Kallis injury may result in a late gamble (17 June 1999)

17 June 1999

Kallis injury may result in a late gamble

Peter Deeley

South Africa may be driven to take one of the biggest gambles in their short post-apartheid cricketing history this morning if Jacques Kallis fails a final fitness test before their World Cup semi-final with Australia at Edgbaston.

Kallis has a stomach muscle injury and the way could be open for Alan Dawson, a virtually unknown fast bowler from Western Province, to step up for his first game in the tournament and only his second one-day international.

Dawson was not even in the original South African party and was only called in a week before the side flew out when Makhaya Ntini was found guilty of a rape charge.

Kallis, who missed Sunday's Headingley game against the same opponents, bowled for 10 minutes in practice yesterday but came away still apparently in some pain. Physiotherapist Craig Smith said: "The muscle problem is still troubling Jacques. We will see how he is in the morning but if there is no improvement I would have to advise our selectors they would be taking a gamble if he did play."

Hansie Cronje, the South African captain, dearly wants Kallis in his side. He believes the Headingley defeat by Australia was largely the result of himself and spinner Nicky Boje having to make up the extra 10 overs which went for 79 runs.

Dawson, 30 in November, is a fast medium swing bowler whose only claim to fame is that he was a member of South Africa's Commonwealth Games gold medal-winning team who beat Australia in the final at Kuala Lumpur last year.

He admits he owes much of his advancement to the coaching in Cape Town of Duncan Fletcher, one of the men on the England short list to replace David Lloyd.

Cronje said if Kallis was not fit to bowl then in all probability he would not play. He then slightly hedged his bets by adding: "It is still all in the balance."

Since both captains have been indulging in mind games in the wake of the weekend's titanic struggle, one cannot be totally sure whether all this is not a smoke-screen on Cronje's part.

Cronje and Steve Waugh have been playing the psychological warfare card for all it is worth. The South African was inclined to damn his opposite number with faint praise. The Australian, for his part, thinks his opponents are now scarred by the defeat four days ago.

After Waugh's century at Headingley, Cronje was asked what he thought of the Australian captain. "It's strange, but he doesn't come to the party when he doesn't need to. He plays the big points really well, so from that point of view I rate him very highly. I don't think he is as talented as Lara or Tendulkar but he is certainly very strong mentally. He had to slog his innings against us and he took chances. They came off then but . . . ."

Waugh certainly believes Australia have put the hex on South Africa with that win at the weekend. His view is that, metaphorically and literally, Herschelle Gibbs let the game slip through his fingers when he failed to hold on to the chance off Waugh at Leeds - and that this will rub off on the rest of the South Africans.

"I would much rather be in our shoes than theirs," Waugh said. "They lost such a great opportunity not to play us again. We are the team they fear and we have beaten them a few times under pressure. On the surface they will be talking tough but underneath they are the ones who have the problem of picking themselves up."

Waugh thinks he has spotted a flaw in Gibbs's temperament. "I wouldn't like to be in his shoes," he said. "There will obviously be a lot of pressure on him." Not least, you can be sure, from the Australian close-in fielders, who will be reminding Gibbs of his mistake when he comes to the crease today.

Australia (probable): M E Waugh, -A C Gilchrist, R T Ponting, D R Martyn, *S R Waugh, M G Bevan, T M Moody, S K Warne, P R Reiffel, D W Fleming, G D McGrath.

South Africa (from): G Kirsten, H H Gibbs, J H Kallis, D J Cullinan, *W J Cronje, J N Rhodes, L Klusener, S M Pollock, -M V Boucher, N Boje, S Elworthy, A A Donald, D M Benkenstein.

Umpires: D R Shepherd (England) & S Venkataraghavan (India). Third umpire: S A Bucknor (West Indies).

Referee: R Subba Row (England).

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph