Powerade Chosen Column - Makhaya Ntini 10

Writing this column and providing comments for the Supersport coverage of the one day series with Sri Lanka has been a totally new experience for me and I have to say I found it quite strange.

As a player I always tried to do my talking with the ball, and I never paid too much attention to what the media had to say about me. Now I’m in their camp and it’s been interesting sitting in the commentators box and trying to work out exactly what is going on down on the field.

As I have no inside information about what’s going on inside the change room, it is of course impossible to know the truth of what’s being said and as commentators we can only speculate on the basis of the results of the team and the quality of the cricket played.
On that score, I think the captaincy of AB de Villiers has played a big role in the team being able to clinch the Series with two matches still to go.

There was a noticeable new spirit in the side and a will to win that blew the opposition away in the first two games, and then allowed the team to come through a tough contest in the third to clinch a narrow win.

Being a commentator has made me focus on certain things while watching a game and one thing I have noticed is that AB has clearly decided to get the message out that he is his own man and that he will be running the team his way. He has been firm in his decision-making, and there has not been much sign of him asking for advice from the other senior players before ringing changes on the field. The result, I believe, is that there has been a breath of fresh air in the team. There seems to be an intention to give everyone a fair chance to prove themselves, and the players have responded positively. This can be seen in two things in particular: in the way he has used the bowlers, and in the way he has shuffled the batting order.

In Paarl, for example, the opening spells of Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel were just two or three overs long. Lonwabo Tsotsobe was then given an extended spell of five overs, and he responded to the confidence shown in him by turning in one of his best performances in years.

In East London JP Duminy was given an opportunity to bat higher in the order and he made full use of the chance to make 66 not out and help the side chase down what was quite a big score.

In Bloemfontein, De Villiers dropped himself down the batting order, allowing Faf Du Plessis a chance to bat higher up and he showed that he is capable of transferring his excellent domestic form into the international arena.

The encouraging thing in all this, for me, is that it has allowed players who are not the usual suspects to play a leading role. Sure, Hashim Amla was great, and Morne Morkel has bowled better in the one-dayers than he did in the Test series, but the performance of players who have been on the sidelines until now showed that we have plenty of depth in the squad. I’m hoping they give some of the other players in the squad who have not featured so far a chance now. It would be good for spirit and will build experience in the bigger group of players. That, for me, is more important than going for a whitewash in the series.

My Powerade Chosen One is Faf du Plessis. Just when people were beginning to wonder what he was doing there he stood up and showed he belongs in the team.

Powerade Hydration Tip - Powerade provides your body with essential fluids that help to prevent dehydration. Dehydration could contribute to muscle cramping.

Powerade Chosen Column - Makhaya Ntini 9

I had my first taste of commentating on TV during the game in Paarl on Wednesday and I have to say I’m not very sure that it’s for me.

I will be working at the rest of the one-day matches and I guess I will get the hang of it, but it was very strange to be on the other side of the fence. I found it interesting to see that, as a commentator, you are free to say what you like, without actually experiencing what it’s like to be on the field in those conditions, and without feeling the stresses and pressures that the players go through during an international cricket game.

I guess the best route for a commentator is to be completely honest. If you say what you believe is happening out there, without having any axe to grind, then no-one can point a finger at you for what you say.

As far as the first ODI is concerned, I think winning the toss was very important. You had to be in Paarl on Wednesday to understand just how hot it was and to bowl first in those conditions was very difficult.

The Sri Lankans did not do themselves a favour by producing a very slow bowling rate. That meant that, according to the rules, the time allocated to the change of innings was reduced to just 15 minutes, down from the normal 45 minutes, and they only had themselves to blame for that.

I don’t think enough has been said about the effect that this had on the eventual outcome of the game. Their players would have been hot and uncomfortable and they then had to rush through a shower and would have not had enough time to eat properly.

Importantly, there would not have been time to have a proper team talk and to work out a plan on how to go about the run chase and that showed in what happened.

