'If you are good enough, you do not have to indulge in sledging'
He's not the fastest bowler ever, but is he dangerous? Fanie de Villiers, along with Allan Donald, makes South Africa the force it is in cricket today.
There are batsmen who will vouch for the fact that while de Villiers is not as quick as Donald, his wily movement and change of pace makes him more dangerous customer. If he is a cunning in one-dayers, he can be vicious in the Tests. Of French origin, though he is more comfortable with Afrikaans, de Villiers is friendly and a bit of a character. But that's off the field. Excerpts from a freewheeling interview Haresh Pandya had with the fast bowler:
You are said to be injury-prone. You have missed several Tests and one-day matches. Do you regret that?
Since the 1992-93 season I had not missed a single international match. But last year I pulled a hamstring and I was out of the game for about four months in the season. To be precise, I missed three Tests and four one-dayers against England. Of course, I played last three one-day matches against England in South Africa. After that we came to the subcontinent for the Wills World Cup.
Unfortunately, in my very first practice session I strained an ankle. It was a blow that knocked me out of the World Cup. Of course, then I played again in the Sharjah tournament. I played all the matches there. And since then I've been playing regularly. So this is how it stays like that -- touch wood!
Do you mean to say you are fully fit?
Yes, I am. And hopefully I can carry on for a long time now.
But you do not seem to be bowling as well as you have earlier...
I am 32 years old. I think I was at my peak before I had the hamstring injury. I am slowing getting back to that form again. You will not have to wait long to see me at my best once more.
Was the 1993-94 season the best phase of your career when your 10-wicket haul won the Sydney Test for South Africa by just five runs?
Oh, yeah, that was a fantastic season for me. In that particular season, when three Tests were played first in Australia and then in South Africa, Shane Warne and I had taken a lot of wickets. If I can get back to that striking form again, nothing would please me more.
How do you generally view a fast bowler in terms of modern cricket?
Let's call him an opening bowler because there are only one or two fast bowler in the world. Whenever you open the bowling, you must either have pace or your must have a lot of variations. The variations are also classified into different categories. If you swing the ball away from the bat rather than bringing the ball into the bat, the chances are that you will be more effective.
By the same token, how do your look at yourself in this regard?
I am an out-and-out outswing bowler. I have been outswinging the ball for quite some time now. If your look at the opening bowlers in world cricket , the best ones are outswing bowlers.
What is your forte as a bowler?
Outswingers. Swinging, and swinging the ball away from the bat, without a doubt.
Which batsmen have impressed you by playing technically well against you?
It's difficult to say. The standard is so high in international cricket today that many batsmen tend to play well against me. There are a lot of batsmen who score plenty of runs and play effectively enough against most of the bowlers. So it's difficult to name a few particular ones. But if you are competent enough and if you bowl outswingers, you can get any batsman out.
To what would you ascribe your fruitful run in international cricket?
Outswing bowling. And a love of the game. You must follow your dreams and if you do extra work on your bowling, if you practice more than many, you are bound to be better than the most.
Being a swing bowler, do you practice reverse swing also?
Oh, Yes. It's a basis of opening bowling and bowling at the death in one-day cricket. And if you don't do that, you shouldn't be playing.
The very mention of reverse swing brings us to the ball-tampering issue. What have you to say about that?
There is no ball-tampering any more. It is a matter of the past now. It was there in old days but not today. The umpires examine the ball every now and then in present day cricket. How can you tamper with the ball in this situation?
Don't you think the game is heavily loaded in favour of batsmen?
There is no question about that. Cricket is 80 per cent a batsman's game, isn't it? It's like that for the last three years at least. And it's getting worse and worse. It's completely one-sided. I think bowlers must bowl on a 16-metre pitch rather than on a 24-metre wicket.
It is a strange that the bouncer, which is a major weapon of many fast bowlers, or rather opening bowlers as you prefer to call them, hardly proves effective in one-day cricket, isn't it?
