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| | Friday, 24 May, 2002, 09:08 GMT 10:08 UK 'Far bigger than cricket' Bacher led South African cricket back from isolation
Asked in the past the exact role played by Dr Ali Bacher in their national cricket structure, South African journalists have always been unequivocal: "He's in charge." Bacher became the first full-time administrator of what was then the South African Cricket Board in 1981, only leaving the post last year. And, as he celebrates his 60th birthday on Friday, he is engaged in the biggest challenge of his career in cricket, organising the 2003 World Cup, which begins in the Republic in February.
A doctor of medicine, Bacher became a leading spin doctor in sporting politics while current practitioners were still cutting their teeth. The skill has served him well from the dark days of Apartheid, through the unification of black and white cricket boards and South Africa's readmission to the world game and the more recent match-fixing saga. And he easily runs off figures to support his claim that the World Cup will be something special both for cricket, for his country and for the African continent. Up to 65 million rand (�4.4m) will be spent on upgrading stadia for the tournament, especially in catering for 800,000 spectators, an estimated 40,000 of whom will be foreigners, and as many as 2000 media.
As many as 7000 volunteers will be on hand to enhance the experience of fans and the tournament itself has a budget of 16.8 million rand (�1.14m) to ensure the safety of players and officials, with 85 personal protection officers. "It is a great opportunity to bring 43 million South Africans together," he says. "It's far bigger than cricket - it's about empowering people, especially black people, and making sure that the benefits are shared between white and black. "The 1995 Rugby World Cup was a great success but that was primarily because our team won. "Even if our team don't win this time, South Africans will be proud." The six games scheduled to take place in Zimbabwe could still prove a stumbling block, with Australia having cancelled their April tour to the country because of security fears. But Bacher is committed to "do everything possible to ensure that the games take place." "We're monitoring the situation carefully but we have a vision to spread cricket into Africa and this is one of the main keys to doing that." Tour watershed Organising cricket in the face of opposition is something at which Bacher has proved adept in the past, as he was responsible for gathering touring sides from England, Sri Lanka and the West Indies during the 1980s. The second visit by English rebels, under Mike Gatting in 1989, coincided with the legalising of the African National Congress, and protesters were for the first time free to make their displeasure felt around the matches.
Bacher has said in the past that the tours were vital to keeping South African cricket alive despite the international sporting sanctions that were in place. But he concedes that with hindsight he would perhaps not have broken the ban. "If we knew then the anger and hurt we were causing black South Africans then we would have thought twice," Bacher admits. "The Gatting tour was a watershed in the history of South African sport because it showed that sporting events couldn't happen without the majority support of South African people." Those events drove the unification of the black and white factions of South African cricket under the single banner of the United Cricket Board in 1991, an event Bacher describes as the most special event in his cricketing career. "It was out biggest achievement even though it sounds so simple now. For the first time we had black and white administrators working together and cricketers playing together." Selection on merit The aims of the board's development programme, to allow previously disadvantaged players to reach the highest level, are close to being achieved, Bacher believes, despite the controversy that has surrounded some recent selections. "The South African World Cup squad should include four or five black players on merit, and if they are there on merit they will gain the support of all South Africans.
"By 2007 in the West Indies the squad should be about 50/50." By then, though, Bacher will have taken a step back. He admits that the World Cup will be his last full-time role, although it is unlikely that South African cricket will let their highest-profile administrator retire completely. As for other accomplishments during his career in cricket, Bacher is grateful that he has been able to enjoy the company of former president Nelson Mandela, who he describes as an exceptional man. For his favourite on-field moment, though, he looks back prior to South Africa's startlingly successful return to the international fold, through the time of isolation 1970. That the team he captained, containing the likes of Graeme Pollock and Barry Richards was unable to tour England that year, was something he claims to have got over very quickly. But a 4-0 whitewash of Australia remains a career highlight. "They were a wonderful team," he says, deprecating his own widely-credited captaincy. "My grandson could have captained them and they would have won." | |
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