Although seven years separate Neil McKenzie and Stephen Cook they very much belong to the same generation. They both attended King Edward High School – the alma mater of another Proteas opener Graeme Smith – and their fathers were the mainstays of the old Transvaal “Mean Machine” that dominated South African domestic cricket back in the 1980’s.
It was here that a lifelong friendship grew on the grass banks of the Wanderers while watching Kevin and Jimmy and which was further fostered as teammates for the majority of their careers at Gauteng and the Highveld Lions. The camaraderie between the two has been further elevated since McKenzie joined the national team on a permanent basis as the Proteas batting consultant just two weeks after Cook struck a century on Test debut against England at Centurion.
With Cook’s form a bit scratchy in the warm-up matches leading into the first Test here at the WACA today, the 33-year-old could not ask for a better aid to get him back into the zone that saw him virtually bang down the Proteas door through a sheer weight of runs last season.
McKenzie certainly was earning his keep in the WACA nets on Wednesday afternoon long after the rest of the Proteas had returned to the comforts of the hotel. In the searing heat, the former Proteas opening batsman, who was part of the 2008 pioneers that breached the Australian frontier for the first time in South African cricket history, kept on throwing balls at Cook in preparation for the series opener.
In between deliveries McKenzie also stopped to share some valuable advice with his former teammate. He appeared to be working on Cook’s trigger movement, emphasising the right-hander to remain on the ball of his left foot when pressing forward.
“Neil and I go back a long way. We played together for a large part of our careers together. So even without the title of “batting coach” or “batting consultant”, whatever you want to call it, he has always played a large role in my career and since it’s become a more formal arrangement here, nothing has really changed,” Cook told the media contingent at the Waca.
“The way we’ve dealt with each other has been much the same. He’s always had an eye on my game and it’s always good to have someone who knows your game growing up and it’s developed. So it’s nice because it’s not just a piece of advice here or there, but it’s well considered.”
Cook will certainly want to start this Test series well for he is well aware of his limited time span as a Test cricketer due to its late start. He is unlikely to be part of another Proteas touring squad to Australia, and knows that it series like these that have a huge bearing on an individual’s future international aspirations.
“It’s like I said when I played my first Test, it was a dream to play one Test. But as cricketers we are never satisfied, so you get a taste of something you want more and this is an iconic series,” Cooke said.
“It’s a series where a lot of players and teams’ careers have been defined, so therein lies another opportunity for the team and me as an individual to make my stamp and my mark on it.
“I have played for a long period time, but this is probably at the pinnacle of my career. If I can walk away from here with a series win and hopefully some runs contributing to that, I will definitely see that as a highlight in my career.”
Independent Media