In a world where money trumps everything for most people, Proteas newbie David Bedingham really is a breath of fresh air.
It’s unheard of nowadays for anyone to say ‘no thank you’ to millions of rands or dollars, in favour of touring with a national team and POSSIBLY getting to play for a second-string Proteas side in New Zealand after Cricket South Africa’s big sellout.
Yet, that’s exactly what the humble 29-year-old from the Mother City did when he got a call from South Africa Test coach Shukri Conrad last year to talk about possibly playing for the national team on their watered-down trip to the Land of the Long White Cloud at the end of the month.
Bedingham, who impressed with 56 runs on Test debut against India at Centurion Park last week, explained earlier in the week ahead of the ongoing second Test against India at Newlands: “Shuks just called and said there is a possibility [that I could tour with the team and] as soon as I heard there was a chance and I heard no one from the SA20 [tournament] was going to play, I didn’t have second thought. I took my name out of the draft [for the SA20].”
He followed that up with another “special” statement, saying: “I’ve always loved Test cricket, I loved watching it and my priority was always Test cricket.”
At 29, Bedingham is not a youngster, but listening to him speak about the fire to play for the Proteas it’s tough to believe that he could have been lost to South Africa, with reports suggesting he tried to play for England instead.
He also took the time out to explain that, saying: “I’m still trying to get a passport for England, for [life] after cricket. I’d also like to continue playing there.
“I had ambitions of playing as a local [and not an international player in England].”
County games apart, what about the national team?
He answers: “If I had to try and play [for England] I’d had to play another three or four years. It [the passport] is rather to live and work there.”
This sort of passion for the five-day game was echoed a day later by outgoing current skipper Dean Elgar – a man who mostly only represented South Africa in the longer format before announcing his retirement at the end of the second Test against India.
Passion, though, doesn’t pay the bills and these guys who love the five-day game are often “poor” in comparison to the richness brought on by T20 cricket.
As a cricket “purist”, I’ve mentioned a gazillion times before that I love the longer format of the sport and believe it to be the game’s ultimate test.
And while I do understand that crowds are attracted to the shortest form 20 overs because of the spectacle, the International Cricket Council has to do more to save the five-day game.
More to the point, Cricket South Africa has to do more to save redball cricket, instead of trying to bury it.
But what CSA did to rubber stamp a second-string Test team in favour of the big guns playing for poor-man’s IPL teams in South Africa is ‘n klap in die gesig for Test cricket. In fact, it’s a disgrace to the game.
Such was the backlash because of their decision that the board, chaired by Lawson Naidoo I believe, had to send out an explanation on Tuesday, reading:
“[CSA] notes the concerns about the composition of the Test squad that will be travelling to New Zealand later this month. We reassure the fans that CSA has the utmost respect for the Test format as the pinnacle of the game we love.
“The dates for this tour were set when the Future Tours Programme [FTP] for 2023-2027 was finalised in 2022. The window for the SA20 had not been determined at that stage. Once it became apparent that there would be a clash, we made every effort to find another mutually suitable time-slot for this 2 Test series in consultation with New Zealand Cricket.
“Regrettably the constraints imposed by the global cricket calendar rendered this impossible, as the games must be played before April 2025 as part of the World Test Championship.
“We commend head coach, Shukri Conrad and his staff for preparing the selected players for this tour, and we are confident that they will represent the Proteas badge with honour.
“We wish them all the very best. It is an opportunity to demonstrate the depth of talent that we have in South Africa.”
Gggg ptui… whatever!
Please just get busy drawing up a plan to reward those guys who still play cricket for the love of the game!
* Hard-talking sports writer Dudley Carstens tackles the toughest issues on the field in his weekly column.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za