McKenzie: Polly has also been unbelievable Souce: Cape Times - Michael Owen-Smith - 05-09-03

London: The last 12 months have been a turbulent period in the cricketing life of Neil McKenzie.

He was dropped for a test series against Bangladesh and left out of the World Cup, yet was still talked about as a possible successor to Shaun Pollock as South Africa captain.

Level-headedness has always been one of the rocks on which he has built a successful career despite the whims of selectors.

So, after his rocky ride with them, he almost laughed off suggestions that he should be considered for the captaincy.
Nevertheless, he is a member of the current team's senior management and captained his country - "I have an unbeaten record," he jokes - in two low-key matches at Shenley and Canterbury between the second and third test.

At that stage, McKenzie was not part of the test team, but got his chance when Gary Kirsten was ruled out with injury. He responded in typical fashion with top score of 90 and nobody will doubt his claim to a place for the next few months. Not even the selectors.

He is probably South Africa's second-most superstitious cricketer - after the legendary Hugh Tayfield - but, like the great off-spinner, he possesses a steely temperament that should stand his country in good stead for many seasons to come.

Neil, your father was an outstanding player and you were old enough to see the end of his career. It was almost inevitable that you had to become a cricketer?

He gave up in his late 30s. He was forced out with a bit of an Achilles heel injury. I used to go to cricket with him every weekend. Even at that stage, I used to have my own little games with Anthony Pollock (Graeme's younger son) and my brother. I used to run around the Wanderers changing rooms. If it wasn't cricket, then my dad was playing hockey. I have very fond memories of those days.


Was he the biggest influence on your cricket career?

Definitely. My family gave me a good support base and structure. There have been various coaches who have helped me throughout my career. It started with John Hurry at school, then Jimmy Cook and Peter Kirsten, later Dave Nosworthy and Fordie (Graham Ford) and now Eric (Simons) and Corrie (van Zyl). They have all had a bit of influence; I get what I can from each coach.


You started your test career as an opening batsman away in Sri Lanka. That must have been a testing debut?

I had been batting at No 3 or 4 in the warm-up matches and got some runs. The selectors were obviously looking for an opening batsman to replace Herschelle (Gibbs), who wasn't there. Boeta (Dippenaar) was meant to be the man, but I was the one who had made the runs and the opening spot was the only slot that was available. It didn't go too well but the experience was invaluable.


You talk about Boeta. The two of you have so often been in contention for one place. How do you cope with that rivalry?

We love batting together. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked out quite the way we wanted it. We weren't quite rivals, but we were vying for one spot in the one-day side when Jonty (Rhodes) was playing. I think, when Hansie (Cronje) was still playing, I was picked as a one-day player and Boeta was chosen as a test player. So, it has done a bit of a loop. We have had to fight for one place, particularly when Jonty was still around. We thought, when Jonty retired, we might still get Nos 5 and 6 for him and myself and we might get some partnerships going. It hasn't worked out like that, but we are still good mates. We always support each other and hopefully we will still get the chance to do some great things together for South Africa.


You had a run of more than 20 tests, including a reasonable series against Australia, and then you were suddenly dropped against Bangladesh. Did the selectors explain this to you?

You always look to state your own case. I knew they were looking to leave somebody out of the one-day side. That is where it started with the side that went to Morocco. They left me out and chose Boeta. Then they took Justin Ontong as a batter who bowls a bit, especially in those conditions. It was explained to me that way. The tests against Bangladesh were a bit of a mystery. I probably had the best series that I have played of some significance against Australia. I averaged 38 home and away, so to find myself left out there, when there had been no four-day cricket, was a bit of a mystery. But we had new selectors and there were new things happening in the side, so you just had to pick yourself up and get back. It did set me back for a bit. I have proved to everybody that I can play test cricket. Since that Sri Lankan experience, I have probably been averaging about 40. You suddenly decide that you want to make about 300 and that puts pressure on you. I didn't have a great season. It wasn't an enjoyable time for me. I am back to enjoying it now, I love playing for South Africa. I have been given an opportunity on this tour and I want to use it.


You have only got two test hundreds. That must be something that you want to change a bit?

