Date-stamped : 26 Jul94 - 18:27 Gooch stays defiant over rebel tour Graham Gooch yesterday hacked his way through the tangle of olive branches that are threatening to choke today's historic Lord's Test. Amid all the peace-offerings and soul-searching of South Africa's first Test here for 29 years, England's record run-maker stood defiantly by his decision to lead the rebel tour to the outlawed republic in 1982. Since the collapse of apartheid South African cricket administra- tors have admitted the tour was a mistake that probably prolonged racism in sport. It cost Gooch, captain of that highly-paid team, a three-year ban from international cricket - and an incalculable number of Test runs. He has always claimed he made the decision on professional rather than moral grounds. As he prepared for the match yesterday he said: 'I have no regrets. At the time the South Africans saw the tour as a way of keeping cricket strong, maintaining interest in the game during their isolation from the rest of the world. "I wouldn't like to say whether it changed anything one way or the other. But it was a long while ago. Your opinions change over the years. All I can say now is that I'm pleased they are back on the big stage." That brand of detached professionalism will appal those who, like today's guest Archbishop Desmond Tutu, made sacrifices to fight apartheid. But it will become a useful weapon in an uncompromis- ing three-match series. The devoutly religious South Africans undoubtedly come in peace and brimming with brotherly love. Yet, when the embracing and back-slapping have to stop, this threatens to be as grim and un- forgiving a series as we have seen in any of the three decades since they were last here. The Springbok, the elegant, free-flowing species that ruled the cricketing world in the late sixties and early seventies is ex- tinct, starved to death by apartheid. The team Kepler Wessels leads into this match is as hard and wary as its captain. Nearly three years back in the world-wide game have led them through regular, almost monthly, 'symbolic' occasions. They no longer bowl apologetically or bat with a lump in the throat. New Zealand captain Ken Rutherford left us with a warning that the South Africans' arrogance was sometimes hard to swallow. Dur- ing last winter's series against Australia, Peter Kirsten was fined for disputing an umpire's decision. Gooch, two days away from his 41st birthday and probably only hours away from his 200th Test innings, may find himself in a new role. Skipper Mike Atherton will shuffle the batting order to ac- commodate debutant John Crawley. Gooch has failed in three con- secutive innings at No 3. He admits he is worried Richards as the fourth highest scorer in Test history and even a rampant Allan Donald is not likely to stop him short of that milestone. Donald has been tenderly nursed so that he is free of all the accumulat- ed aches, pains and weariness of two hectic years. He is the man most likely to tilt a delicately-balanced series South Africa's way. The quickest white bowler on earth can also be mean enough to send an involuntary shudder through an England team that has only recently cured itself of buckling at the knees. South Africa will bank on blasting out England or, failing that, boring them into submission with an all-pace attack of Donald, Fanie de Villiers, Craig Matthews and Brian McMillan. The Lord's wicket - that great tranquilliser - could ruin both those strategies. The captains examined it glumly yesterday and obviously saw little sign of encouragement. Leg-spinner Ian Salisbury looks certain to play, but pacemen Dar- ren Gough and Phil DeFreitas will be the key men. You might even tip them as match-winners if England's record at Lord's was more respectable. They have won just three (two against Sri Lanka and one against India) of 16 Tests there in the past 11 seasons. Atherton is not the first captain to be baffled by the phenomenon. He said: 'Maybe the ground tends to inspire the oppo- sition more than us. I'm hoping we can end our abysmal run here - but I'm no magician.' The change will not come with the wave of a wand or even a few bats. South Africa do not have the natural gifts of ancestors such as Graeme Pollock, Mike Procter and Barry Richards, but they have a fanatical dedication to avoiding defeat. Wessels, a one-time boxer who tucks his chin behind his shoulder and his bat behind his pad, sets a forbidding example. Vice- captain Hansie Cronje has still to make an impact on this tour but left-hander Gary Kirsten, Andrew Hudson and Jonty Rhodes will all take some shifting. (Extracted from a Daily Mail article by Peter Johnson) Contributed by Vicky (VIGNESWA@*umass.edu)