South African cricketers aim for Lords glory

Peter Bills
Friday 15 August 2008 12:03 BST
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They dreamed of such an event, such a special day long, long ago as boys back in South Africa. Saturday at Lords, the home of cricket in the heart of London, three South African players will fulfil the ambition of a lifetime by playing in front of a full house at the famous old ground.

Martin van Jaarsveld, Justin Kemp and Ryan McLaren will play for Kent against Essex in the final of the Friends Provident Trophy, the 50-over major 1-day competition in the English season.

For Kent’s South African trio, plus their South African coach Graham Ford, it will be a unique experience. But dreams will have no place in their make-up, only the driven desire to win the Cup.

Van Jaarsveld, who is one of the leading run scorers in England this summer, admits that the memory of Kent’s agonising, 3-run defeat in the final of the Twenty20 Cup competition a few weeks back, still hurts. “It was pretty heart breaking, getting that close especially when we were trying to defend our trophy” said van Jaarsveld.

“We just couldn’t get our noses in front but in professional sport, that sometimes happens. Tyro Henderson (the South African playing for Middlesex) bowled a beautiful last over to Justin Kemp and ‘Kempy’ just couldn’t quite get us over the finish line. It would be great for team spirit and the club in general if we could bring some silverware home from Lords this Saturday.”

The key to Kent’s chances probably lies in van Jaarsveld’s hands. He has been a revelation this summer after making a small change to his batting technique that has reaped huge dividends. “I used to start holding the bat with my hands pretty low on it” he says. “It meant I had to take the bat back quite a long way and I felt a little rushed every time.

“Now, although it is not exactly baseball style, I start with a back lift a lot higher. It just means I have a little more time.”

The effect has been dramatic. He has scored three centuries in the Championship and four in the Friends Provident Championship season. So how many runs has he scored? “I have no idea at all, mate. When I have looked at the averages in the past, I haven’t carried it on and that’s why I haven’t wanted to check up on the statistics this time. Experience has taught me not to look at those figures: I play better without thinking about what I’ve done in the past.”

In truth, former Proteas star Justin Kemp has had a poor season for Kent, struggling with a back injury and failing to make the runs the county had expected from him. But van Jaarsveld insists he will bounce back, saying “He is a class player, we know he will come off.

“He has found it pretty tough this season but I’m not sure why. A lot of players go through bad trots and he wanted to do so well maybe he has put too much pressure on himself. But we have had a long chat this week and hopefully he will show his top form at Lords for this final.”

All rounder Ryan McLaren will be a key performer for Kent, both with bat and ball. McLaren is an explosive batsman and valuable medium pace bowler and van Jaarsveld says “He is such an athlete. He has contributed with the bat and ball; he’s a great all-round cricketer.

“We don’t want to think about losing this one so we have to dig deep. It will be a great occasion; it’s always special when you go to Lords but especially for a final before a full house and especially so for South Africans. When you grow up at home in South Africa, of all the places you want to play in the world you think you would like to play at Lords one day. Now we’re going to do it and we have to make it count.”

But for one other South African, there may be disappointment. Young Neil Dexter, also on Kent’s books, looks likely to miss out in the starting XI.

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