Published: Weekend Witness November 2011
The recent tour of Australia to South Africa has once again reinvigorated peoples interest in the longer version of the game. This was mainly because of gritty performances by the least likely candidates for both sides. But the name on the public’s lips at the moment is that of Vernon Philander.
Since the retirement of Sean Pollock from test Cricket, the Protea’s bowling attack has been seemingly lacking balance without a third pace bowler to back up Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel. Since then national selectors have turned to no less than three possible candidates in three years, all of which were unimpressive.
Meanwhile, Philander, a forgotten man of South African cricket, was returning to his best form in all versions of the game, particularly in the longer verison. In the past two seasons he has ended the SuperSport Series as the tournament’s top wicket taker with a miserly average close to that of Pollock’s.
Because of this, he was given his chance to shine at Newlands where he played in his debut test against the touring Australians. He bowled impressively in the first innings pitching the ball on a good length at a pace which troubled the batsmen. He took 3/63 in the first innings with former Australian captain Ricky Ponting saying that he will take a lot of wickets in his career.
He didn’t have to wait long to realize this. In what was a remarkable second day of the test, South Africa bowled Australia out for 47, with Philander stealing the show finishing with 5/15.
This was one of the best performances by a South African player on debut, but Philander said that there was a risk of the occasion getting to him.
“There were so many emotions going through me at the time. I really had to calm myself down and concentrate on taking another wicket. I must say, the goose bumps I got during that second innings was an awesome feeling, I was tempted to pinch myself to see if it was real on a number of occasions,” said Philander.
He was a major contributor to South Africa winning that test and was labeled as a key player to South Africa’s ambitions of winning their first home series against Australia in almost 30 years. At the Wanderers, on a hard pitch that favored batsmen Philander only took 1/47 in the first innings but improved in the second innings taking 5/70. It was this performance which secured him the man of the series award.
“I knew I would do well in Test cricket, but I didn’t expect to finish the series as the top wicket taker and the man of the series. It’s a bit surreal,” he said.
Philander was brought up in Belville in the Western Cape and cricket always played a significant role in his life. He added that from an early age street cricket would be a way to keep youths busy and away from criminal elements which is an unfortunate fact of life among youths in the area.
“I have fond memories of my youth in Belville. On Sundays, when the streets were quiet, all of the parents would sit outside and cheer us on. So it feels like I have been playing cricket in front of big crowds from the time I was six or seven,” said Philader.
But the close knit community did their best to support young men like Philander and it was this support which he said helped him through his rollercoaster journey as a cricketer.
“I always used to sit in the back of the class and look out of the window thinking that one day I will play for South Africa at Newlands. But if my marks were no good enough my mom brought me back down to earth very quickly,” he said.
He represented South Africa at Under 19 level in 2003 and was one of leading wicket takers in the world at that level. He performed well in all formats and was eventually drafted into the Protea’s limited overs side where he took four wickets on debut against Ireland in 2007. From there he went on to be a regular feature in both ODI and Twenty20 cricket.
He struggled for from and picked up significant weight in 2008 and was dropped from the Proteas squad because of the rise of Wayne Parnell and Lonwabo Tsotsobe. Determined to make a comeback he went back to Belville and worked hard to lose his excess weight and remodeled his action.
“If it wasn’t for the support of my family and the community, I would never have had the confidence and heart to achieve what I did,” said Philander.
Cobras coach Richard Pybus encouraged Philander further by constantly telling him to keep on taking wickets, eventually he will attract the attention of the right people.
Now that he is in the Test team, Philander said that his task is firmly set on establishing himself as a mainstay of South African cricket.
“I am hoping to have a good series against Sri Lanka. They don’t like pace bowling especially on wickets with a lot of juice in them like the South African wickets have. Maybe now I can use my short ball which I couldn’t use against Australia. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
He has noted that his performances have garnered a lot of media attention and public interest, which is welcome, but needs to be managed.
“Sometimes I just need to zone out. Music is a big help in this regard, I’m a big fan of rap and R&B music. It gets me pumped up and ready to take on the world,” he said. He added that he also likes to watch light hearted comedy movies to take his mind off things.
With Parnell, Tsotsobe and Ryan McLaren all eager to make comebacks in the Test team, Philander has a fight on his hands to establish himself as a regular in the Proteas set up. But with performances like those that he put in against Australia, one fancies that contenders will have their hands full trying to take his position away from him.
 |
| Philander used to sit at the back of the class dreaming to play for South Africa at Newlands |
No comments:
Post a Comment