Mickey Arthur, Ntini’s future and brave cricket

When Mickey Arthur took over the senior national team from Ray Jennings, he bowled the media over with brave talk. Mickey spoke about brave cricket, brave decisions and brave selection. It was evident that a new era has dawned.

We all bought into his vision, for Mickey arrived at a time when SA cricket was at a crossroad – in need of a new blueprint, fresh brains and a figure to bring harmony after the fallout of skipper Graeme Smith, and Jennings.

Part of his dream was to cleanse the Proteas of the unwanted dead wood and establish a new era from a side that was still struggling to come out of the disappointment of a disastrous 2003 cricket World Cup under Eric Simons. But it soon became apparent that Arthur’s bravery was selective. When he got the job, he said he would not nurse egos, but soon, it appeared that there was an influential clique within the team, allegedly consisting of skipper Graeme Smith and some of the senior members of the squad.

When it came to backing his players, Arthur also made it apparent that he will back some, while other players he will dump when form fails them.

Right now, we have the same problem that we had before 2003 – a group of players who feel indispensable and some senior players who allegedly don’t enjoy the public robust support of the coach.

Mickey and I go a long way back and at some stage, I will consider him a friend. I have no axe to grind with him and I hope he will not take any of this criticism personally.

This week, Arthur told reporters that he wants to embark on what he calls a rebuilding phase. He has dropped Andre Nel and Makhaya Ntini. While Nel’s omission might not raise eyebrows, it is the latter’s exclusion that might cook a political storm in South Africa. This has nothing to do with the fact that Ntini is black (he is there on merit), but with the belief in quarters that although the Mdingi-born cricketer has been through a bad patch, there is still a lot he can offer to the ODI team.

Whether that argument is admissible is another issue though. Ntini’s omission has led me to come up with an uncomfortable question. Is it the beginning of the end for the first African cricketer to don the Proteas’ jersey? Maybe the unthinkable has happen – the darling of SA cricket might be nearing his end, and although I don’t know what is going through Ntini’s head, he must be disillusioned.

One might ask: has Makhaya enjoyed the full support that players like Kallis enjoyed when they were (and still are) off form?

The argument that Ntini is out of his depth on 20/20 and ODI does not hold water. During the tough Indian Premier League, Ntini was in scintillating form for his side – producing a fine performance in the semifinals of the event at a tournament where bowlers, including some members of the Proteas team, were being tortured and punished.

That proved that Makhaya can play under this new game. When he had to do the same thing for the Proteas in England, Ntini blew hot and cold.