dale steyn

Dale Steyn: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

Dale Steyn would rather not play craps in the car park.

What he said:

“It’s got nothing to do about I’ll see you in the car park and we’ll beat the crap out of each other.”

Dale Steyn has not forgotten his war of words with the Australian skipper Michael Clark during the Newlands test in March this year.

In Zimbabwe later this year, Steyn said:

“I haven’t really spoken to him [Clarke] much since then to be honest. I don’t take many things personally, but what he did say to me I did take personally. I know he apologised in the media and I should be playing this down.

But the day he comes and shakes my hand and says, ‘I really mean what I said,’ and behaves like the way he should, maybe then I will (forgive him). But for right now, he’s not here so I’ll wait until I get to Australia.”

Steyn is still upset with Clark for what he considers a personal sledge.

The South African pacer said:

“I don’t think I can mention it over the air now”.

He added:

“[That’s] why I said if I see him we’ll have a normal chat between the two of us. It’s got nothing to do about I’ll see you in the car park and we’ll beat the crap out of each other. It’s got nothing to do with that man, maybe I just said too much in Zimbabwe.

The issue got blown out completely, it was like two schoolgirls the way the media got hold of it. I felt like Clarkey had his opportunity to say something at the end of the Cape Town Test and obviously I wasn’t in the press conference there and the next opportunity I got was a couple of months later in Zimbabwe so I said what I felt.

It wouldn’t have been fair if I’d said something straight after, I would have been called a sore loser after losing the series or the match so I just kept my mouth closed until it was my turn to say something. I didn’t want it to start a massive thing. It did, doesn’t matter. He’s not playing now. He’s obviously injured. Hopefully he gets well, he’s a great player and I think there’s enough respect from both of us, we’ve played against each other for long enough now and it’s just kind of got blown out of the water. It’s a bit silly really in all honesty.”

On the Aussies’ aggressive on-field appproach:

“Aussies are that kind of side they’re always in your face.I think of all the sides that play Test cricket in the world, the Aussies are always well known for being in your face kind of cricketers, kind of bullying teams and stuff like that. I don’t play my cricket like that personally.

I may look like that when I’m on the field and everything like that but I am a fast bowler, that’s just what you’ve got to do at the end of the day. I don’t quite agree with the way some of the things are done I think there’s a line. And I try to stay close to that line but never over-stepping it and if I do over-step it, I’ll be the first guy to put my hand up and say I’m sorry and go and do whatever I can to fix that.

Australia have always been that kind of side, so it doesn’t surprise me when they come hard or when somebody you’ve been a team-mate with before doesn’t greet you at breakfast, that’s just the way it is.”

A cricket shot from Privatemusings, taken at the third day of the SCG Test between Australia and South Africa. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

What Steyn really meant:

“It’s a gentleman’s game, chaps, and I’m a sensitive guy. I can carry a chip on my shoulder for, let’s say how long it’s been now? Eight months?”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I’d rather bowl to him in the car park when he’s without his protective gear. That’s what car parks are good for—ambush territory.”

Dale Steyn: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

AB De Villiers (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dale Steyn at a training session at the Adelaide Oval (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dale Steyn at a training session at the Adelaide Oval (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Dale Steyn

What he said:

“We’re definitely not predictable. You bowled two overs the other day.”

Dale Steyn contradicts himself without seemingly realizing it. The lanky pace bowler commented on his teammate A B De Villiers bowling for only the second time ever in ODIs. South Africa were playing Zimbabwe in Harare.

AB De Villiers recently came out strongly against Australian sledging terming it “personal.”

De Villiers said:

“There was lots of personal stuff and certain guys take it in a different way. I see that it’s part of the game… but they can’t expect us to be mates with them off the field then, if they get very personal.”

The South African skipper was referring to comments made during the third Test in Cape Town.

David Warner, meanwhile, apologized for accusing De Villiers of ball-tampering during the series.

Warner said:

“Obviously with myself coming out and saying the comment about AB de Villiers probably wasn’t the smartest thing, and I regret saying that.We set a standard where we want to go out there and play aggressive and hard cricket and not cross the line.

There are some times you do nudge that line a fair bit and the odd occasion you might step over that, but you do have to realize that we’re out there to win.

We do like to be aggressive and sledging is a form of the game when we’re out there.”

What Steyn really meant:

“Wasn’t that a pleasant surprise? …AB bowling two overs. I certainly didn’t expect that.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“Outliers… by Malcolm Gladwell—yeah, that’s my favorite read.”

Dale Steyn: What he said, really meant and definitely didn’t

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Dale Steyn: What he said, really meant and definitely did not

Dale Steyn Has Wickets, Not Names, On His Mind

What he said:

“Listen, I got your name wrong, but you didn’t have to drop the catch.”

Dale Steyn is disbelieving that Under-19 substitute fielder, Dale Deeb, could put down a sitter denying Steyn a fifer in the second Test of the ongoing home series against Australia.

Deeb dropped Nathan Lyon, Australia’s No.11 batsman, in the covers.

What he really meant:

“Listen, hold catches. You’ll be gratefully remembered.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I’m superstitious. Catches have names too. “

South Africa Cricket: Dale Steyn Will Holiday Against Australia At Home

What he said:

“I go on holiday for longer than that series is going to last.”

