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Rob Houwing’s ‘Tops on the Telly’ column
There must have been a big temptation to load this week’s Inside Edge cricket chat show (SS2) with rah-rah ahead of the Champions League T20 starting next week on our turf.
SuperSport will be covering it generously, of course, and would hardly object to an opportunity to boost viewer interest at a pretty unfashionable time of year for the game here, and at a juncture when the game as a whole is sadly reeling from a credibility blow anew.
But Inside Edge, to its credit, chose to focus almost wholly – in a slot seemingly extended by 15 minutes to 45 on Tuesday night – on the “spot-fixing” furore allegedly involving members of the Pakistan team.
Anchor Pommie Mbangwa led discussion on the hot topic with guests comprising frequent visitor Kepler Wessels, the increasingly suave and steady pundit HD (no, that’s not for high definition!) Ackerman, and a South African-based representative of bookies Victor Chandler.
Of course the last-named invitee was always going to launch a spirited defence of the “respectable” and regulated nature of legal sports betting in our country.
There were also some inserts from British television, including commentator and former Pakistan opening batsman Ramiz Raja ruefully lamenting how “a little rash has grown into a gash” in the game.
Raja is described thus on his Cricinfo profile: “In Pakistan’s post-90s mess of scandal, dirt and intrigue, he (has) emerged, importantly, as a rare man of integrity and considerable dignity on the field and in administration.”
So his views carry good weight and Inside Edge did well to feature him.
Mbangwa also got on the phone to Haroon Lorgat, Port Elizabeth-born CEO of the International Cricket Council, and veteran Pakistani journalist Qamar Ahmed.
Wessels rather played down the widely-held theory that Pakistani players have been more prey than most to the vices of “fixing” because they generally earn notably smaller cricketing incomes than counterparts elsewhere.
“Some of the players previously (connected to) this activity have been on top dollar,” said the former SA captain, possibly referring to the likes of disgraced Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin and his late South African counterpart Hansie Cronje.
“It’s a dangerous business … once in, never out. In the short-term, it is unlikely it will be stopped.”
As the programme drew to a close Ackerman admitted to unashamedly seeking to put a positive spin on things. “I’d like to believe 99 percent of the cricket we so enjoy watching is OK.”
My figure might be a tad lower than that, for the record, HD …
Rob’s awesome foursome:
1. South Africa v Australia, Vodacom Tri-Nations rugby
Bloemfontein, Saturday 17:00, M-Net, SS1 & SS HD
Did you also get the vivid sense that “electricity” was broadly lacking at Loftus last Saturday? The All Blacks have run away with the Tri-Nations by such a wide margin that the competition all too quickly lost its lustre (through no fault of theirs). At least there is a win finally beneath Bok belts now, although I still anticipate some gaps in the stands in “Bloem” for the residual business of determining who keeps the Mandela Cup, locked at 1-1 after events at Brisbane and Pretoria. I tip the Boks to win again, with both teams wishing to tighten up structurally after last week’s way-too-liquid lasagne!
2. Blue Bulls v Sharks, Absa Currie Cup rugby
Pretoria, Saturday 19:15, CSN, SS1 & HD
I’m looking forward to this one: in some respects there could be a greater cutting edge to the big domestic match-up than in the Test not long before it. The now comfortably log-leading Sharks will go in as favourites, but there is so much at stake for the cup-holding Bulls, who will have slipped to five defeats if they play second fiddle here and really be struggling under those circumstances to make the semis. Both teams, of course, miss some key Springboks, but particularly the hosts, and a Sharks front five containing the likes of Beast Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis and rapidly-gelling Messrs Sykes and Hargreaves in the second row could contain a wee bit too much firepower. Sharks by five … but an upset not impossible.
3. South Africa v Niger, Afcon soccer qualifier
Nelspruit, Saturday 20:30, SABC1
I see no reason not to feel confident about Bafana getting their Africa Cup of Nations campaign off to a convincing enough, winning start. I sense overdue stability in the camp and it will certainly come as a massive let-down if the national side are held to, say, a goalless draw by the relative continental minnows. (Or, heaven forbid, lose to a side ranked 145 in world terms to their improved 66th.) My long-suffering, Bafana-monitoring colleague Ray Silinga suggests a workmanlike 2-0 victory. I think new head coach Pitso Mosimane would bank that happily enough at Mbombela Stadium. Here’s hoping for a rosy turnout at one of the nicest stadiums I have ever visited, anywhere.
4. England v Pakistan, 1st T20 cricket international
Cardiff, Sunday 16:30, SS2
Yep, I suppose I wouldn’t ordinarily draw attention to a Twenty20 international not involving South Africa. But c’mon, you’re as curious as I am to watch a televised Pakistan match in the wake of the spot-fixing kerfuffle, aren’t you? Their warm-up game against Somerset at Taunton on Thursday was expected to lure almost 5000 people – probably two-thirds more than would have been anticipated a week or so ago! – so Cardiff (against a KP-less England) won’t be lacking for bums on seats either. The irony, of course, is that many of those who pitch up won’t be there because of any special, deep-rooted feelings for cricket in general, but more for curiosity’s sake as they devilishly watch the embattled Pakistanis for any signs of eccentric behaviour. And never will the bowlers’ “landing zone” be monitored more spiritedly …
There must have been a big temptation to load this week’s Inside Edge cricket chat show (SS2) with rah-rah ahead of the Champions League T20 starting next week on our turf.
