In a column written before Daryll Cullinan's short-lived recall, Bob Woolmer explained why he believes this ultimate enigma deserves one more chance against Australia, and his personal nemesis, Shane Warne Sunday, February 17, 2002

"I've been waiting four years to bowl to you again, Cullinan," said Shane Warne. "Well, it looks as though you've been eating well for those four years," came the reply. It was a typical confrontation between two of cricket's arch-rivals. The only problem for Daryll Cullinan was that Warne had the backing of over 40,000 Melbourne fans, who joined in the fun, having been wound up by the Australian media during the days leading up to the 1997 Boxing Day Test.

The MCG is intimidating enough on its own, let alone when the majority of the crowd are against you as well. When Cullinan walked on to the field, the atmosphere was so animated that I can remember Peter Pollock, South Africa's chairman of selectors at the time, and I turned to each other simultaneously and mouthed "Wow!".

It was just this reaction that led us to leave Daryll out for the rest of that series. The decision wasn't made lightly, or without misgivings. It is important to support your players, especially your best ones, but the effect the duel was having on Australia was just too much.

For years Daryll Cullinan has been the diamond in the South African batting line-up. He found it hard to accept praise - he would only do so from those he respected. Because we all respected Australia's players, this might be the reason that he believed their criticism of him as a player.

I remember a conversation I had with Ian Healy in India in 1996 when I asked what the Aussies had against Cullinan. I cannot remember the exact words he used, but it boiled down to Melbourne 1993-94 - South Africa's first Test against Australia after unity - when Daryll dished out some verbal stick, as one does, to the Australians while they were batting. The trouble was that he then made a duck and dropped two catches.

This didn't go down well with the Aussies, who will only respect you as a player if you score runs and take the inevitable stick with a sense of humour. Since that day the Aussies have targeted Cullinan. Ironically, since that day he has also become a better and better player - but against Australia he has never had the same air of confidence that he has shown against other sides.

A half-century against Australia at Headingley in the 1999 World Cup suggested he was overcoming the problem. But then he was run out in the semi-final at Edgbaston. Because Cullinan and Jacques Kallis have not always got their calling right, the captain (Hansie Cronje) and the coach (me) got some stick for playing Daryll in the first place, and then for not changing the batting order.

Well, the main reason he was kept in the side then was simple. He was the best player we had, he had just scored fifty against the Aussies, and I thought that if we'd left him out or shunted him around the batting order then we would ruin his confidence. That was my gut feeling, anyway, and it was supported by the captain and chairman of selectors. It's all in the past, but it does have a bearing on whether the South African selectors should select Daryll again now.

My feeling is that the 2002 Daryll would love an opportunity to slay the ghost once and for all. He would probably say that he never had a ghost, but it is a perception shared by many. I do know that Daryll is reaching the pomp of his career, and that Rushdi Magiet, South Africa's current chairman of selectors, is on record as saying that Daryll is SA's best player ... in which case I'm not quite sure why they didn't take him to Australia.

The selectors will also have to take into account Daryll's relationship with his team-mates. Apparently relations were strained during the West Indian tour last year. But if that can be forgotten then Cullinan is the one player I'd back to blunt the pace attack of McGrath, Lee and Gillespie. And I'm convinced that if he remains patient against Warne he will do what he has done to Muttiah Muralitharan - and some other very good spin bowlers - and score heavily.

If the South African selectors recognise the necessity of playing six frontline batsmen then Daryll must be one of them. I would like to see either Jacques Rudolph or Graeme Smith of Western Province opening the batting with Gary Kirsten, which would let Herschelle Gibbs go in at No. 4 behind Kallis. Cullinan and Neil McKenzie would be at 5 and 6, with Mark Boucher at 7 and Shaun Pollock at 8 (although I hear that a side strain might prevent him from playing in the first and second Tests). That would be a tremendously strong batting side.

To prevent Australia from winning again, it will have to be all hands on deck. South Africa will need players of the skill and class of Daryll Cullinan to show a lead to the youngsters who are beginning to make their mark on Test cricket.

Bob Woolmer is Warwickshire's coach and ICC's high-performance manager. He was coach of South Africa from 1994 to 1999.

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