Yeah. If you ball short balls in one-day cricket, you will be in some trouble. The wickets are old and you play with only one ball in 50 overs. So if a bowler tries to bowl a bouncer or a short-pitch ball, the batsman is likely to massacre him. There are so many restrictions on opening bowlers in this type of cricket.
Have you ever modeled your bowling on someone else's?
No, I haven't.
But you must have been influenced by somebody as a swing bowler...
Not at all.
Did you have any idol?
No, no one. Never. I have been fighting a battle against myself all the time and trying to better myself. It's very much a personal situation.
Have you set any goal yourself for the immediate future?
Any sportsperson's goal should be to stay on the field. If you are a bowler, you should try to keep yourself very fit. And you must always strive for excellence. You should try to be good and at the same time you should enjoy your game, too. This is what I always to achieve.
You sometimes tend to bowl an off-spinner or two. When did you start doing it?
I think it is four years now since I have been bowling that slower ball. It is a part of our team strategy. If you don't bowl a slower ball in one-day cricket, you will be trouble. Initially, I had been doing it a hell of a lot. I have been still doing it and it is still effective. So hopefully it stays like that.
Do the batsmen pick it well?
No. It's difficult to pick a slow ball because you don't know which one it is. Every batsman knows exactly what he is going to do but he doesn't know when to come out of the crease and hit the ball. So I sometimes catch them unaware with this particular ball. But most of the time I rely on outswingers.
You didn't have a long stint in English county cricket...
I've had many offer to pay county cricket. But I am afraid to say we play too much cricket now. Our domestic cricket season runs into almost eight months. So there is just no time to play county cricket.
How is the competition among the South African quick bowlers?
There hasn't really been any competition at this stage. For if one of us is playing for the country, another is generally injured at the same time. So there is no serious competition yet. But I am waiting for it!
How do you look at the role played by Nelson Mandela and others in rehabilitating South Africa in international cricket after a shade above two decades of isolation?
Fantastic. Fantastic. But it wasn't Mandela who played the role you are talking about. It was Ali Bacher. He is the man who brought us back into international cricket. Mandela was a part of the scene, obviously. But it's fantastic, beautiful.
How did you view the ban imposed on South Africa because of its policy of apartheid?
I think it was necessary. But it wasn't justified against sportspersons. Obviously, it was politics. We are playing sports now.
What is it that makes South Africa such a successful team in international cricket?
Firstly, because we are fulfilling our dreams; secondly, we're practicing hard.; thirdly, we are always keen to change. We are not stagnant as a cricket team. We always welcome progressive measures in cricket. We have been doing the basics of one-day cricket right -- reverse slogging, attacking in the first 15 overs etc. Some other countries are two or three years behind in this matter.
How is your general outlook towards batsmen to whom you have to bowl?
Very competitive. In the first place, I am not going to give away runs. In the second place, I am going to make it as uncomfortable for them as possible. It's war out there. It's a tough game. It is so one-sided in favour of batsmen that you can't allow anything else to happen at this stage.
How do you look at those bowlers who take recourse to sledging sometimes?
If you are good enough, you don't have to indulge in sledging. Just look around the world and see who practise sledging. It is those players who do not perform competitively. And 99 per cent of the time it comes from bowlers who aren't doing well. They swear at the batsmen because they are frustrated. But you really don't need to do that if you are talented and doing fine.
Are you happy with the kind of support that you receive from the other South African bowlers when playing for the country?
Oh, yes, we work very well together as a team. Allan Donald and I have proved to be successful together at the start. If I have got the outswinger, he has got the extra pace. It works.
How is South Africa's second line of attack? Do you have young bowlers knocking at the door?
We have got many talented young bowlers. Jut look at Shaun Pollock, Paul Adams and Lance Klusener. And there are a lot of them waiting for their turn. We have got a fantastic academy going back home in South Africa. So the future of South African cricket is very bright.
How do you assess Hanise Cronje as a captain?
He is an all-round captain. And that makes him probably a better captain. There are captains who specialise in different areas. Cronje specialises in instilling firm motivation in his players right through to leading by example. It is good sign.
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