Cricket: Kiwis take cricket to town called Alice

EAST LONDON - Whatever the result, there will be no losers in tonight's limited-over cricket match between New Zealand and a Border XI at Alice.

The New Zealanders need an extra game right now like they need another back injury, but for once they will be involved in an exercise where the winning or losing of the contest will be overshadowed by a bigger picture.

It is hard to imagine a town like Alice.

Fanned by westerlies off the Indian Ocean, the place is a dust-blown speck on a landscape dominated by simplistic and rudimentary lifestyles, about a 90-minute drive inland from East London and not far from the University of Fort Hare, a black seat of learning which includes Nelson Mandela among its graduates.

After such deep-seated neglect from cricket for so many years, you wonder whether the damage can ever be repaired, but the United Cricket Board is at least giving it a go, encouraging touring teams to help them to break down the barriers by playing in the rural townships.

For all that, local attention will not centre on New Zealand tonight so much as on a young black fast bowler, who won the first test for South Africa at Bloemfontein, and who used to live just a few clicks down the road at a town named Mdingi.

Makhaya Ntini, whose six wickets ended New Zealand's resistance in the test series opener at Goodyear Park, has been named to play in the Border side against the tourists, although like his South African team-mate, Mark Boucher, he will step down for the following three-day match at East London's Buffalo Park.

Border coach Richard Pybus, who was in charge of the Pakistan national team last year, said the concept of playing in Alice was pleasing enough, but having Ntini coming back to play in his "roots" was too good to be true in terms of developing the game.

"One of the most important factors in the transformation of cricket over here is the power of role models," Pybus said.

"For all the talk of integration, it makes a huge difference if a young black boy can look at someone like Makhaya and think 'gee, he's just like me.'

"There's a huge development push going on in the Eastern Cape - which has lagged behind the other provinces a bit - and seeing players such as Makhaya make it to the top from such a modest background helps these kids to dream a bit when they go home."

Pybus' Border side will have at least something in common with the New Zealand team as they have lost their frontline bowling attack through injury, and have been forced to select two untried young pacemen in 18-year-old Mondi Zondeki and 19-year-old Mats Matomela.

New Zealand seem almost certain to play their more recent arrivals, which means seamers Andrew Penn and Kerry Walmsley and allrounder Glen Sulzberger will more than likely be included for both the one-day and three-day games.

With Hamish Marshall out of contention because of his gashed right knee, New Zealand will probably rest one of their test batsmen and swing bowler Shayne O'Connor, and possibly allow a lay-day for wicketkeeper Adam Parore, who has missed only one day's cricket since the team flew to Singapore in August.

If Parore is rested, Mathew Sinclair is expected to handle the wicketkeeping duties.

However hard it might be to gauge form in tonight's one-dayer, the following three-day match is shaping as an important outing for New Zealand's bowling attack, which could be under review following the disappointing showing at Bloemfontein.

Daryl Tuffey's three second-innings wickets may have improved his chances of being retained, but a strong performance from Walmsley or Penn could tempt the selectors in the lead-up to the second test, at Port Elizabeth, starting on Thursday.

New Zealand (from): Stephen Fleming (capt), Craig Spearman, Mark Richardson, Mathew Sinclair, Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Glen Sulzberger, Brooke Walker, Andrew Penn, Daryl Tuffey, Kerry Walmsley, Chris Martin, Shayne O'Connor and Adam Parore.

Border XI (one-day side): Pieter Strydom (capt), Dumisa Makalina, Laden Gamiet, Liam Graham, Geoff Love, Mats Matomela, Ian Mitchell, Makhaya Ntini, Steven Pope, Craig Sugden and Wayne Wiblin.