It has been over a quarter of a century since my first great cricket memory. It was 1987 and not quite a teenager, I sat on top of the roof of a small toilet at the St Georges Park ground in Port Elizabeth, a coastal city in South Africa and little did I know I was watching history in the making. The place was packed, but we had managed to find the ideal seating high above the action and with a clear view of the beautiful green cricket field.
South Africa had been banned from international sport because of the apartheid system, but during their time of isolation, a few rebel tours visited the shores. When my father took my brothers and I to that match, against an Australian rebel tour captained by Kim Hughes, I am sure he was aware of the historical significance though.
The Maestro
Graeme Pollock was playing his last match, and Pollock had been a legend in South African cricket for the past three decades. He had gone to school in Port Elizabeth and it was significant that he was ending his career where it had all began. He may have been in his forties already, but this master batsman gave a master class, blasting his way to a score of 144 hitting a huge six and twenty-two fours. I was lucky to be part of the ten thousand who watched that day, and it was the start of a long love affair for me with the game of cricket. I remember so clearly when the exhausted Pollock was finally bowled out and the crowd rose, it was a roar like I've never heard, as the ovation seemed to last for minutes. That innings still remains amongst the best I have ever seen. Undoubtedly the best batsman in South Africa and arguably the best left-hander ever in the game at that point, Robert Graeme Pollock was in a class of his own.
A couple of years later the provincial side I supported, Eastern Province,would break a run of one hundred years without winning a trophy when they captured the Currie Cup at the same ground. That team featured two other batsmen who remain amongst my favorites.
Captain Kepler
Kepler Wessels, who was born in South Africa, emigrated and played for Australia, then returned to South Africa and eventually captained the national team, was one of them. Never the most stylish batsman to watch, he was a rock for all the teams he ever played for and tough as nails. His recruitment as captain of Eastern Province was what changed everything for the team. Kepler's son and the son of my drama teacher played tennis together, and during this time I got to meet him as one day I was recruited to babysit and umpire in a junior tennis event. Kepler was too. Somehow it came up in the conversation that my mother owned a video store, and he asked if I could help him with his video collection. He had many tapes of cricket and wanted them compiled. I spent hours watching the amazing Wessels battle down under on those tapes, and my admiration for him grew.
Pops
But there was another player in that EP team who, for me, was the best batsman I have ever seen. Former Western Province, Western Australia and Essex batsman Kenny McEwan, was my hero. "Pops" as he was affectionately known by the time he joined Eastern Province again had played all around the world and as far as I know is still the only player to have won a championship in Australia, England and South Africa. One of the true gentlemen of the sport, Kenny was respected by all who knew him, and was one of the unluckiest players to never play official test cricket.
I was very fortunate to go on a course run by Kenny and two other Eastern Province legends, Dave Callaghan and Australian Rod McCurdy. Dave, who I had known of for years because he had played provincial under 13 cricket with my brother, of course is another great hero, having recovered from cancer to go on to play international cricket for South Africa. These three players were all significant heroes for me at the time, playing for the now Currie Cup champion Eastern Province side. What struck me most about the course though, and the most significant memory, was Kenny's warmth. He was always smiling and relaxed and seemed so genuine.
PECC
Because my brother played top league club cricket, for the Port Elizabeth Cricket Club who were also based at St. Georges Park, I spent almost every weekend of the cricket season at the ground, watching and scoring. It was a very different time and with no international sport, all of the local stars played for the clubs as well. I got to rub shoulders with many players who influenced my love for the game. There were the overseas professionals like Greg Thomas, McCurdy, John Maguire and Eldine Baptiste who played for EP as well, and then others who just played club cricket like Paul Boarer, Neil Lenham and Dave Millns, who went on to play for England.
I even remember games against Despatch, where rugby legend Danie Gerber was a feared bowler. Danie was ultra competitive and a handy cricketer. I remember first-hand how competitive he was not from a club game but as a spectator at an EP match. During the break we could all play on the field, and many mini-cricket games would start up on the field. On a few occasions I ended up playing against Danie in those friendlies and God forbid if he thought you snicked the ball.
Dave Richardson, the legendary South African wicketkeeper, was also a loyal Union Cricket Club member, and there were many bloody battles between PECC and Union. One more bloodier than other when the ball kept hitting people in the face, including knocking the teeth out of former PECC, EP and South African spin bowler, Tim Shaw.
Meyrick
And then there was my brother's good friend, Meyrick Pringle. Meyrick, who would go on to star for South Africa, is one of the funniest guys you will ever meet. A genuine character, his personality was as entertaining as his cricket. One of my all time favorite innings ever was watching him hit 96 in a club game. Not known for his batting skills, Meyrick was an exceptional hacker, and a lot of fun to watch at the crease. Seeing it come off was very special as he slammed the ball around the ground in a way that would make today's T20 players envious.
The Bear
During this time, Brett Schultz broke onto the scene. Brett had gone to the same school as me, and was my House Captain. During my first week at school, I was being picked on by a rather nasty bully five years my senior, and it was Brett that came to my rescue. His rise to stardom was something I really enjoyed, and it was a great pity that his body could never stand up to his promise, as injuries curtailed a very exciting career. Though after he destroyed Sri Lanka with the South African national team, I am sure there are many Sri Lankans who are pleased it didn't last longer.
Big Karl
One of my other greatest memories includes another family friend, Karl Bauermeister, who went to school with my two oldest brothers. We had known him and all his brothers for many years, and Karl, after some impressive club performances, managed to break into the Eastern Province one day team just before they reached the final of the Benson and Hedges 45 over tournament. Karl saved EP by blasting a quickfire 48 when it seemed like all was lost and EP won by 1 wicket from the last ball of the innings. Though he never rose above that moment, it was an innings that made Karl a legend of EP cricket.
Magic EP
There were others from that generation who left marks on my memories like the big hitting Vlam Michau, the speed merchant Rudi Bryson and of course the two opening batsmen who carried EP for a decade, Mark Rushmere and Philip Amm. It was a Golden age for EP cricket and I spent five or six years never missing a game at St. Georges Park, until I moved away from Port Elizabeth. In fact I was at the ground the day before I left my home city to move to Cape Town. During that time, which included officially scoring for the games a few times, I was lucky enough to see some of the greatest cricketers of that generation, including an avalanche of stars when South Africa was re-admitted to international sport. But it was those Eastern Province stars that made me and many others fall in love with the game in Port Elizabeth in the Eighties and Nineties.
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