Cricket Fanatic Snoni Mlenzana explains how Kass Naidoo drew her to cricket and proved to her that it is not just a “gentlemen’s” game.
“Sometimes the slightest things change the direction of our lives. The merest breath of a circumstance, a random moment that connects like a meteorite striking the earth. Lives have swivelled and changed direction on the strength of a chance remark” – Bryce Courtenay
I came across cricket by chance. People around me said it was madness, and boring, to watch a bunch of men standing in the sun all day. Well, for a shy primary school girl like myself who happened to be bored, watching “a bunch of men” play and not having to talk to them sounded like fun.
Funny enough, the one person who made me like cricket wasn’t a cricket player, and it wasn’t a man. It was a Woman and a commentator. It was Kass Naidoo. I still say to my mates that I could listen to her commentary all day, that’s just how good she is in a male-dominated field. She proved that this game is not just for men and that it’s possible to be a woman that is fanatical about this sport.
A player, however, who stood out to me in the cricketing world at the time was none other than the fantastic 438-game hero Herschelle Gibbs. His fielding and athleticism was something that I loved watching.
As the years went by, it took time for me to finally watch a Proteas game live, which was something I always wanted to do. However, being surrounded by people who weren’t/aren’t cricket fans meant that no one was going to offer to take me down to Buffalo Park and catch a game.
It took independence, well virtual independence, to get me to finally watch a live game at the ground. It was not the most desirable format (T20) but we do not get much international cricket around East London, and it was convenient for the people I had emotionally blackmailed to watch with me.
Now that I have grown to love cricket, I no longer feel that I need anybody to accompany me, I was was/am willing to go watch a game alone, because of the passion for the game that grew and keeps growing as I learn more about the sport.
Nevertheless, over the years I’ve made friends with fellow cricket fanatics and players, and even though sometimes I’d made my way to the ground alone, when I got there I was never lonely or alone, I had my CRICKET FANATICS and this would make me feel part and parcel of a greater movement of cricket lovers in the country.
To this day, cricket is still my first love, and I am glad that it has grown to an extent where there are more girls and women involved in the game in different aspects all over South Africa and the world at large.
Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
