For a nation which can't quite reach number one in any world cricket rankings, South Africa seem to have their fair share of world-beating individual players. In Tests and ODIs, they hog all the top positions, from Kallis to Amla and Morkel to Steyn but somehow they have struggled to topple the likes of Australia, India and now England. In the almost twenty years since ending their spell in the wilderness, they have won 38 and lost only 14 Test series. However, half of those losses came against Australia, definitely their bogey team. Only five of their series failures have occurred on home territory, against the Aussies four times and once versus Michael Vaughan's England in 2004-5.
While the nation has boasted some great batsmen in Kirsten, Cronje, Smith, Kallis, Gibbs, Cullinan et al, that great record in the five-day game owes a huge amount to a continuous line of brilliant fast bowlers. Allan Donald led the line superbly in 72 Tests from that 1992 comeback match against West Indies through to another severe beaten at Jo'burg against an Aussie side pumped up by Gilchrist and McGrath ten years later. It's not just the 330 wickets which were so remarkable but the career average of just 22.25. His one-day record was similar and he captured an amazing 1,216 first-class wickets, including hundreds for his adopted home at Warwickshire. I saw him play only once in the flesh, steaming in at Ilford in a 40-over game against Essex, with 'keeper Keith Piper seemingly standing half way to the boundary. He sprinted to the crease at first change, and was virtually unplayable! In the early nineties, he was the only truly fast seamer outside the Caribbean, earning him the rather dodgy epithet of 'White Lightning' an dthat had nothing to do with his trademark strip of sunblock! Fortunately for cricket, he has remained heavily involved in the game as bowling coach.
When Shaun Pollock joined the first team, Donald found a wonderful foil. With a name synonymous with South African cricket, the young redhead would bound up to the wicket with easy rhythm and high action which made him appear less quick than he really was. He went on to play more than 100 Tests and 300 ODIs, breaking national records for wickets in each. On top of that, he contributed over 7000 international runs to the cause, boasting an average of more than 32 in Tests. However, like Donald, his bowling average was sub-24, and his economy rate was a mere 2.39 an over. That's better than Glenn McGrath's career figure! Of course he was unusually mean for a paceman in T20, too.
Two years after Allan Donald retired from Test cricket, 21 year-old Dale Steyn stepped up to the plate bowling at three or four behind Pollock and Ntini. Like Donald, his debut was a losing one but once he began to establish himself in the side as the spearhead a few years later, he developed a reputation as a bowler who combined sheer speed with metronomic accuracy, the perfect ingredients. Although not tall by modern standards (six foot dead) he has taken 238 wickets in only 46 Tests. Perhaps his relatively slight frame has cost him many games because of injury but his strike rate is one of the best in history and his Test average is comparable with the aforementioned illustrious predecessors, at 23.21. Steyn hasn't played a five-day game since January, when he enjoyed a good old battle against Tendulkar, Gambhir, Dravid and co, since when his ICC rating has been frozen at 899, miles above anyone else in the world game. Indeed, he has topped the table for 2 1/2 years now, and only a poor performance in the next several series could give those chasing him - like Anderson, Swann and team-mate Morne Morkel a hope of overhauling him.
Whereas most of the wicket-taking records belong to spinners like Murali, Warne and Kumble, South Africa's all-time list in Tests is headed by Pollock, Ntini, Donald, Kallis and now Steyn. Few players can claim to average more than five wickets a match, not even Shane Warne, but if Steyn can remain fit and firing those bullets he could be one of the all-time greats. At 28 he could reach the 400 milestone but I fear the demands of ODIs and lure of IPL money could steer him away from legendary status but that would be a shame. Consistently accurate and genuinely fast bowlers are becoming a rare breed and we need to hang on to the likes of Dale so that he, Pollock and Donald aren't consigned to the history books as relics of a forgotten age.