I thought the Sri Lankans stuck to their task quite well in the field and they did well to pull us back in the closing stages when it looked like we were going to get a really big score. Lasith Malinga showed the value of his experience and he kept a cool head, giving a great display what bowling at the death of innings should be.

The damage was already done, though, and thanks to Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and AB De Villiers, we were able to set a target which would have required a record score to reach.

So it was always going to be difficult for them, but I never expected them to fold so quickly. The hot conditions obviously had an effect on their batsmen who looked out on their feet, while the short break, as I said, meant they didn’t have the time to properly prepare themselves mentally either.

We also needed a good bowling display from the South African team, and that’s what we got. Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe were both great.

Morne took some criticism during the Test series and he reacted to it in the best way a player could possibly do – by coming out with an even greater hunger for success. He choked the batsmen by bowling the perfect line and length and, because of the size of the total they were chasing their batsmen had no choice but try to score off him and play some poor shots.

It was recipe for disaster, and the speed at which the wickets fell only increased the pressure on the remaining batsmen coming in and even Kuma Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, with all their experience, ended up throwing their wickets away.

At the other end, Lonwabo Tsotsobe was also great. He hadn’t featured in the plans of the selectors in the games leading up to this one and, like Morkel, he responded by coming back hungrier than ever. To bowl as quickly and accurately as he did after such a long period of not playing, showed that he really has what it takes to play at this level.

So, the question now is can the Sri Lankans bounce back from such a heavy defeat? We should remember that the same question was asked after they lost heavily in the first Test in Centurion. I wrote at the time that we should never under-estimate them, and they proved me right. They have too many excellent batsmen, capable of making big scores and many of those have the record to prove it.

Malinga has boosted their bowling attack and he showed at Paarl that he can destroy a batting lineup. If we had lost the toss and he bowled later in the day things might have been different.

Tillakaratne Dilshan is their key batsman. If he gets in and makes a big score today it will lift the other batsmen and we could be in for a difficult time.

During the Test in Paarl I was shown the Powerade Performance Tracker for the first time. I wish we had that sort of technology when I was playing. It was interesting to see that Morne covered 132.4km in the Test Series and made me wonder how much ground I used to cover. It’s all about work load and work rate while a team is in the field and by measuring the exact mileage that each player gets through in a day, the coaches have a scientific basis on which to regulate workloads to maximize the player’s performances and change training patterns to suit their requirements.

The way that Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe bounced back after adversity to secure the win in Paarl Makes them my joint Powerade Chosen Ones for this week.

Drinking a sports drink, like Powerade, after the game helps your body to recover more quickly after strenuous physical activity.

Morne Morkel at the Paarl Press Conference after winning the Man of the Match award

Morne Morkel and Dale Steyn show us the GPS devices used for the Powerade Performance Tracker

POWERADE CHOSEN COLUMN – MAKHAYA NTINI 8

Winning the third test against Sri Lanka, and with it the series, was very important for the team because it has removed the bogey of being unable to win a series at home which has been starting to build over the past four years.

I was delighted with the way the team approached this match and it makes me think how different it might have been had the same attitude been there for the second test in Durban.

Looking back over the series, I think that while we played well in Centurion, we didn’t take into consideration the fact that the wicket would have been particularly strange to the touring team. They don’t experience that sort of pace and carry on their home grounds and they battled to score freely. We put them under pressure and our bowlers took advantage of that fact by bowling in the right places. Vernon Philander carried on where he left off against the Aussies and looked like our best bowler. We definitely missed him in the Durban Test. Dale Steyn was also his usual threat.

Then came the second Test and suddenly we didn’t put their batsmen under the same pressure. Obviously Philander’s consistency was missed and, while Marchant de Lange was great and is obviously a good prospect for the future, our bowling attack didn’t have the same hunger or, importantly, the same patience as the showed in Centurion.

It looked like the team was a bit complacent and thought it would be easy again in Durban. The wicket there is completely different and we didn’t apply the pressure on their batsmen while they did manage to put pressure on out batsmen, resulting in some poor shots being played.

There will have been some serious talking in the dressing room ahead of the third Test. And it showed – the batsmen obviously set up the win with a great display from Jacques Kallis leading the way, but for me the important thing was that there was patience again in our bowling.

