At the age of 32, Neil McKenzie is finally at ease with himself as a
cricketer. His first career as a South Africa batsman spanned more than 40
Tests and much turmoil as he battled to fulfil his talent. His second career
came so late and unexpectedly – after four years out he was recalled in
January in the unfamiliar role of opener – that every game seems like a
bonus. He is taking his second chance with both hands.
“When I was dropped I wanted to score 100, 200, 300. I tried too hard instead
of going out to enjoy it,” he said in Taunton, where his country’s tour
starts today. “Now I don’t need anyone to tell me that I can’t afford to
have too many bad innings or I will be playing for my place. I’m at peace
with it. I love being in England and being part of the South African set-up.
Whatever happens, happens.”
Ah, how easy it is to say those words. Whatever happens, happens. It
was not always like this. During his first incarnation as an international
sportsman, McKenzie tore himself apart trying to control the
uncontrollables, which as every sportsman knows you should never do.
But McKenzie could not help it. He got to the stage where he convinced himself
that he could not – would not – score runs unless the sporting gods had been
brought on-side through various rituals.
It would be impossible to list them all – McKenzie cannot remember them all –
but it is a wonder he scored even two Test centuries in his first career
(he’s added two more in his second in just six matches). Suffice to say they
included him decreeing toilet seats be closed before he left the dressing
room and taping his bat to the changing room ceiling before each innings.
How on earth did he get into such a state of mind? “I think it was obsessive
compulsive disorder. It was a disease. It was not just cricket, it was life
in general. You’ve got numbers that you like, things that you like . . .
it’s a ritual, trying to control what you can’t control. I’ve never had
superstitions about ladders or black cats. It was OCD. I’ve cut it out now.
I’ve got a wife and child now and don’t have much time to worry about toilet
seats and taping bats to the ceiling.
“I think there are quite a few sportsmen out there who’ve got their rituals. I
see Sanath Jayasuriya hitting his pads before every ball and I know exactly
what he’s up to. There’s Nic Pothas [who played provincial cricket alongside
McKenzie]. I know Rafael Nadal has got certain things he does. Habits and
rituals can make you more consistent but OCD is something else. I never got
it clinically diagnosed. I would have been too embarrassed to go to a
doctor.”
When did you start to give these things up?
“About three or four years ago, after I’d been dropped from the South Africa
team. I began dropping them yearly. There was a time for a couple of years
when I thought it was working. The bat thing started after I left early one
day and as a joke my teammates [at Highveld Lions] stuck my bat to the
ceiling. I got it down and scored a hundred . . . after that I had to tape
it up every time.”
When did the toilet seat thing start?
“Oh, that must be going back eight years . . .”
And wrapping your bat up in a blanket?
“Jeez . . . I’m not sure about that one . . .”
What about getting on and off the bed three times the night before a game?
“No! . . . I just had to get into bed perfectly. There could be no creases.”
And stepping on white lines? “
Now that was a big thing. It must have been funny watching me and Nic Pothas
bat together because we were both doing it. I had to have a foot either side
of the crease. It was very painful. Must have been very painful to watch. If
I saw someone doing it now he’d get a few words.”
What about your wife staying in her seat while you’re batting?
“I think that’s pretty normal. A few guys would expect that.”
You say you’re cured? “
Yes. Now I just basically like to feel my feet in my boots.
Before the bowler runs in, I like to look to square leg, to fine leg, and then
back at the bowler. If I don’t do it once, I don’t think something bad is
going to happen. It’s like a trigger movement.
“When things are going well you don’t think about anything else. The ball is
bowled, you hit it. But when they are going badly you’re looking for
explanations, for luck. It can be hindering when your mind is completely
cluttered. Listening now to what I did, I’m very glad I’ve given up, but it
takes commitment.”
McKenzie might easily have gone the way of many South Africans who could not
make the Test team and entered county cricket on a Kolpak signing,
especially as there were times when it appeared he had been left out to
assist the transformation process. He admits it was a tough pill to swallow
but also readily accepts that quotas or targets are necessary if a broader
range of the South African population is to be attracted to cricket.
He played for Somerset last year before his recall and began to consider his
future. He was aware South Africa were not in the habit of recalling
thirtysomethings and sought guidance from Mickey Arthur and Graeme Smith,
South Africa’s coach and captain respectively. “I said I was keen to stay
around but wanted to know if I’d still got a chance. Basically they said
there was a good chance and that they thought I was capable of opening, even
though I hadn’t really opened at any level. I actually started my Test
career as an opener [for one series in Sri Lanka in 2000, averaging nine]
but in provincial cricket I usually batted four or five.”
The call finally came while he was on holiday last Christmas. McKenzie was to
replace Herschelle Gibbs as Smith’s opening partner for the Test against
West Indies in Cape Town. Subsequently, McKenzie, not the non-white Gibbs,
was chosen to tour Bangladesh and India, a decision that brought more
agonised debate about the racial make-up of the XI.
The tour of the subcontinent proved a triumph. He and Smith – a former
schoolmate from King Edward VII, Johannesburg, though there is five years
between them – shared a first-wicket Test record partnership of 415 in
Chittagong, both scoring double centuries, and McKenzie followed up with 94
and 155 not out in Chennai against India. Not bad for someone who was once
reckoned a poor player of spin.
He realises coping with the new ball in seaming, swinging conditions in
England will be a different test altogether. A short stint with Durham
earlier this season will have given him some idea of what is in store, but
he has never faced Ryan Sidebottom or Stuart Broad before.
“It is going to be hard work,” he concedes. “There is going to be some playing
and missing. I’ll have to be mentally tough.”
The Smith-McKenzie axis will be crucial to South Africa’s hopes of winning a
first series in England in modern times. After starting the 2003 series with
two double centuries, Smith’s form collapsed as England pinned him lbw in
the next three games. He and McKenzie will be intent on seeing off the new
ball. Their chemistry is working well. “You can count on Graeme scoring a
lot quicker than I will,” McKenzie said. “He’s really positive and the
scoreboard is always ticking when he’s out there. It takes the pressure off
me and gives me time to be patient. When you’re the up-and-coming youngster
you play with freedom. I’ve definitely learned the hard way. I have come
back more rounded and tried to be less impulsive. Nowadays I’m trying to get
maximum reward for minimum risk.”
Beauties and the batters: South African cricket Wags
Cricket is all about partnerships and South Africa have had a few. Neil
McKenzie and Graeme Smith featured in a Test-record opening partnership of 415
against Bangladesh in Chittagong in February
Their aggressive batting against Bangladesh was not their only similarity. The
pair both have leggy supermodels as their partners away from the cricket
field
McKenzie recently married Kerry McGregor, a Wonderbra model who has also
featured in American magazines and was a favourite pin-up among US troops in
Iraq. McGregor is close friends with McKenzie’s sister Megan who is
something of a looker herself.
Megan was voted the sexiest woman in South Africa by readers of FHM magazine
Smith’s partner is swimsuit model Minki van der Westhuizen. Known as Slinky
Minki, she was selected from thousands of young hopefuls while still at
school to be a Guess jeans model.
And to prove that the South African cricket team rate highly in the stakes of
the best-ever Wags XI, allrounder Jacques Kallis is also in partnership with
a model. His mate is Cindy Nel, a former Miss South Africa who finished third
in the 2003 Miss Universe contest
