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Date
: 22/07/2003
Source: Sport and Recreation South Africa
Title: Balfour: On receiving copy of book on history of black
cricket
RESPONSE BY THE MINISTER OF SPORT AND RECREATION, NGCONDE BALFOUR,
ON RECEIVING A COPY OF "THE STORY OF AN AFRICAN GAME", A BOOK BY
ANDRE ODENDAAL ON THE HISTORY OF BLACK CRICKET, 22 July
A PORTRAIT OF CRICKET SECRETS REVEALED
This is a proud, yet humbling experience for me this morning. This
copy of "The Story of an African Game", that I have received from
the author, Andre Odendaal, and the CEO of the United Cricket Board
of South Africa, Gerald Majola, might have been given to me
personally, but I am also a recipient of it on behalf of all those
cricketers and South African sports lovers who received no
recognition in their own country during their illustrious sport
careers.
This brings to an end the myths that blacks have no real culture or
tradition of cricket and rugby.
"The story of an African Game" succeeds in capturing the
achievements, the glory, the struggles and the heartache of the
hitherto unheralded cricketers of our country.
Despite the major strides made by the game of cricket, there
remained a vacuum of untold stories - until now. In his portrait of
cricket secrets, Andre Odendaal captures the most celebrated
moments of black cricket. He demonstrates in emphatic, undeniable
detail that there is a continuous thread of 150 years of African
cricket, as deeply rooted as anywhere else in the cricket-playing
world. In capturing the journey of black cricket, Odendaal reveals
a side of the game that speaks of passion, sacrifice and
commitment.
It is an inspiring story that will both enthral and inform. In a
real sense, it restores and cements the dignity and pride of
generations of cricketers who were denied the opportunity to play
the game they loved in circumstances that others took for
granted.
It is a book that must be read if you want to know about South
Africa and the waste in human potential that we are now addressing.
It talks to us about our past as a country and the imperatives of
the future as we go about constructing a new South African
identity.
While paging through the book, I catch the distinct smell of Jeyes
Fluid that was so commonly used in the dormitories of Lovedale and
the sweet-smelling air of the Amathole Mountains lingers as I go
through the compelling chapters of the book.
President Thabo Mbeki recognised the valuable contributions of
Andre to South African sport by honouring him with a Presidential
Sports Award. This book comes at a time when we are reviewing ten
years of sport in South Africa and is another contribution to the
rebuilding of our country.
On behalf of the South African sports movement, and in particular
on behalf of black cricketers, I thank you most sincerely for a
sports story that brings people alive and that puts names and faces
to the countless heroes that emerged over the ages.
BMN BALFOUR, MP MINISTER
Source: Sport and Recreation South Africa
(http://www.srsa.gov.za)
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