From Kanpur to Kolkata, with plenty of positives

Omar Henry was one of the few reluctant to condemn the Green Park pitch; he had bowled on surfaces similar to this when playing in Bloemfont...

Omar Henry was one of the few reluctant to condemn the Green Park pitch; he had bowled on surfaces similar to this when playing in Bloemfontein for Free State in the 1980s and early 1990s. They were also years, the convener of the South African selectors said, when he bowled at his best, and it required a number of overs to be a successful bowler.

It was a time when, in an age of pace, swing and cutters, even Allan Donald was faced with bowling on a pitch that required a lot of hard work. In Henry’s view the Springbok Park pitch made Donald, nicknamed ‘White Lightning’, a better fast bowler as he had to work for his wickets.

The last time South Africa played at Eden Gardens, however, Donald was ruled out of bowling in India’s second innings with a debilitating heel injury and it was Lance Klusener, on his debut, who collected remarkable figures of 8-64.

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What Henry and South Africa’s captain Graeme Smith are hoping for is something similar as the Eden Gardens’ reputation for bounce and perhaps some pace would help the tourists, emerging as they did with a far better status than they had when going into first Test here at Green Park on Saturday. Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini would benefit from such conditions after a surface where too much clay content spoiled the game as a genuine contest.

Henry was turning over the records of that remarkable game at Eden Gardens against Australia in 2001, hoping to find some clue about conditions at the biggest venue in South Asia. He didn’t quite come up with the answers he wanted, but he knows that seam, swing and pace will get more assistance than they did here.

While Henry was considering his options, and was in a huddle with the coach Ray Jennings, who also doubles as a national selector, Smith was a touch relived that he was not facing the same charge as India’s captain, Sourav Ganguly of being charged with a slow overrate.

Smith was placed on report last December in the first Test against the West Indies at the Wanderers when ICC Match referee Ranjan Madugalle fined him. He was rescued today by Makhaya Ntini wrecking the Indian middle-order with his quick three-wicket haul. It was known that the South Africans were four overs short and former New Zealand captain Jeff Crowe, the ICC match referee for this series, was also looking at the fine print to see if he was liable to be cited a second time in 12 months.

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If the big South African captain was worried, he didn’t show it. Instead, he indicated that the Safs’ bowling for Kolkata would be based on the conditions, and these would largely decide whether Robin Peterson would play. It might mean a change in the side; Martin van Jaarsveld and Jacques Rudolph had disappointing games here and their places could be in jeopardy.

And Peterson could be replaced by Alfonso Thomas, a swing bowler with a similar style to that of Andrew Hall.

At least the tourists emerged from this game with a better reputation than they had when they went into it; scoring 510/9 and taking a first innings lead off India are plusses for Kolkata. And Jennings did indicate that they would have had a great tour if they drew the two Tests.