When people ask me what is the important thing about bowling in international cricket I always refer to that – patience. It’s about doing the same thing consistently for long period without betting bored.

Putting a batting lineup under pressure is not just about threatening to take wickets, and it’s also not about trying to take their heads off all the time. It’s about building pressure slowly. If you can restrict their scoring rate, and you keep on doing it for a long period of time, you will eventually get them to start chasing after balls they shouldn’t be chasing, and playing shots they shouldn’t be playing. That’s when the wickets start coming. You have to be patient. Having a batsman leaving five or six balls in an over is what you are aiming for, because that means he is not scoring runs and he is going to get frustrated eventually. We used to say you must not allow yourself to get bored.

As with all bowling, it comes down to line and length. The line you aim for is the channel of off stump or just outside it. That way an lbw decision is always a possibility if the batsman has a go and misses, and if you can get the ball to do something off the pitch, or in the air, you can get him to snick it.

The length you should be going for is the one where you back the batsman unsure about whether he must play forward or back. It’s what we call “just back of a length” a little shorter and he can step back and hook or cut, a little longer and he can drive. If you keep the ball in that unsure area for long periods you can prevent the batsman from scoring and you will be building the pressure.

Our quick bowlers all did that superbly in Cape Town and then the spinner used the conditions well.

It was a great win and it showed we can finish off a side when we have them on the ropes. Bring on the limited-overs games.

THE POWERADE CHOSEN ONE:  Jacques Kallis – he played his 150^th Test Match and he topped it off with 224 runs, 3 wickets and 5 catches.

POWERADE HYDRATION TIP -   Drinking a sports drink, like Powerade, after the race helps your body to recover more quickly after strenuous physical activity.

*carbohydrate energy comes from calories

Powerade Chosen Column 6 - Makhaya Ntini

I’m hoping we get it tactically right against the Sri Lankans when the Test series starts next week. Thinking back, it’s just not good enough that we managed to draw a Test series with an Australian team that was well below their best.

This is a new Sri Lankan team, and some of their stars are no longer there, while our team looks settled and experienced. That’s an advantage for us, but the biggest advantage is that we will be playing at home, and the conditions should favour us.

I have been asked what it is that makes South African pitches favourable to our type of bowling. I believe it’s all about the wickets and how they are prepared, but it goes beyond that. We have, over the years, been able to produce the sort of bowlers who can thrive on those wickets and that has led to an attitude in the team which makes us hard to beat in those conditions.

The type of clay we have available for our pitches makes it possible for a wicket to last pretty well for at least four days of a Test match. So, if it has been prepared properly the quick bowlers are going to get good pace and bounce off the pitch and if they bowl the right line and length they will get the ball to deviate off the seam and to move around.

When that happens, no batsman, even when he has been in for a while and has a handy total on the board, can be completely confident. There’s always the chance of an unplayable ball that’s going to get him. That’s what I loved most about the game and bowling on South African wickets.

Across in Sri Lanka the wickets tend to crumble and crack earlier in the match. They are softer and the ball comes off slower and doesn’t bounce as much. So the conditions favour the spinners and their teams are selected accordingly. Over here we can go for an all seam attack, and that’s what we should do. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel have the ability, and mindset, to get the most out of our pitches and we now have the perfect backup bowler in Vernon Philander.

He may not be as quick as the two openers, and have as much variation, but he bowls a consistent line and length which frustrates the batsmen and keeps them under pressure. That creates chances for the others. It’s the edge we have going in to the series, let’s hope we stick to that plan and use our chances.

The Coca-Cola Khaya Majola Week begins in Cape Town next week and it’s going to be a great experience for the players involved. I played in two weeks – in 1994 and 1995, and I remember them as a happy time, when we could play cricket every day for a week, with very little else to think about. For most of the players it’s an opportunity to meet like minded players from other provinces and make friends that they will come across again, on the cricket fields or in life.

