Arguably one of the most superstitious batsmen to ever walk on to the field, Neil McKenzie’s many quirks were as reputable as his batting abilities, writes Ravi Reddy.
From taping his bat on to the ceiling to ensuring all of the toilet seats were up in the change room, Neil McKenzie was quite the enigma.
In addition to these many quirks, Neil was also known for showing off his polo sports briefs to a rowdy Australian crowd while diving to prevent a boundary. Sadly, Michael Bevan got four more runs for McKenzie’s troubles.
It was not all doom and gloom though. While possessing a meagre batting average, Neil hit some memorable centuries in both the Test and ODI arenas. The most notable contribution to SA’s test team is that of his record-breaking opening stand partnership with Captain Biff himself.
McKenzie and Smith set an opening stand of 415 against Bangladesh, where he obtained his personal best of 226. Yip, the Chittagong crowd was not impressed and it got even worse for the hosts as South Africa were the eventual victors.
Having made his debut in 2000 within the ODI team, McKenzie was considered to be a probable candidate for the 2003 World Cup squad. Unfortunately, despite positive performances with the bat, Mckenzie would not be selected for the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
McKenzie narrowly missed a call up to the team, as Graeme Smith was selected ahead of McKenzie in replacing Jonty Rhodes. Alas, that was probably the least memorable World Cup for the host nation, South Africa, as they crashed out in the round-robin stages of the event.
Neil would never go on to represent his country in a cricket World Cup, in spite of having a decent international record during his tenure. He took a batting consultant role with the Bangladesh cricket team which came back to haunt the “perpetually cursed” Proteas.
McKenzie had mostly a stop-start international career, with a plague of injuries impacting his selection. What is most interesting about King Edward VII matriculant is his conversion rate from 50 to 100.
He managed to score 5 Test centuries (1 Double) with 16 Test fifties. Can you imagine what would have been mentioned in annals of South African cricket had McKenzie converted those attempts?
The most forgettable of the 16 fifties was his run out on 99 against Australia in 2002:
McKenzie was one of a few shortlisted candidates to replace the dejected Shaun Pollock after a dismal World Cup campaign. In an alternative reality, McKenzie may have taken the mantle as captain and most likely represented South Africa in the 2007 and 2011 World Cups.
I often wonder what the outcome would have been if Neil was at least selected in any of the World Cup squads during the length of his career. Perhaps he could have scored a much needed century against sledging Australian outfit or held his nerve against Sri Lanka in Durban?
What do you think Cricket Fanatics?
Was Neil Mckenzie the missing link from the world cup ODI squads? Would we have won world cup gold with Neil as skipper? Sound off your comments below!
Yours in Peace, Love and Cricket
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