From bigstarcricket.com Diary After we lost in Port Elizabeth, it's good the West Indies series is going to the wire. We would have preferred a 3-0 win but for the neutrals it's been entertaining cricket. West Indies have been tough and have shown a lot more patience than what we have seen from West Indies teams in recent years. They have played some good cricket and in Cape Town we had to play really well to come back. It was nice to bounce back in the series as we did and it sets up a great finale in Durban. The selectors have decided that Herschelle (Gibbs) will come back in up front as Neil Mac (McKenzie) is going to be out for four to five weeks with his calf injury. Dale Steyn is making good progress with his injury and I would say he is looking good for Durban. He will be monitored over the next few days to see how he shapes up. After the selectors originally took Hersh out for the series, I guess it’s a lucky break for him. I have a huge soft spot for Hersh and I hope he does well and that the brief time out of the firing line gave him a chance to refocus. He will have all of our support and hopefully he can come back (successfully). With regards to my own form, although I hadn’t scored many runs before my 85 in Cape Town, I actually felt pretty good through the whole summer even though I missed out against New Zealand, when the wickets weren’t great. All the openers struggled in that series against the new ball, which was doing a lot. I got a couple of starts at Port Elizabeth without going on, so I was pleased that in the second innings at Newlands I was able to make a few runs when my side needed them. When I get a start I like to make it count. I suppose I was under a bit of pressure before Cape Town and had received some criticism but I have to say some South African fans do not have particularly long memories, maybe only two or three Tests. I scored a good hundred in Pakistan quite recently but after missing out in three Tests at the start of our summer I was under pressure again. People remember what 'just' happened so when we win or score a few runs everything is ok again. It’s inevitable that we are going to be criticised but I think it’s important for people to realise the great strides this side is making, we are an improving team. I would also like fans to have an awareness of what players go through and the sacrifices we make, like the constant travelling, time away from home, giving up a lot socially....and so on. I have just completed my 50th Test match as captain and recently my 100th ODI, so back in 2003 when I took on the captaincy at the age of 22, if someone had said to me you would still be captain in five years and be averaging 47 in Test cricket and 41 in ODIs I would have taken that. To take on all that experience and responsibility at 22 without any real support structure I am happy with what I have achieved. In terms of my captaincy nobody has tried to develop me, I have done it all myself. No one has put me on a media course or leadership course or helped me to cope with pressure. Everything I have done I have had to do myself. Growing up has been tough, as captaincy - for a young guy especially, is a very draining job, but I have enjoyed the challenge and continue to enjoy it. Back to the current series: Unlike New Zealand, who you can predict how they are going to play, West Indies are unpredictable, can be quite moody and can produce great things when they want to as they have some good players. They have shown a new determination and eagerness to win cricket games again. Whether that is down to their coach John Dyson or skipper Chris Gayle I don’t know, but they are playing with a lot of energy. If Chris doesn’t play in Durban (because of his broken thumb) he will be missed. Although he hasn’t got big runs, he has usually got them off to fliers and they have pulled it back from there, with (Shivnarine) Chanderpaul anchoring the middle-order. It looks like Chris's presence has been very important. He’s always dangerous with the bat and always seems to do well against us. He has captained and led the team well and is crucial to their plans so if he does miss out it is going to be a huge loss for them. From our point of view it means they will bring someone else in so it gives us an opportunity to create pressure on a younger player in their team. Changing the subject, I see things in Australia have become interesting. It’s not for me to get involved in but the spirit in our series has been competitive without going over the top. The West Indies have come here with the mind set to take us on. I think the umpires are crucial to how these games pan out in terms of how they communicate with the players. Sometimes umpires can take a headmaster-like approach when a more relaxed attitude would be better. It’s likely that after what happened in Sydney the officials are going to clamp down on anything that might be seen to contravene the laws so we are going to have to be careful as I don’t want any of us getting bans over needless incidents. Finally, in terms of the holiday season just gone, the guys had their families with them in Port Elizabeth for Christmas – I was on my own – but at New Years my family, brother and parents came to Cape Town from Johannesburg and we had a nice time, though I was up early for training at 9am the next day! Happy New Year to you all, © Copyright bigstarcricket.com |