For the few who are good enough to go on to play at higher levels, this is their chance to show what they are made of. There are going to be people there who are on the lookout for talent, and the top players need to show they can perform at a level above their school teams. I made the SA Colts team in 1994 and the SA Schools team in 1995, and that led to me being picked for the Under-19 National Team. Those were my first steps towards playing for South Africa.

The value of the Coca-Cola Week is that it allows young players to get themselves noticed. It’s more difficult in other countries where you have to join the senior ranks after school and hope you do well enough to stand out among players who are older and more experienced than you are.

Go out and enjoy it.

POWERADE HYDRATION TIP -   Powerade provides your body with essential fluids that help to prevent dehydration.  Dehydration could contribute to muscle cramping.

Powerade Chosen Column 5 - Makhaya Ntini

The two Tests against Australia showed that five day cricket can be very exciting and I hope this proved to the nation that the shorter forms of the game are not the only one’s worth watching.

It’s just a pity that there were only two Tests and I have to ask why we only played the Aussies, who are the team that we really want to play and the one that attracts big crowds to the stadiums, and now we have the Sri Lankans for three Tests and five ODIs.

I remember when I was in the national side we would be given a piece of paper at the beginning of the year telling us who we would be playing and when. It seemed like the ICC made those decisions and we were definitely never consulted. There never seemed to be much logic in the tour schedules and the only thing that was certain was that when we went to England we would play five Tests and about 10 ODIs and spend three months away from home.

The way it worked out, it would have been great to have had another Test against the Australians to get a series winner.

And, for me, Test cricket is what it is all about. I played over 100 Tests and I can remember just about all of them. I can’t say the same about the ODIs I played.

The same goes for the wickets I have taken. I can remember my first Test wicket – Sri Lanka’s Aravinda da Silva, caught Boucher, and my 300^th – Mohammed Sami of Pakistan, also caught Boucher - and all of the milestone wickets in between.  But I don’t remember my 50^th, 100^th and 150^th ODI wickets.

I always felt, as a bowler, that I needed the time and overs that I got to bowl in Test matches to be at my best. In a 50 over game you only have 10 overs, and it is less in a T20 game. If you don’t find your rhythm early on, or if the batsmen get off to a flying start off you, you are gone. There’s no chance to recover and you probably won’t perform when you come back later on either.

In a Test match, however, you have the time to recover if you have a poor start. The captain takes you off and you can think about what you did wrong and about what you have to do to fix it up when you are brought back.

In my case, I believe one of my strengths was my fitness and my willingness to always work hard to be at my best physically. So a long Test match suited me, and I could bowl plenty of overs, even in hot conditions, and that helped build my record. I never had that advantage in the shorter games, especially in night games. So the Tests were always more special for me.

Well, we have three Tests up front against the Sri Lankans now and I think it’s going to be exciting. It’s time to put the disappointment of the Australian tour behind us. Playing against sub-continent opposition is always special. They may not have the technical skills of the Australians, but they make up for that in passion and dedication.

And this is a Sri Lankan team that we don’t know much about. Murilutheran and Malinga are gone, and with them the special bowling attack that the Sri Lankans have developed in recent seasons.

Some of their senior batsmen have also retired, although Sangakkara, Jayawardene and Dilshan will be here. They, along with bowler Dilhara Fenando, are just about the only players left since I last played against them.

South Africa, on the other hand, has all its senior players available and I think that if we don’t beat this Sri Lankan team we will have to take a hard look at ourselves.

POWERADE HYDRATION TIP – Exercise can cause the body to lose between 300ml and 2000ml per hour during exercise. Help replace your lost fluids with Powerade.

Powerade Chosen Column 4 - Makhaya Ntini

The second Test, while it was not as crazy as the first, it was still pretty exciting in the end and, for a while on Monday, the results could have gone either way. It could even have ended up as a draw.

For me, Australia’s win was not all that surprising and it showed that there is nothing quite as dangerous as a wounded animal, and that definitely also goes for Australian cricket teams!

The first Test, with both batting sides collapsing the way they did, was not a good reflection of the relative strengths of the two sides and although we won the first quite easily in the end, the second Test was a much better reflection of how strong the teams were and it showed that there was very little to choose between them.

