Temba Bavuma benefits from South Africa reforms but others will struggle | Sport

7/24/2019 Temba Bavuma benefits from South Africa reforms but others will struggle | Sport

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Temba Bavuma benefits from South Africa reforms but

others will struggle | Sport

The house Temba Bavuma grew up in is little different to the others in Rubusana Avenue. There is a

basic, open-sided carport and it has a fresher lick of paint than those alongside it, but the

fundamentals remain the same: 40 square metres protected by brick walls and an old tin roof,

fronted by a yard too small for even French cricket. It is not much, but by the standards of your

average South African township living conditions in Langa are not terrible either.

Related: Bravura display by South Africa's Temba Bavuma can inspire next generation

One block up from Bavuma's house, on the corner of Washington and Harlem Avenue, is Thami

Tsolekile's residence. Bavuma and Tsolekile are two of the seven black Africans to have represented

South Africa in Test cricket since readmission and the only ones who are not fast bowlers. It is noaccident they were raised in the same neighbourhood. At the bottom of Washington Street is Langa

Cricket Club, a club that has also produced a handful of franchise cricketers.

While football has always been the most popular sport in the townships, drive through Langa and it's

likely you'll disrupt a street cricket match. The game's roots in Cape Town's oldest township stretch

back decades, past the time of Ben Malamba, the Langa resident who toured Kenya in 1958 with a

non-racial Springbok team captained by Basil D'Oliveira. Tsolekile's grandfather Hlubi Zibi

represented Western Province while Bavuma grew up under the wing of three uncles who all played

at various levels. "They're always throwing advice so I'm sure I'll be hearing from them tonight,"

Bavuma said after becoming the first black African to score a century for South Africa.

Bavuma's path from Langa to Newlands lore required more than a local club and some family advice.

The son of a journalist, he was born into a lower middle-class family in 1990, the year Nelson

Mandela was released from prison. The increasing equality in the country meant he was able to

attend the South African College Schools, an all-white institution in the dark days of apartheid.

When Bavuma was 13 his father, Vuyo, got a job at a Johannesburg newspaper and the family moved

north, where Bavuma Jr received his secondary education at St David's, another top private school.

In his final year he became the first black African from the Gauteng region to make the SA schools

side, giving him confidence that cricket could become more than just a passion.

Although Makhaya Ntini remained the only black African regularly in the Proteas side at that time

Bavuma found plenty of black mentors in Gauteng. In 2008, he made his first-class debut for the

province, coached by Lawrence Mahatlane, a Soweto stalwart who will oversee South Africa's

defence of the Under-19 World Cup that starts this month. The next season Geoffrey Toyana, another

product of Soweto, moved from his job at Easterns to take over at Gauteng.


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As a left-handed batsman in the 1990s and 2000s

Toyana was a pioneer at a time when almost all

black provincial cricketers were bowlers. An

ebullient character who has graduated to head

coach of the Lions, the Johannesburg-based

franchise, he has overseen Bavuma's rise through

the ranks. Last season the Lions easily won the

Sunfoil Series, South Africa's premier first-class

competition, with Bavuma scoring 555 runs in seven matches at an average of 69.37. "My first

impressions with Temba was that he was quite short, but he's a brave little boy. He's a fighter - he's

not scared of the ball," said Toyana.

"But the biggest thing for me is his work ethic. There are times when I'm just sitting at home and I

get a call, and I say: 'No, Temba, take a break. I'm married; I've got to spend time with my wife as

well.' And he says: 'No, come coach, come.' Sure enough, I come in to the nets and he bats until my

arm is messed up."

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Bavuma's unbeaten 102 against England was the best

possible response to suggestions he was picked only on

racial grounds. South Africa's selectors have a commitment

to fielding four players of colour, including one black

African, although Cricket South Africa have an aversion tothe word quota. Even in its absence non-white players often

carry an unfair stigma, something that Hashim Amla can

relate to. "Temba and I have very similar careers," Amla

said. "The first time you play Test cricket everybody doubts you because of the colour of your skin.

Even though you've got the stats to back it up domestically."

The idea behind CSA's guidelines, which extend to six players of colour, including three black

Africans, in domestic cricket, is that the presence of these players can inspire the next generation.

Few would dispute it after Bavuma's emotional feat. "I looked at the kids here today for the KFC

event during lunchtime and half of those kids come from Langa and most of those kids know myname, so whenever I go back to Langa now I know I am going to have those kids running around

me," he said.

Yet it will take more than his influence to turn those children into professional cricketers. More than

half of black children grow up in poverty and the majority of government schools do not play cricket.

It was no coincidence that Bavuma and Kagiso Rabada, the current torchbearers, came from middle-

class families and attended private schools with excellent facilities. By the time most black

cricketers leave school they are too disadvantaged to catch up with their white counterparts.

CSA have tried to stem the divide recently by setting up 11 regional performance centres and 46 hub

clubs around the country that will offer some facilities and formal playing structures to eager


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cricketers from disadvantaged areas. It is a start, albeit one that comes more than two decades after

South Africa achieved majority rule. Bavuma's innings has ignited his international career and

inspired a nation, but South Africa's journey to a representative cricket team still has a long way to

go.

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Temba Bavuma benefits from South Africa reforms but others will struggle | Sport