SuperSport will be covering it generously, of course, and would hardly object to an opportunity to boost viewer interest at a pretty unfashionable time of year for the game here, and at a juncture when the game as a whole is sadly reeling from a credibility blow anew.
But Inside Edge, to its credit, chose to focus almost wholly – in a slot seemingly extended by 15 minutes to 45 on Tuesday night – on the “spot-fixing” furore allegedly involving members of the Pakistan team.
Anchor Pommie Mbangwa led discussion on the hot topic with guests comprising frequent visitor Kepler Wessels, the increasingly suave and steady pundit HD (no, that’s not for high definition!) Ackerman, and a South African-based representative of bookies Victor Chandler.
Of course the last-named invitee was always going to launch a spirited defence of the “respectable” and regulated nature of legal sports betting in our country.
There were also some inserts from British television, including commentator and former Pakistan opening batsman Ramiz Raja ruefully lamenting how “a little rash has grown into a gash” in the game.
Raja is described thus on his Cricinfo profile: “In Pakistan’s post-90s mess of scandal, dirt and intrigue, he (has) emerged, importantly, as a rare man of integrity and considerable dignity on the field and in administration.”
So his views carry good weight and Inside Edge did well to feature him.
Mbangwa also got on the phone to Haroon Lorgat, Port Elizabeth-born CEO of the International Cricket Council, and veteran Pakistani journalist Qamar Ahmed.
Wessels rather played down the widely-held theory that Pakistani players have been more prey than most to the vices of “fixing” because they generally earn notably smaller cricketing incomes than counterparts elsewhere.
“Some of the players previously (connected to) this activity have been on top dollar,” said the former SA captain, possibly referring to the likes of disgraced Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin and his late South African counterpart Hansie Cronje.
“It’s a dangerous business … once in, never out. In the short-term, it is unlikely it will be stopped.”
As the programme drew to a close Ackerman admitted to unashamedly seeking to put a positive spin on things. “I’d like to believe 99 percent of the cricket we so enjoy watching is OK.”
My figure might be a tad lower than that, for the record, HD …
Rob’s awesome foursome:
1. South Africa v Australia, Vodacom Tri-Nations rugby
Bloemfontein, Saturday 17:00, M-Net, SS1 & SS HD
Did you also get the vivid sense that “electricity” was broadly lacking at Loftus last Saturday? The All Blacks have run away with the Tri-Nations by such a wide margin that the competition all too quickly lost its lustre (through no fault of theirs). At least there is a win finally beneath Bok belts now, although I still anticipate some gaps in the stands in “Bloem” for the residual business of determining who keeps the Mandela Cup, locked at 1-1 after events at Brisbane and Pretoria. I tip the Boks to win again, with both teams wishing to tighten up structurally after last week’s way-too-liquid lasagne!
2. Blue Bulls v Sharks, Absa Currie Cup rugby
Pretoria, Saturday 19:15, CSN, SS1 & HD
I’m looking forward to this one: in some respects there could be a greater cutting edge to the big domestic match-up than in the Test not long before it. The now comfortably log-leading Sharks will go in as favourites, but there is so much at stake for the cup-holding Bulls, who will have slipped to five defeats if they play second fiddle here and really be struggling under those circumstances to make the semis. Both teams, of course, miss some key Springboks, but particularly the hosts, and a Sharks front five containing the likes of Beast Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis and rapidly-gelling Messrs Sykes and Hargreaves in the second row could contain a wee bit too much firepower. Sharks by five … but an upset not impossible.
3. South Africa v Niger, Afcon soccer qualifier
Nelspruit, Saturday 20:30, SABC1
I see no reason not to feel confident about Bafana getting their Africa Cup of Nations campaign off to a convincing enough, winning start. I sense overdue stability in the camp and it will certainly come as a massive let-down if the national side are held to, say, a goalless draw by the relative continental minnows. (Or, heaven forbid, lose to a side ranked 145 in world terms to their improved 66th.) My long-suffering, Bafana-monitoring colleague Ray Silinga suggests a workmanlike 2-0 victory. I think new head coach Pitso Mosimane would bank that happily enough at Mbombela Stadium. Here’s hoping for a rosy turnout at one of the nicest stadiums I have ever visited, anywhere.
4. England v Pakistan, 1st T20 cricket international
Cardiff, Sunday 16:30, SS2
Yep, I suppose I wouldn’t ordinarily draw attention to a Twenty20 international not involving South Africa. But c’mon, you’re as curious as I am to watch a televised Pakistan match in the wake of the spot-fixing kerfuffle, aren’t you? Their warm-up game against Somerset at Taunton on Thursday was expected to lure almost 5000 people – probably two-thirds more than would have been anticipated a week or so ago! – so Cardiff (against a KP-less England) won’t be lacking for bums on seats either. The irony, of course, is that many of those who pitch up won’t be there because of any special, deep-rooted feelings for cricket in general, but more for curiosity’s sake as they devilishly watch the embattled Pakistanis for any signs of eccentric behaviour. And never will the bowlers’ “landing zone” be monitored more spiritedly …