If I was to analyze what happened, I would sum it up by saying that South Africa were unable to finish them off when we had them on the ropes, whereas a number of key players stepped up for Australia at the right time.

There are lessons to learn from that game which apply to all games. Unfortunately South Africa was unable to get those last few wickets. It’s been a common problem with the team and I remember a similar thing happening against England at Newlands not so long ago.

Imran Tahir did well to wrap up the Australian tail in the first innings, although they did manage to get another 20 runs at the end that proved crucial. The plan was obviously to get the leg spinner to do the same in the second innings, but unfortunately this plan did not come together.

To win a Test match, especially one between two teams that are as closely matched as Australia and South Africa have been in this series, you need your big guns to fire and I think that is what the Australians did in the second half of the Test match.  Ricky Ponting has been in terrible form, but he came right at exactly the right time, and his 62 in the second innings was the foundation for the win and it took an experienced player like him to produce the goods when it really counted.

Aussie wicket keeper, Brad Haddin, was another senior player who has not been producing the goods and, again, he turned it on when it really counted and his 55 was invaluable. Mitchell Johnson was another key player.  He has been under pressure and, although his bowling has not been good (I think he was injured early on in the game) he produced the goods with the bat, and was responsible for upping the scoring rate at a time when it looked like Australia were out of it.

And then there was Pat Cummins. The 18 year-old had a great game and showed that he was capable of taking that important step up to Test cricket in his stride. To take seven wickets, and be named man of the match in his debut Test, is fantastic and it shows he is one to watch in the future. He proved the Australian selectors’ decision to go with him, despite his lack of experience, was a good one. Australia has never been afraid to pick promising young players and this time was no different.

I’m hoping the South African selectors and the new coach take note and are not caught up in the conservative approach we have been following in recent series.

So it’s the Sri Lankans next and I am confident that we will be in with a great chance of beating them. Senior players like Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn have been great in this series and the signs are there that the others are getting into top form as well. And we also have Vernon Philander, a newcomer who performed like a veteran.  A debutant being named man of the series is not something you see every day.

THE POWERADE CHOSEN ONE:  For his performances with both bat and ball, in both Test matches, has to be Vernon Philander.

POWERADE HYDRATION TIP -   Drinking a sports drink, like Powerade, after the race helps your body to recover more quickly after strenuous physical activity.

Look out for the Makhaya Ntini Column

Once again the weekend is here and once again we are going to be lucky enough to read Makhaya Ntini’s column on the Star Newspaper, IOL and on this blog.

I am looking forward to read what Makhaya thinks about the recent Australia vs South Africa test series and I would love to know who his Powerade Chosen One is for the week. Last week’s Chosen one was Jacques Rudolph and he did not really perform all that well in the tow tests that he played but I do agree with Makhaya when he says that Jacques is a player to look out for. On the 15^th December he will open the batting against Sri Lanka and I believe that he will do fantastically well.

Makhaya might be coming to the end of his career but it is not due to a lack of the love on the game, a diminishing love of his fans or a lack of commitment, it is solely due to mother nature and the fact that life after 30 is not the same as life between 18 and 30. I had the privilege to watch the Warriors playing against the Lions on Wednesday and Makhaya bowled fantastically well.

Watch this blog for Makhaya’s thoughts.

POWERADE CHOSED COLUMN 3 - MAKHAYA NTINI

No matter what happens at The Wanderers over the next few days, the Aussie tour of 2011 will be remembered for that strange day at Newlands when there was play from all four innings, all on the same day.

I never saw anything like it in the 101 Test matches that I played, and when people ask me what happened, I have to say I don’t really know. Obviously, it wasn’t a typical, batsman-friendly Newlands wicket, but that doesn’t explain why so many batsmen went out to balls that, while they did do a bit, weren’t really unplayable.

The bowlers did, however, do well to put the ball in the right place and take advantage of the situation. It was a day I personally would have loved to be there, especially seeing the opponents were Australia, the team we as South Africans love to beat the most.