Obviously, everybody wants test hundreds. It is important that you contribute in valuable fashion - like that 40 I got against Sri Lanka at Centurion that helped us home in a tight finish. I have got to work on converting my big scores to even bigger ones to pick up the average, so that people can't look and say you haven't got lots of hundreds and you haven't got a really big average. There are a few things I am working on, but I am not too worried about hundreds and averages as long as I am doing a really good job for South Africa when it counts.


Do you get nervous in the 90s? You have had scores of 99 and 90 in recent tests.

I don't think I used to get nervous. I used to think a run is a run. I am probably a bit more wary than I was a couple of years ago. Actually, Dewald Pretorius nicked me off on 99 in Bloem a few years ago. I got a three that was turned into a two when Daryll pulled a hamstring. Next ball I got out. So, I have got two 99s and a 90, but they are hundreds to me. That is what counts.


You have got big hundreds in provincial cricket and you got one for the South Africa A side when you dropped down from the test team last season. You must obviously want to get a few of those in the test side?

Definitely. I feel I am playing nicely. I have just got to knuckle down and get a really big one. I am hungry to get a big one and, in that way, you take your side out of danger. You also prove your worth as a member of the side. Everybody remembers big hundreds. They don't remember 90s or 99s. For individual reasons as well. I am sitting with an average of 36 or round about there, so a big hundred will push me up to near 40. That is what I am aiming for.


Your name was in the hat as a possible successor to Shaun Pollock as captain. It was certainly bandied about. Would you like to be in a leadership role in this side?

That is a difficult one, especially after being left out after Australia. I did hear my name being mentioned, but I didn't believe I should get it because there were a lot of players who were ahead of me and I hadn't really been in the side. I missed out on the World Cup and I got dropped from the test side, so how can you choose a guy that's not in the Bangladesh tests! It would be a big thing for me to captain South Africa, but at the moment I am just enjoying playing for South Africa and supporting whoever is captaining us - and Graeme (Smith) is there doing a really great job. He is a good leader and his performances on the field speak for themselves. It is quite a difficult question to answer. I would say my dream would be to captain South Africa, but there is no room for it at the moment.


In retrospect, was it a good thing to be left out of the World Cup squad?

No, no. The World Cup is something special. To play in that is one of my motivating forces. Every player will say things might have been different if he had been there. It is something I have got to work on: putting a couple of good series together. The one-day series have gone a lot better recently, although the injury in Bangladesh put me back a little. I enjoyed Bangladesh, I had a good one-day series there. Hopefully I can write a script for the next World Cup.


What is your take on Graeme Smith as a captain?

Graeme is a fiery kind of guy. He comes from a good school, a really good school (both Graeme and Neil are products of King Edward VII in Johannesburg)! I have a lot in common with Graeme. A lot of the guys have. He has been performing well and that takes a huge weight off his shoulders. If you perform the way he has and you get two 250s back to back, suddenly all the doubts are out of the way and you can concentrate on just captaining the side. There is a lot of pressure on him. Behind the job, not everybody knows what goes on. He has handled it very well. The guys are all responding well and are playing some good cricket under his leadership. South Africa is in a delicately position where we didn't do well in the World Cup and we have to perform. We have to buy into his leadership. Eric, Corrie and Graeme are in front and are leading us and the okes have got to pull finger. There is no time for excuses, not in the long run anyway. I don't think it was ever in doubt that the guys wanted to play for South Africa, but they value the opportunity more. And, when you are one of the guys on the fringe of the side, you value that opportunity even more. Polly has also been unbelievable. Graeme can take the majority of the credit for where the side is going, but Polly has done a tremendous job (too). He has also led from the front, and that is where you want your senior players.


You have a pretty high-profile relationship. How do you cope with the fact that your careers often take you in totally different directions, geographically at least, not to mention the publicity?

I have taken a bit of flak over a couple of months. My cricket focus never changed. I got a new girlfriend and I have been seeing her for a little over a year-and-a-half now. It is hard for all the families. I think I am quite lucky because Kerri travels quite a bit. She has a few jobs here in England, while other (guys') wives and girlfriends have got jobs or are studying back home. The UCB is very gracious about offering us window periods and there is quite a relaxed system. But the guys are away from home for quite a long period and we all start missing our families.


