Press divide on fault line (19 June 1999)
London - So whose fault was it
19-Jun-1999
19 June 1999
Press divide on fault line
Tony Cozier
London - So whose fault was it?
Opinions were divided among writers and commentators here
yesterday over whether Lance Klusener or Allan Donald should
take the blame for the farcical and decisive run-out that denied
South Africa victory in Thursday's tied World Cup semifinal
against Australia and put them out of the tournament.
South African captain Hansie Cronje exonerated both players
afterwards.
He said he believed non-striker Allan Donald didn't hear
Klusener's call for the fateful non-run above the dim of the
crowd.
"We are far too mature to place the blame on any individual,"
Cronje said.
But most newspapers weren't as understanding. The most
unforgiving was Mark Nicholas, the former captain of Hampshire,
in the Daily Telegraph.
"For a split-second of heart-breaking insanity ... Lance
Klusener who had it, lost it, lost everything," Nicholas wrote.
"A hero, this 'Zulu' warrior, this Klusener King, made a
misjudgement of such magnitude that three years of blood and
sweat, of careful selection, meticulous planning and of driven
ambition went out the window."
While the Daily Mirror, under the headline Klueless, called
Klusener "the luckless fall-guy", the Daily Mail pointed the
finger at Donald's "devastating last over blunder".
Former England medium-pacer Mike Slevey in The Guardian
conditionally placed the responsibility on Klusener for calling
the winning run with still two balls left in the final over.
"Klusener should have stayed and made sure," Selvey wrote. "His
power would have seen them through; he knows that and will
reflect on it for the rest of his days".
"But," he added, "blaming Klusener is easy, for it was the
unremitting capacity of the Australians to find reserves of
strength and courage when the going got toughest which won the
day as the South Africa batting wilted in the heat of battle."
Another former England player, Derek Pringle, saw it
differently.
Writing in the Independent, he praised Donald's bowling that
earned him four wickets but added: "On another day, he would
have been a hero.
"As it was, his ball-watching, with one run needed, made him the
villain in the piece."
Mike Dickson recorded in the Daily Mail that when Klusener
called Donald for the match-winning run "the apparently
panic-stricken Donald did not respond".
Both Allan Border, the former Australian captain and now
selector, and current England captain, Alec Stewart, said on Sky
Sports television that Klusener's was an unnecessary gamble.
But both have been there, done that, and both accepted that it
was easy analysing from the comfort of a television studio hours
after the event; another thing to be in the middle in such a
tense situation.
That, precisely, is the point. There were, perhaps, a dozen
panicky errors of judgement by players on both sides near the
end.
Klusener could have been run out in the penultimate over had not
umpire David Shepherd got his considerable body in the way of
Mark Waugh's throw at the stumps as he skipped back into the
approved position.
Paul Reiffel, placed in the deep because he is one of
Australia's safest catchers, spilled two, the second off
Klusener going from his grasp for six.
The match would have been over a ball earlier had Darren Lehmann
not missed the stumps from five yards with Donald well out of
his ground.
Even in the final run-out, Mark Waugh's flick back missed the
stumps and it was only Donald's tardiness in the running that
allowed Damien Fleming to roll the ball along the pitch for
wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist to complete the crazy dismissal.
Source :: The Barbados Nation (https://www.nationnews.com/)