On that note, the second Test is at a delicate balance and don’t believe those who have been saying that the South African team will be happy with a draw. That, I think, is the sort of thing that the cricket reporters and analysts say. Sure, it would be great to win a home series against Australia for the first time after all these years, but it would be even better if it could be a white wash.

Well that was the way we always felt in the dressing room in the years that I played. The team spirit was always there and that spirit was based on all the players motivating each other and believing that we can win. Going for a draw was never part of our plan.

I’m sure that attitude played a big role in the team’s success at Newlands last weekend. Sure, they would have been down after collapsing for just 96 runs in our first innings, but in the dressing room there would have not been any talk of containing the Australians in their second innings, and then hoping to survive.

The captain would have been the one to talk at that stage, and Graeme was always good at getting the players to buy in to the plan. They would all have been telling each other that if Australia could bowl us out cheaply, then we could also do that to them.

Then Vernon and the other bowlers did just that, and the team got a famous victory.

I’ve also been asked what I think of Gary as the coach. I played with him many times of course and we all got to respect him for his ability and his character. He has such an excellent technical knowledge of the game, and he has the respect of the players and the ability to communicate with them. That he has been there before is very important because he knows what is needed to succeed. I believe the coach’s role is to make sure that every player is ready and able to give of his best when the game begins.

That includes physical fitness, but also mental attitude and technical skills. As my career went on I found that coaches were using teams of people to take care of all those aspects. Gary showed in India that he is very good at it, and that will definitely make South Africa a better team.

Once the match is on, it’s the captain who calls the shots, in consultation with the players, and they decide together on how they will play the game. I believe the decision will be to go all out to beat the Aussies in this one, but time will tell.

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THE POWERADE CHOSEN ONE - I am absolutely thrilled to see my old mate Jacques Rudolph back in the Test setup.

He has made heaps of runs in all formats of the game this season and his selection is encouraging because it shows they are taking notice of players who are in top form and that it is not a closed shop.

He hasn’t done so well in the Tests so far, but many of the other batsmen have also failed. I’m hoping he will be given the chance to get to his top form in the remaining matches. I know he will prove that it was the right decision to bring him back

POWERADE HYDRATION TIP -  Powerade  provides an effective combination of fluids, electrolytes and energy-yielding carbohydrates* that help your body to perform at its peak.

*carbohydrate energy comes from calories

Jacques Rudolph rehydrating himself with Powerade

Jacques Rudolph and Hashim Amla having a drinks break on Thursday

Powerade Chosen Column 2 - Makhaya Ntini

I trust all my fans are enjoying my column. Some parts of the country are experiencing extremely hot weather conditions at the moment and please make sure to stay well hydrated.

Thursday was without a doubt the strangest day of Test cricket I have ever heard of. I was away at training in the morning and came back just as South Africa went in to bat. I took a short nap and when I turned on the TV again we were all out for 96! Then I had to go to a meeting and when I returned Australia were all out for 47. This created the gap South Africa needed to get the runs and win the game – which they did in a mere three days.

No-one could have predicted the turn of events. In fact I would have thought the Newlands wicket would be batsman-friendly. Not that you can blame the wicket entirely. There was obviously some excellent bowling, by Watson and Philander especially, but the batsmen must take some blame for panicking and folding under the pressure. It should never have happened and lets hope both sides learn a lesson from this.

Despite what happened in the first Test, if I were to choose between Newlands and The Wanderers as a Test venue to bowl at I would definitely go for The Wanderers. As a fast bowler I always felt there was something in it for me there.

The ball carries better in the thin air and there is pace and bounce on the pitch. There is also the possibility that you can get one or two balls to do something unusual.

So, you feel that you are always in with a chance of getting a wicket, even when the batsmen in is well established. For me the game was always on when I bowled at the bullring.

I do think that it has changed in recent times, however. Maybe the reason lies in the preparation of the wickets. There were times when Tests up there were all over inside three days, but that doesn’t happen so much anymore.

