‘Make sure you’ve got a full tank of petrol because you’re going to be driving to Centurion.’ Stephen Cook had just received word that his childhood dream was about to come true; having salvaged, and kept his pride intact by restoring the selectors’ faith (he smashed back-to-back Sunfoil centuries), he had called out loud to the selectors ‘pick me, pick me!’ (literally demanded), and has managed to keep the fundamental family reunion alive.
Linda Zondi’s voice felt to him like heaven and it was also a wake-up call to show to Cook that he was still within their plans, and deservingly, to hear him was a great relief for Cook; one might say that he’s the only ‘proper’ opener still left domestically, since the days of the Smith’s. And what joyous spirits he had when he realised that his tarnished childhood dream was after all going to come true at the age of 33; not about to whiz off to yet another painstaking domestic match?
The Cooks have been relatively late bloomers, for a host of inexplicable reasons, to represent the Proteas…if Jimmy would have made his belated debut earlier will only remain a mystery to us, one that will baffle one to the core; this is all down to the strict apartheid policy regime of that time, and, of course, because the ICC had come to the conclusion to ban them for 22 long and painstaking years. While they aren’t yet a cricketing family worthy of being established in the annuals of cricket, now that Stephen has followed up on his father’s debut, it might well be so with consensus if Stephen’s son will feel the pressure-burden on his shoulders.
And Jimmy is a proud father…that’s for sure. “It’s not an easy job, especially in South Africa, and I can understand non-openers finding it hard against the new ball. As a specialist, you get battle-hardened, you learn what to leave, you battle away and grind. I’m very chuffed for Stephen because he’s worked really hard and said he would just keep persevering, getting runs and keep trying”, was how Jimmy had reacted to his son’s years of graft, and the question we have to pose: why was Cook not chosen earlier; ironically, he had opened alongside Smith at the pristine KES, yet has now only been realised as an option, after Smith has already quit controversially?
And why, despite having cried out for his dream to be realised, wasn’t the phrase ‘next batter in line’ used to implement the answer to who would succeed Smith; surely Cook was ready…he was living the dream, was he not. Age. That is what, despite that Cook has shrugged it off.
He is probably the only ‘proper’ opener left, in an era where to do the job for a makeshift is futile; few survive the cut, but Cook has already established himself as ‘proper’ in the domestic circles…unflinching, and gutsy, the sort of opener one only has in their dreams. However, it baffles me to why Cook was not recognised earlier as the answer to the Proteas’ ongoing search to find someone to succeed Smith; questions were probed for Alviro Petersen, and he crumbled under pressure; and Stiaan van Zyl was doomed from the start, perhaps because he was forced to adapt when asked to open, but, in hindsight, why did one want to waste his talent in a position alien to him.
Now, why don’t unleash Cook in the dead-rubber at Centurion? He isn’t foreign to the ground; a fortress that he can call ‘home’, and, plus, if he does fail, you can at least declare, ‘there was no harm in it; what if he was the answer?’
That words: ‘‘Make sure you’ve got a full tank of petrol because you’re going to be driving to Centurion’, is a clear indication that he will play; unless they opt for the bashing Quinton de Kock, to see if he can fulfil a ‘David Warner-type of role’, and that he’s given the free reigns to opt against being restraint, and that he can play his natural game. Maybe Cook was only brought in for cover, for in case De Kock failed the fitness test, a test to see if he had made sufficient enough progress from his unfortunate accident, involving him having slipped whilst, yes, guess, uhm… slipping while taking his dogs for a walk!
There will be pressure on Cook, but he has had to painstakingly be ignored the last while; there was no signs that this call would come before, so this should be for Cook like trails; impressionism is now what matters to secure himself a permanent berth in the side.
“I haven’t had buried my head in the sand, I know there has been a lot being said in the media, especially with the trouble the team has had,” Cook says. “But I’ve also had other goals in mind, like playing well for the Lions. In a way, it’s been good that I’ve been distracted by that, he says.”
“With or without the expectation, there’s pressure. But then throughout my life there has been pressure. What might be pressure for me will be different for a guy like AB de Villiers. Growing up, I was always Jimmy Cook’s son, so there was that pressure. There were the pressures of opening the batting at the Wanderers, where the ball is whizzing around your ears. So I’ve had different pressures. I hope I am not seen as a batting saviour because that will be a bit unfair but if I play I am sure I can add value.”
And he doesn’t shy away from the opportunity; for Cook to get a hundred would be akin to declaring to the whole world, ‘I won’t take it to be shoved away because of my age’, and that honour is not bestowed on the majority of emotive debutants. That truly would be heralded as the cherry on the cake for him-and to do that, undoubtedly more pleasing than his 13 000-odd domestic runs, nor does any of his others surpass what will be a cherished debut for him.
And Supersport Park is a fortress for any batsman; Cook doesn’t shy away from the opportunity to cash in on a wicket traditionally offering little for bowlers. Plus, he is riding a wave; don’t count against him that his nerves will be minimized, a belter aiding him, and a proud father’s smile giving it away when he raises the bat for that magical milestone.
A new chapter for Cook has begun, but the question on everybody’s minds is: will a celebrated domestic career not be false hope for success against the English. When the Kiwis come in October…that will only be the Proteas’ next assignment, and for Cook, so now he sits in the pot…time is of the essence for Stiaan van Zyl, he has enough time to throw his name into the party again, this all depending if Centurion does prove to be Cook’s breakthrough.