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)