South African pacer, Dale Steyn, is disbelieving that just two Tests against Australia at home will test (pun intended) both sides’ character.

Steyn is that disappearing breed of quickies who believe that the longer form of the game is where men prove their mettle.

Steyn said:

There’s a lot of guys who can bowl 150km/h when you give them the ball when they’re fresh in the morning, but can they do it late in the afternoon when it’s boiling hot and they’re bowling their 20th over for the day? I want to be able to do that and I want to be the only guy who is able to do that.

I want to be in your face all day, not for little periods of time, that is pretty much my inspiration. I want the opposition to walk off and say, ‘Shit, that was tough’.

On the two-match series:

I won’t lie to you, I’m very, very disappointed. Everyone is talking about Test cricket still being the ultimate in everybody’s minds and yet we are only playing two Test matches. Also in England next year, our series has been changed from five Test matches to three.

‘We want people to want to play Test matches. We want kids to aspire to that, and yet two of the biggest Test nations in the world are only playing two Test matches. I go on holiday for longer than that series is going to last. I hope somebody gets up and decides to do something about it. We want it to be competitive and hard and, seriously, two Test matches is not enough.

Steyn claims he is a smarter bowler nowadays:

I think I am a little bit more street-smart. Each day you play you don’t necessarily get better but you get a bit wiser and that can work against you because you don’t use your natural instincts, but I think I’m at the stage now where I use a bit of both.”

I would love to bowl 160 km/h. Any fast bowler would love to do that. But for me that is almost impossible. Someone like ‘Taity’ who is only playing T20 these days, it’s very possible for him to do that all the time. It’s like asking Usain Bolt to run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds every day of the week for 30 days, it’s just not going to happen.

The thing I’ve got to concentrate on for South Africa is bowling at good pace and if the ball is in the right area that will cause enough trouble.

What Dale Steyn really  meant:

“Two tests, ten days of Test cricket! I take off for two weeks—at least!”

What Dale Steyn definitely didn’t:

“Don’t pay me my match fee. It feels as though I’m vacationing.”

Dale Steyn Will Not Burn Himself With Philip Hughes’ Frying Pan

What he said:

One of the things we said was that we didn’t want to bowl wide to him, and then we did. It was one of those childish things where you say to a kid, ‘don’t touch the frying pan, you’re going to burn yourself’, and then you end up touching the frying pan and burn yourself. The English side found a way of getting him out, and quite easily getting him out, so I will go through those videos. I’m a little bit wiser, a little bit smarter now.

South African pace spearhead, Dale Steyn, points out that he is much wiser now, unlike in 2009 when he allowed Australian opener, Philip Hughes, to collar the bowling and score a brace of tons in his debut series.

Hughes has struggled ever since once English bowlers discovered that he was uncomfortable against anything targeted at his ribcage. Hughes recently made a successful comeback under Michael Clarke in Sri Lanka scoring a century in the final Test and averaging 40.40. South Africa face Australia at home in a curtailed two match series.

Steyn said:

”Obviously he opens the batting for Australia, so anybody who is a good player can score runs somewhere along the line, but he will definitely have his weaknesses. We haven’t played a lot against him since then, so I will have to go through a couple of things and see where we went wrong and hopefully we can rectify that.”

The No. 1 fast bowler in the world had only words of praise for Hughes’ predecessor, Simon Katich:

The way he moves around the crease, he is able to control where he wants to hit the ball. It’s incredible.

It’s surprising that he is not there because he is one of those real Aussie players, a gutsy, strong character. He even looks like the epitome of an Australian opening batsman from years back. In a weird way I’m quite happy he’s not playing, but you want to compete against guys like that, and for his sake I think he should be there.

Katich has been dropped from the side—a victim of Australian selectors’ youth policy.

What he really meant:

“Recall how we handled Virender Sehwag the last time India toured here;Hughes is a poor Australian’s  version of the Delhi Butcher.”

What he definitely didn’t:

“I never heard of mental disintegration.”

MS Dhoni wins hearts: Team India fail second Test

Of the two sides fighting for the No.1 Test spot, only one stepped up to the plate; that side was not India.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni won hearts with his sporting act on the third day of the second nPower Test series.

His team’s performance, however, raised a lot more questions.

India versus South Africa: Series ends tied one all

Image via Wikipedia

I must admit that I am relieved that the twin Test series in South Africa and Australia have ended. The cricket has been exhilarating, the battle has seesawed between the sides and there has been no respite from the all-encompassing media hype.

I hope to catch a break from all forms of cricket until the World Cup. I have seriously overdosed.

India finish tied 1-1 on the Last Frontier in the Rainbow Nation. This will be a result they will cherish , but they will also regret that they could not make it a more memorable tour.

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Sachin Tendulkar: Why Graeme Smith Called Him Out

Graeme Smith scathed Sachin Tendulkar for not doing enough on the final day to try and ensure a draw. The South African skipper believed that the great should have shielded the tail-enders, that the master showcased a dereliction of duty.

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Tendulkar’s 50th ton: An essay in patience

Image via Wikipedia

Sachin Tendulkar scores yet another century.

What’s the big deal?

Oh, it’s his 50th one. Is this the best of the lot?

Not by a long shot.

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