Are you known as Kerri McGregor's boyfriend or is she known as Neil McKenzie's girlfriend?

(Much laughter) She is known as Kerri and I think I am just known as Neil. That is the way we want it to be. We have tried to keep it low profile. There is nothing I can do to enhance her job and there is nothing she can do to enhance my job. We try to keep everything very separate and out of the limelight. I am not a limelight sort of person, neither is she. In that respect we enjoy each other's company and it does not interfere with my cricket, as some reports to the contrary suggest. The focus is still there. I love playing for South Africa, but some people just jump on a story every now and then. What can you do? You just have to live with it.


Which of your test innings do you rate the highest?

Obviously, test hundreds are very special. I think my first test hundred against New Zealand - I had just come back from Sri Lanka, averaging nine - was special. Both my test hundreds were (scored) when we were in a spot of trouble. I would probably go for my 87 at Adelaide, when I had to guts it out, and the 99 that followed it at Cape Town. There was also that 40 when we were in trouble against Sri Lanka at Centurion. It is (special) when you come out on top in pressure situations rather than when you come out on top when there are lots of runs on the board already.


What is your favourite batting position?

Boeta and I were chatting about that the other day. We have both done No 1 to 7 in South African sides. If I could choose - it goes without saying that I would bat anywhere - I would like to bat at No 4. I batted No 5 for South Africa for quite a while, but I have jumped around quite a lot lately.


Is there any one bowler you have found particularly hard to face?

Muralitharan stands out. People have said I don't like spin, I can't play spin. That was a couple of years ago. But you take any provincial cricketer and put him against Murali on a sub-continent deck, I would like to see him playing. Murali didn't get me out much on that tour, but I was constantly practising, thinking of playing him, and that was taking my focus off the other bowlers. He has been the most difficult guy to face.


Andrew Hall says he never stopped laughing after your flannels came unstuck in that indoor series in Melbourne. What actually happened?

It was my first game against Australia. They also play footie (Australian rules) in the indoor stadium and it is a wet sort of track. The grass doesn't really give when you slide and I was getting a bit of abuse on the boundary. The guys were shouting their normal stuff and just before I ran down there, one of the guys shouted at me: "Are you wearing a G-string?" You don't want to react, but when the ball came down there, I thought I would show these guys. I dived, but I stopped short; I missed the ball by about a metre and my flannels were down around my knees! It came up on the big screen, and Jonty and Polly find that sort of thing very funny. They started tightening their draw pants. When I field now, it is the first thing I check. Anyway, when I got back to my fielding mark, the guy actually apologised for his G-string remark: "Sorry, Macker, you are wearing your sister's panties!"


What are your interests away from cricket?

I am very family- and mates-oriented. I try to spend as much time as I can with my family and friends. I travel between Cape Town and Johannesburg quite a lot. I play golf and squash and like to keep fit. I do fly fishing and I go down to a farm with a few of my mates and do a bit of game viewing. So I am into anything that goes. Watersports, I am there.


What sort of targets have you set yourself for the rest of your cricket career?

One of my downfalls is that I am not a very long-term kind of person. I know what I want but I am a personal person and I like to keep things to myself. In the long term on the individual front I would like to get my hundred stats up and my test average to 40 and above. I want to be one of the guys who contributes and comes out on top in pressure situations.


The fact that you nearly always wear a floppy hat rather than a cap, is that one of your superstitions?

No. That floppy has toured with me, it has got a lot of memories. It has a nice shape to it at the moment! I would bat in it as well if I could.


The players tell me you are not as superstitious as you usedto be. Is that right?

I have tried to cut down completely. A lot gets taken away by people looking at your superstitions rather than your actual batting. It is better for me to keep superstitions to a minimum and worry about other things, like making runs. It does help me focus, so there are a few things that I keep.


Another crack at the Australians? That must be high on your list of priorities?

Definitely. We have got a side that is going places. The guys are really hungry. We have got good leadership. It is going to be a big thing to fill Gary Kirsten's boots. We have got some good batters around and they will all get there eventually. You don't just fill the boots of somebody like Gary. He proved it in the (fourth) test.