By Zaahier Adams
Listening to Western Province president Mohammad Ebrahim letting off steam on Monday after the Cape Cobras' defeat in the MTN Domestic Championship semi-final, I tried to understand his anger.
He made many points, especially in relation to the senior players' lack of performance, the Western Cape public's disappointment and the financial effect of the loss on the union.
My frustration with the team's semi-final performance, however, lies elsewhere. I've mentioned before that I don't always think that each and every player in the Cobras team believes it is an honour, not a God-given right, to represent the franchise. And that is again the message I'm trying to convey this week.
Continues Below ↓
There seems to be a distinct lack of pride every time they walk out on the field. I'm not saying everybody has such an attitude, but there are some major culprits.
This, in turn, becomes evident by the lack of guts, heart and courage displayed when the chips are down.
Make no mistake, the Titans are a good side, but they should definitely not be winning the number of trophies they are with the talent available to them when their national players are away.
Roelof van der Merwe, who has proved to be the Cobras' nemesis in two high-profile semi-finals now, is an ordinary cricketer. In terms of pure ability, there's nothing special about him, and he would be the first to admit it.
But then what makes him that good or that effective?
There's a simple answer: he has a big heart, and as they say in Mexico, big kahunas.
The Cobras previously had a player who also embodied this approach: left-arm spinner Con de Lange.
It's no coincidence that De Lange played a pivotal role in the final and in the entire competition the last time the Cobras annexed the MTN Domestic Championship title.
Continues...
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
