The Guilt of Dropping Catches (and Other Various Screw-ups)

[Bees]

If the Saffies lose this test (and then go on to lose the series), will McKenzie ever forgive himself?

Has Donald forgiven himself for WC '99?

What about Misbah for his sweep in the WC 20/20 Final?

What other royal mess-ups like these have happened in international cricket, and how long do you think they would take to get over it - if they ever do? Do they still think about it every day? Have you ever been involved in such a situation in whatever level of cricket you've played?

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

The obvious one would be Warne dropping Pietersen at the Oval in 2005. Plenty of others as well, if I can think of 'em.

 

[Michaelf7777777]

- Ray Lindwall dropping the catch that ultimately cost Australia the ashes in 1953
- Fred Tate dropping a sitter off Joe Darling who went on to make a crucial 37 before being bowled for 4 to give victory to Australia by 3 runs at Old Tafford in 1902. His response to the double failure which was along the lines of i've got a son who will make for this was about the only thing he did right all day (His son Maurice took 155 wickets in 39 tests at an average of 26.16 as well as scoring 1148 runs at an average of 25.48)

 

[kingkallis]

Mike Gatting's sweep shot in Reliance World Cup 1987!

 

[kingkallis]

Herschelle Gibbs dropping Steve Waugh in 1999 WC

 

[Evermind]

Has Donald forgiven himself for WC '99?

Ranks as the absolute worst of the lot. I don't know how one goes about recovering from that one.

 

[fredfertang]

Forty years on Keith Fletcher remains a Pariah in the broadacres

 

[pup11]

Herschelle Gibbs dropping Steve Waugh in 1999 WC

Haha yeah nothing beats that AFAIC, and Waugh then going up to Gibbs and telling him that he has dropped the cup was gun....

 

[krkode]

Ranks as the absolute worst of the lot. I don't know how one goes about recovering from that one.

I don't get why Donald gets so thrashed about for '99 despite all he has done for SA cricket.

That said, while some mistakes can seem more costly than others they are not the sole reason for defeat. Yes, Donald's run out was the dismissal that ultimately caused a tie and therefore a loss. But what about the 10 other players in the team? Culinan scored 6 runs in 30 deliveries in that game. Cronje was out for a duck. Elworthy exceeded 5.9 RPO in a game in which Australia's run rate was only 4.26. Why aren't any of these guys to blame for the loss? Fact is, they should be. Because cricket is ultimately a team sport and if you lose, it isn't one guy's fault, it's the team's fault.

In as such, I'd imagine people with a sensible and realistic outlook on life would be able to forgive themselves. Of course, with the help of their teammates. Any TEAM that blames one man for a loss is just kidding themselves. And no one in the 1999 South African team was a bigger name than Donald. That'd be like Harbhajan and Yuvraj pointing at Tendulkar and saying we lost XYZ game because of you.

Anyway, I suppose Donald can rest knowing that he is still arguably South Africa's greatest ever bowler and one of the prime reasons for their immense success since readmission.

 

[Mr Casson]

Ballsing up the D/L calculations in the 2003 WC was pretty bad from the RSA.

 

[Bees]

I don't get why Donald gets so thrashed about for '99 despite all he has done for SA cricket.

<snipped>

*claps*

I really hopes he finds solace. Yes, he should have got that run. But you are absolutely right, it was not entirely his fault. The only reason the mistake was so magnified was because one run never appeared to be more important at the time, being the deciding ball at the very end. That is what's so tragic about it. That I cringe so hard at the mere thought of that pivotal moment makes me wonder how much Donald had to go through - whether he was able to somehow able to diminish that unmovable regret.

That said, I'm probably just being a drama queen - he probably only thinks about it when someone asks.. which is probably less uncomfortable, knowing that his plight is shared; or at the very least, the knowledge of it apparent.

 

[pup11]

I don't know why Donald gets so much flak for that run out, Klusener with the kind of form he was in at that time, should have just won the game for the Saffies with a boundary....

 

[Jono]

The ironic thing about Donald not running in 99 was that the previous ball he backed up too far and almost got run out. Hence he refused to leave his crease the next ball.

Its horrific (unless you're an Australian supporter I imagine) watching the ending. Particularly since Klusener's boundaries off the first two balls of that over were the two best you could imagine in a pressure situation.

 

[pup11]

The ironic thing about Donald not running in 99 was that the previous ball he backed up too far and almost got run out. Hence he refused to leave his crease the next ball.

Its horrific (unless you're an Australian supporter I imagine) watching the ending. Particularly since Klusener's boundaries off the first two balls of that over were the two best you could imagine in a pressure situation.

Haha, well you can say that again.....

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Very harsh to blame good old 'Al for the Semi-Final defeat when 10 superior batsman had just screwed up chasing a fairly modest total.

On of the most memorable dropped catches to a certain generation was Ken Wadsworth dropping Geoff Arnold at Lords in 1973 when New Zealand were within touching distance of a first ever Test victory over England - they'd have to wait another five years to achieve it and another 10 years before winning a Test in England. Tragically Wadsworth didn't live to see either.

 

[cricman]

Mortaza Dropping a Skier off Ponting in Fatullah.

It wouldn't have Guaranteed a Win but they'd be 8 down with 30 odd runs needed, but the Worst Team in Test Cricket Beating the Invincibles would have been some story.

 

[Richard]

Has Donald forgiven himself for WC '99?

Herschelle Gibbs dropping Steve Waugh in 1999 WC

Funny, you know - 2 mess-ups in consecutive games (the Gibbs premuature-celebration was in the Super Six game, the Klusener-Donald run-out in the semi-final) and both went on to be famous as costing SA the Cup.

What other royal mess-ups like these have happened in international cricket, and how long do you think they would take to get over it - if they ever do?

Guess Ponting knowing how much that drop off Steyn the very day after McKenzie missed him ended-up costing must be pretty gut-wrenching.

The most obvious one I always think of is whatever it was that caused Junior Murray to miss the Fourth Test against Australia in 1995 (not sure if he was injured\ill or if some idiot dropped him, but I think it was the former). Courtney Browne - an inept wicketkeeper known for missing chances - replaced him and dropped what turned-out to be a crucial catch off Stephen Waugh and West Indies were dramatically dethroned. Had Murray (a far superior gloveman to Browne) played, Waugh would almost certainly have been caught, West Indies could easily have won the game (Australia would've been 173-4, still 92 behind) and their dethroning as "World Champions" would have been far less dramatic, coming in Australia and at a time (1996/97) when it would have already become obvious that they were an inferior team. And what's more, given Lara's heroics in 1999, Australia wouldn't have won in West Indies until 2003, by which time South Africa in 2001 would already have broken their run of not being defeated at home since 1974.

And who knows, the "gradual"ness of it all could have meant West Indies' fall wasn't felt quite so badly and things which have been so wretched for the last 7 years wouldn't have been quite so bad. On the other hand, much of that is down to WICB incompetance and no Murray taking that catch would ever be able to change that.