LUKE ALFRED
Cohen was offered a minor contract extension by the Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) for the current season but preferred to pass it up. When approached, he politely declined the opportunity to be interviewed by the SA Jewish Report, but explained his decision to overlook the WP contract to the SA Club Cricket website as follows, “The recent [fast-bowler] signings by the Cobras almost represent a block to my progression. Not being contracted facilitates a lot of freedom. I turned the contract down on good terms.”
When he was interviewed by SA Club Cricket, the move to Derbyshire hadn’t been finalised but was probably in the wings, with the move to England being facilitated by Derbyshire’s director of cricket, former Zimbabwe middle-order batsman Dave Houghton. Apparently, Houghton noticed Cohen playing for the nearby Nottinghamshire second XI and was so impressed, he offered him terms at a neighbouring county, where he will join another South African, Free State’s Leus du Plooy, on the playing staff.
Cohen’s story is an interesting one, and a salutary lesson for all those who might feel disadvantaged by not going to what is perceived to be the “right” school. He, for instance, matriculated from Reddam House in Constantia, rather than one of Cape Town’s traditional cricket schools such as SACS, Bishops, or Wynberg, opting for a good matric rather than a colours blazer with infinite badges and scrolls.
He has always played for Western Province Cricket Club, though, and will be playing club cricket for it this summer as he attempts to complete a Bachelor of Accounting Sciences degree in management accounting from Unisa. “They’ve afforded me so many great opportunities over the years,” says Cohen, who is nothing if not loyal to the club which gave him his first opportunities as a junior provincial player while still at school.
Cohen and Du Plooy are not alone in seeking out playing fields abroad. Just this week, a former Lions and Strikers left-handed batsman called Devon Conway scored a triple century for Wellington in New Zealand. Conway is hoping to qualify to play for the Black Caps ahead of the World T20 in Australia next October, another player whom the South African authorities did very little to encourage to stay as they pursued their obsession with quotas.
Cohen, though, is no Conway – at least not yet. His coaches do, however, talk of a bright young kid who learns quickly and has great variation and potential as a fast bowler.
Left-arm pace bowlers (like the Aussies Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson) are rarities because they are able to exploit unusual angles of delivery that can trouble right and left-handed batsmen.
Cohen’s coaches have said that if he does have a problem, it’s a welcome one – he tends to over-think things rather than keeping them relatively simple and straightforward – as fast-bowlers should.
Derbyshire has attracted its fair share of southern Africans in the past thirty or so years, with Cohen being just the latest. Others include the famous “Bunter” Barlow, who captained the side and resuscitated Derby’s fortunes. Then there was Peter Kirsten, nicknamed “old soft hands” and, more recently, former Dolphins wicketkeeper Daryn Smit.
Of them all, Houghton’s story is the most romantic. People have forgotten that along with former England coach Duncan Fletcher, he played in newly-independent Zimbabwe’s first-ever World Cup in 1983.
Zimbabwe’s cricketers were all amateurs in those days, and they raised funds for the tournament in England by having their wives bake for cake sales. They also raffled ties and memorabilia, and sold bales of tobacco at well-attended tobacco auctions.
In the tournament itself, Zimbabwe caused one of the greatest upsets in World Cup history by narrowly beating Australia in the early rounds. At the time, with Dennis Lillee, Kim Hughes, and Rod Marsh in their midst, the “baggy greens” were considered to be one of the strongest sides in world cricket.
Cohen has already said that one of the reasons for playing abroad is that he’s looking forward to playing in different conditions and being coached by different coaches. He will find England soggy in April, with the accumulated rain of winter leading to slow pitches and muddy outfields. Two – or even three – jerseys are advisable. “I need to find an environment in which I can develop,” Cohen told SA Club Cricket. “You need to be with supportive coaches in the right environment to speed up the process.”
Such are the words of a keenly ambitious young cricketer. Many in South Africa and the Jewish community at large will be watching Cohen’s progress with a similarly keen eye.
