Summer 2012
Overnight Amla is 99 not out and hammering the Aussies in the decisive final test of the latest series.
However it is quite possible that without a controversial selection policy, heavily influenced by racial politics in the Post Apartheid era, Amla would not have been given the opportunity to forge a test career, or if he had initially been given a chance, he would not have survived his initial travails. Ironically he failed in his first 4 innings v England.
Following the fall of the Nationalist Government and the release of Nelson Mandela, South Africa regained its place in the fold of international cricket. Its isolation had deprived South African greats such as Barry Richards, Mike Proctor and Clive Rice of their opportunity to grace test cricket.
In order to redress the imbalance caused by racist policies which prevented the development of cricket amongst 'people of colour', South African cricket introduced a quota system which required that there were at least 4 such players in the national 11 at any one time. The policy led to the advancement of players such as Amla and JP Dumini. Conversely South African born players such as Kevin Pietersen and Jonathon Trott believed themselves to be unfairly disadvantaged. Both decided to qualify for England and are now stalwarts of the English team. Interestingly though Pietersen had shown, but glimpses of the player he would become when competing for selection with Natal in South Africa. Other white players such as Graeme Smith decided to stay and fight successfully for their places.
The policy has been abandoned now, but it undoubtedly had a significant impact. Watching Amla in his pomp, one can only wonder and be thankful that such a player was advantaged by a political decision.
It puzzles me when player like Pietersen and Trott say they went becouse of the Quota Policy. This is so untrue and they can never prove that a black player was selected ahead of them. With Pietersen, he never even made the SA under 19 side which was made up of batsmen like G.Smith, J.Trott, J.Rudolph and A.Puttick. All of these batsmen were better than him then and he cannot deny it. Pietersen was just a late blossomer and you can not blame the quota for that. KP was used more for his spin and batted at No.8 in an all white Natal side. Can KP tell us just on black player that was selected ahead of him? Is it Ahmed Amla (Hashim's brother)??? That would be a blatent lie. When KP was was playing first class cricket in SA there was only one black player in the Natal squad.
ReplyDeleteAs for J Trott,he was a very good bats man but played during the years when there was an abundance of good batsmen (non of them where black.Trott got his chances at provincial level and SA "A" side. He played for Western Province, which was the home side for batsment like H.Gibbs, J.Kallis, G.Smith, HD Ackerman, G. Kirsten, all of which represented SA. Whenever they were off from National duty, the likes of Trott would have to make way for them to play. Trott just could not crack it through the senior South African side as there were an abundance of equally talented batsmen (All white except for Gibbs). To then say that you left because of the Quota system does not make sense. Batsmen that were selected ahead of him in the SA team were all white. Can Trott name just one black player that was selected ahead of him? It would be understandable if he said he was not managed properly as a primier prospect batsman....
ReplyDeleteDuring the years that both Pietersen and Trott played in SA, it was just Black Bowlers that were introduced through the system. For batsmen to now come and say they were victims of the quota system is just Ludacris.
Foreign journalist need to be educated about such things and should not write the only the one side of the story. Most of the accusations that these guys are making can not be substantiated.
Excellent! Informed discussion just like it says on the tin! Please continue.
ReplyDeleteContinuing........."Its isolation had deprived South African greats such as Barry Richards, Mike Proctor and Clive Rice of their opportunity to grace test cricket".
ReplyDeleteMr Gibbs it was not just these white players you mentioned that were deprived. There are a lot of Black players that were deprived to and they hardly ever get any mention at all. We had FRANK RORO who was nicknamed "Dusty Bradman", a batsman who scored more than 100 centuries in his senior cricket and averaged more tha 100 runs per innings. We had BEN MALAMBA a fast bowler who received national colours in both cricket and rugby. And ofcourse there was BASIL DE OLIVIERA, the man after which this current series cup was named after. There are loads of other black cricketers that suffered but never get the same recognition as their white counterparts.
You make very valid points. Here's a link to my post from November http://gibbsbarrister.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/lest-we-forget.html. If you want to write a piece about this subject I will post it if appropriate.
DeleteThe 'Lest we Forget' Post can be found on the blog.
ReplyDeleteTrott made his First class debut in SA in 2000 and played his last match in SA in 2002. Just how many players of colour were selected and played for the SA national in those years. The players are H.Gibbs (was Trott better than him?), M.Ntini (a specialist bowler), M.Ngam (a specialist bowler), A.Prince (a mid order batsman that made his debut in 2002.Averaged 42 in tests. Should he have made way for Trott. Was Trott that much better than him? Were there no White players that could have made way for Trott? If there was someone that could have made way for Trott then, it was HH.Dipenaar, a white player) and J.Ontong (spinner and lower order batsman that played with Trott at both Under 19 and in Boland province. Should he have made way for Trott to take the No6 spot in SA team?).....
ReplyDeleteAt provincial level, the only player of colour that was a batsman was R.Magiet. In games that R.Magiet played in Trott also played in, so it would be dumb to say R.Magiet was chosen ahead of Trott. In 2001 when the internationals were on duty, the Western Province batting line up consisted of 1.R Magiet 2.G Smith 3.A Puttick 4.HD Ackerman 5.J Trott 6.N Johnson(Zimbabwe captain).. This was a very compatative line up which only had one black player. Could he then say he was unfairly treated by the Quota System?
Thanks Mr Gibbs. I would love to write a piece on your blog.
ReplyDeletePlease send to pgibbs@kchgardensquare.co.uk
DeleteOk please send your piece to the email address on blog and will post all being well!
ReplyDeletepgibbs@kchgardensquare.co.uk
ReplyDelete