doubt that Hayward would at some stage this summer play in the Test
series against England after his high velocity bowling rattled the
touring Sri Lanka A batsmen on a SuperSport Park pitch erratic in
bounce and likely to be the fastest they are going to encounter on
this tour.
The new ``Wit Blitz'' remains in a revamped side which sees three
controversial changes for the second A Team match of the four day
series in Pietermaritzburg and starting on Thursday.
One of national selectors, Clive Rice left his calling card in the A
Team dressing room at Centurion on Saturday and gave The Management an
insight into the confused thinking emerging from the national
selectors camp as they chop and change what is, in essence, a prestige
side which was on the verge of thrashing Sri Lanka A by an innings and
116 runs with a day and half a session remaining.
The way Hayward, Victor Mpitsang and David Terbrugge bowled on Friday
and Saturday they would have not disgraced the senior side which
rushed to an innings victory over an injury-hit Zimbabwe.
Rice, however, declined to view the demolition job Dale
Benkensteins side provided as they wiped the floor with their Sri
Lanka A opponents. The fall out from his announcement about the three
changes is, however, likely to cause disruptions in a side which
deserved to remain intact.
From all accounts Nic Pothas, Neil McKenzie and David Terbrugge have
been relieved of their A Team duty while Justin Kemp, Wendell
Bossenger and Arno Jacobs have been summoned as replacements. There is
a strong hint that the two Gauteng and Northerns players have been
released to allow them to play in a combined Northerns/Gauteng XI to
play the England in the four day game in Centurion starting on
Thursday.
No one can argue with Kemps selection but those of Jacobs and
Bossenger is in danger of turning the A Team, which has a proud
record, into a type of President?s XI: neither player are yet
worthy of A Team status; not while Carl Bradfield and Ian Mitchell are
available.
Bossenger may have been last season?s leading wicketkeeper in terms
of dismissals, but this does not automatically make him No 3 in the
country. Hayward, with seven wickets in the game, including a five
wicket spread on Friday, showed in this game that his A Section form
has turned him into a much improved bowler to the 20-year-old colt
Benkenstein handled when West Indies A toured South Africa to summers
ago. He has also matured quickly since his disappointing tour of
England earlier last year.
It had been argued that he should have toured Sri Lanka with the A
team instead of touring England: the education process would have been
seen him come though a lot faster and rounded him off as a more
competitive player last season. Now, however, the pace he generated
and the way he put the wind up most Sri Lanka A batsmen on Friday and
Saturday suggests that he has become a highly motivated player in
recent months.
``I can tell you now that he bowled some of the fastest deliveries I
have seen this summer and must now rank among the top pace bowlers in
the world,'' Benkenstein said yesterday. ``He has learnt a lot too,
which is important to a captain who knows he can call on a fast bowler
of his ability and class.''
Benkenstein was also impressed with Mpitsangs bowling, as was Dr
Ali Bacher, managing director of the United Cricket Board, on Friday.
We saw the best of Mpitsang on Saturday with Benkenstein agreeing that
the way the 19-year-old former Grey College fast bowler had bowled
placed him in line for another senior tour next year either India or
Sri Lanka. And do not be surprised if Hayward has not already
graduated to a Test cap by then.