As a youngster, I spent countless hours shouting from the rooftop of our house.
“ Is hy nou reg?” I wanted to know from my family members inside the house.
I was usually met with a “ nog nie.”
“ En nou?” I wanted to know a few seconds later after turning the aerial a bit.
It was pre-DSTV days, we didn’t have clear TV picture back then, at least not those of us that didn’t have M-Net.
On days when the local Benson and Hedges cricket was on TV3, I was especially busy in my “upstairs office”.
Memorable moments. Memorable cricket.
I still remember almost every single player of almost every single team that played in the tournament.
They were heroes to me and household names in my hood.
Those days are long gone.
It has been replaced by a flick-of-the-button world in the digital age.
WASTED: Blitz captain Quinton de Kock, right. Picture: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix.
But even with the world at our fingertips, our cricket heroes are farther away from us than ever before and I’m afraid it doesn’t look like that’s about to change any time soon.
The other night, one of the greatest T20 players ever Chris Gayle was right here on our doorstep, playing for Jozi Stars against Cape Town Blitz, and I couldn’t even be bothered to flick over to watch the game.
PS: I did switch over in the end, but only to see how empty Newlands was.
Back then, I couldn’t wait to see fellow West Indians Malcolm Marshall, WP’s own Desmond Haynes, Free State’s Franklyn Stephenson, Border’s Vasbert Drake, Griquas’s Ottis Gibson to name a few off the top of my head, in action.
They played alongside and against the best SA had to offer, any team could beat any team on the day, with class on display allround.
These days, I am afraid the standard of our cricket has dropped.
And I believe there are a number of reasons that can be attributed to this. And it’s mostly off-field stuff.
Firstly, we must learn to market events properly.
I am convinced that if I didn’t work in the media industry, I probably wouldn’t have known that there was a Mzansi Super League tournament currently undergo in the country.
Honestly, I don’t see this tournament returning again.
SHORT ON NUMBERS: MSL fans at Newlands. Picture: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix.
For starters, it’s not a crowd puller and we all know how important this is in terms of the finances of any event.
Secondly, without sponsors, after players weren’t paid following the first edition, I don’t know where the money would come from to get Gayle and some other big stars to our shores.
Then there is the lack of interest in domestic cricket.
I have written before about the need and gap in the market for the national broadcaster to screen the four-day format.
Yes, we are losing a lot of players to overseas clubs, with money and political interference the biggest reasons for this.
But still, it’s up to those in charge of Cricket South Africa (CSA) to create local heroes.
I can’t think of any player who would give his best if there is no one in the stands and the match isn’t even televised.
You probably bumped into a lot of provincial cricket players at your local store, without even recognising them.
I don’t have space in this column to go into CSA and exactly what is going on there.
NO CHANCE: Graeme Smith withdrew. Picture: File image.
In short, though, I think Graeme Smith’s decision to withdraw his application for the Director of Cricket job last week, said a lot.
As much was evident in what former Proteas captain Biff said in a post on Instagram: “I would love to have taken on the role.
“However, despite my obvious desire to make a difference, during the long and, at times, frustrating process over the last ten or so weeks of discussions, I have not developed the necessary confidence that I would be given the level of freedom and support to initiate the required changes.”
Wake up CSA, cricket is dying and is dying quickly in this country and we need some radical changes to give the necessary shock treatment to bring it back to life.
I’m not sure if Smith is the guy for the job, but what he said is of concern to me.
Take rugby for example.
The Springboks were in trouble, they then appointed Rassie Erasmus, gave him freedom to do what he had to do and relaxed their overseas rules as an example of their support.
The Springboks won the World Cup.
Let’s save cricket and it starts with less boardroom interference and more focus on what happens on the pitch.