Terbrugge lands third seamer spot
Trevor Chesterfield
22 November 1998
CENTURION (South Africa) - It was only when David Terbrugge saw his
name flashed on the television screen at SuperSport Centurion
yesterday that he believed all the rumours he had heard were in fact
true.
Red-haired, fresh and freckled faced and 21, Terbrugge is the latest
recruit to the South African side, but this time he has a special
role: third seamer and swing bowler in the first Test team for the
historic opening match of series of five matches against the West
Indies.
Then an hour after earning what could be the crucial place in the side
the kid who in three weeks came from no where played a joke on his
captain, New Zealander Ken Rutherford but pretending to ``pull a
hammy''. Which shows that the young man also has a sense of humour. And
as the third red-head in the squad, Brian Lara's tourists will be
seeing a lot more red in the weeks to come than a ball being whipped
passed their noses.
While there had been much speculation most of it fueled by inside
knowledge which had been leaked Terbrugge, who has Belgian ancestry,
saw his name on the box when the 12 names for the Wanderers match was
announced as the rain belted down in the SuperSport Series game
against Northerns.
Later Barry Skjoldhammer, Gauteng's chairman, carried several bottles
of South African sparkling wine into the dressing room after the match
against Northerns for the players to join in celebrating with
Terbrugge and his teammate Adam Bacher, who was recalled, although his
patchy form in this last match was anything but convincing.
Naturally Terbrugge's initial response was your typical ``over the
moon''. But then there were also some thoughtful comments, including a
peek into his thinking and how the delivery, with which he bowled
Hansie Cronje in the Gauteng-Free State game in Bloemfontein two weeks
ago, was possibly his first step towards winning a Test cap ``long
before it was expected''.
``Cronje,'' said Terbrugge, ``looked down the pitch at me with a mixture
of surprise and I wondered what on earth I had done? It made me think
... It was a good ball. I think it surprised him.''
Quite a modest comment.
Before that game was over Cronje was on the phone to Rodney Ontong,
the Gauteng bowling coach, to discover a little more about the Rand
Afrikaans University swing bowler who admits that Fanie de Villiers is
the bowler on whom he would like to model his action.
Terbrugge, brought in as the third seamer, is one of four changes to
the last test side which lost to England at Headingly, Leeds, in
August. Out go Brian McMillan (retired), Gerhardus Liebenberg and
Makhaya Ntini while Bacher is back for Liebenebrg and Paul Adams is
part of the 12 along with the expected recall of Pat Symcox.
Bacher's recall is more to do with his form in earlier A Section
matches this month than the game against Northerns where he looked out
of place in both innings. Yesterday he struggled to reach 35 and ran
out the attacking left-hander Sven Koenig in the process.
De Villiers also sees the flame-haired young man who earned SA Schools
caps in 1993 and again the next year, as well as a SA under19 cap in
1995, as his natural successor as an outswing bowler in the South
African side. Yet, with Ntini who has shown little form to warrant
selection, the question should be asked whether or not De Villiers
announced his retirement a summer too soon?
The recall of Symcox and Adams is an interesting one fraught with
political issues. Symcox's last test was against Pakistan at the
Wanderers during a damp February when he scored a century. Since then
he has played any number of limited-overs slogs and visits to England
and Bangladesh for that purpose.
But his recall to the test arena has been a hard road and injects a
touch of Australian style competitiveness in to side. We have to wait
and see why Adams, who even by his own standards, must admit he is not
bowling well, has been included.
The side is:
Gary Kirsten, Adam Bacher, Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan, Hansie
Cronje (capt), Jonty Rhodes, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Pat Symcox,
Allan Donald, Paul Adams, David Terbrugge.
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