You have to wonder if they are trying to produce wickets that will see the contest stretch over all five days now. Whatever the reason, in recent games, it seems like the spinners get something out of the pitch towards the end of the game.

So it’s important to choose a frontline spinner who can hold up one end, and have a part-timer as second spinner to relieve him.

As far as selection is concerned, it’s obvious that the fast bowlers can only operate in short spells, especially in these hot weather conditions, so you have to have the spinners to hold up one end while you rotate your quicks at the other.

To beat Australia  everyone has to be at their best. It comes down to what I call being the “captain of your own space”. Each player needs to take control of his own fitness, and we don’t stand a chance if everyone is not in top shape. And each player has to play a leadership role. Whether you are batting, bowling or fielding, you make decisions when you are in play and the rest of the team must support you. 

It also applies to the technical aspects of your game. Every player knows his own weaknesses and it’s up to him to improve on them.

If everyone does all of that, I can’t see us losing the series.  I am looking forward to seeing what happens at The Wanderers.  South Africa will have the upper edge being 1 up, but never underestimate the Australians.

THE POWERADE CHOSEN ONE for this week has to debutant Vernon Philander for his sterling bowling performance.  He is derinitely my Powerade Chosen One

POWERADE HYDRATION TIP - Exercise can cause the body to lose between 300ml and 2000ml of essential fluids per hour during exercise. Help replace your lost fluids with Powerade.

Makhaya Ntini Column

The Powerade and The Star Makhaya Ntini Column will contunue this Saturday on this blog as well as The Star Newspaper and www.iol.co.za.

POWERADE CHOSEN COLUMN 1 – MAKHAYA NTINI

I’m really excited about the upcoming Test series against Australia.

Playing the Aussies has always been something special, for me and for all of us really.

I made my international debut against Australia back in 1998 and, since then I have played against them at the World Cup, in T20 games, one-dayers and Test matches and they have all been among the toughest games I’ve ever played.

There’s something about the Australian team that has made them consistently the best in the world and beating them has always been something special.

They have a mental toughness that is always very difficult to get through, but it goes further than that. They have somehow always been one step ahead of us at just about everything about the game. For example, they are always first when it comes to new developments in kit and equipment. But they also have the best training techniques, the best nutritional advice and the best in scientific support.

The result was that they always seemed to have more quality players than the other countries did. I always felt we were playing catchup, but that was never a reason to just lie down and let them beat us. In the matches we played I always felt it brought out the best in us, and that made beating them, whenever we managed to do that, so much sweeter.

For me personally, I always wanted to test myself against the best around. So, bowling to players like Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting and Matthew Haden was what I wanted to do.

Every Test wicket I took was special, but getting those guys out was, for me, a sign that I was on the top of my game.

I’ve been busy since my retirement from international cricket in January and I am still very involved with the game, playing for the Eastern Cape Warriors in all formats of the game. It’s always been my philosophy that I would not play unless I was 100% fit and I think that has contributed to me being relatively injury-free throughout my career.

That’s my advice to all sportsmen, in fact, there’s no point in playing if you aren’t physically at your best. So I’ve been training as hard as ever, and if you ask me whether I have regrets that I’m not going to be bowling to these Aussies I would have to say no.

I had a long and successful international career – I took 390 Test wickets - but I always said that when I walk away from it I will have no regrets and I don’t.

But of course I’m right behind the boys and I’ve been following the tour so far with interest.

I don’t think it’s true to say the limited overs games has been a failure for us. The performance of the team in the T20 game at the Wanderers and in the ODI in PE showed that we have high quality players, capable of brilliant cricket.

I think it’s just a matter of putting it all together at the right time, and there are signs that that’s happening now.

You have to remember that the players never had much cricket going into the tour. There’s a new coach, and they only got together three days before the first game. Some were in India, where conditions are completely different, some were training but not playing matches back home and some were injured.

So there were signs of rustiness in the limited overs games and it’s true to say that we made a slow start, with bat and ball in most of them. But when we were good, we were very good.

That’s a sign that the quality is still there, we just have to put it together consistently.

Roll on the Tests, I can’t wait.

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