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Good read to get to know Garth Le Roux a little bit. What a fast bowler!
'Batsmen have to fear you'
Tristan Holme | 08 January, 2012 00:14
IT IS difficult to reconcile the Garth le
Roux of today with the reputation of
the gruff fast bowler from the 1970s
and '80s.
The imposing frame remains, as does
the former paceman's moustache, but
there's a gentleness that just doesn't
fit with a man who so obviously
wanted to hurt people.
That is, until Le Roux, 55, explains his
antipathy towards batsmen - one that
could extend to good friends, as
Western Province roommate Peter
Kirsten found out during a club match.
"We knew each other well and he'd
watched me bowl and hit people from
day one," says Le Roux. "He wasn't a
terribly good hooker and he walks in with a cloth cap in
the days of helmets.
"So I bowl him a baby bouncer and he hits me for a
one-bounce four. The next one gets a bit more heated
and I hit him straight on the pip.
"He goes down and has to spend two weeks in a dark
room. Almost kills him. And I felt nothing for him
because he should have known better."
Never mind friends - Le Roux's white-line fever went
further. "At that moment that mist comes over, I don't
care if you put pads on my wife. If she's standing
between me and the woodwork, she either gets out the
way or takes the pain. That's how it works.
"There's got to be fear; all the greatest fast bowlers
have been mean. That's why I'm worried about Morne
Morkel. He's got all this ability, but I want to see him hit
people properly, and then tell them to get up or f***
off. Those batsmen will spread that story so quickly it
will make your head spin."
That approach served Le Roux well. His entire career
was eclipsed by South Africa's isolation, but he made his
mark during a season of World Series Cricket that came
out of the blue.
His reputation at provincial level had travelled to
Australia and the unwitting youngster received a phone
call from Tony Greig in his university digs at
Stellenbosch in 1977. The next season he turned out for
the World XI against players he'd only seen posters of.
"I walked into the Perth hotel and there was this
massive car, swivelling on a disc. And sitting in the
driver's seat was a guy with a hooked nose, a big, shiny
man. It was Viv Richards.
"A sign next to the car said it was for the man of the
series, so I thought: 'Well it must be all done - he must
be the winner.' Guess what? I go and do so well that I
win the car, at the age of 22!"
He would go on to take 372 wickets for Western
Province during the Currie Cup's halcyon period and 59
wickets in 15 "tests" during the rebel tours.
These days Le Roux sells property at Fancourt golf
estate in George. While the lifestyle is idyllic it hasn't all
been plain sailing - in 2008 he was sentenced to four
years in jail for tax fraud, but had the ruling overturned
on appeal.
"To cut a long story short, it took seven years and two
judges in the high court to prove it wasn't fraud, and
not only was it not fraud, but (the money) wasn't
taxable.
"It wasn't a very good time as you can imagine, but it's
spilt milk and I don't want to whine about it."
'Batsmen have to fear you'
Tristan Holme | 08 January, 2012 00:14
IT IS difficult to reconcile the Garth le
Roux of today with the reputation of
the gruff fast bowler from the 1970s
and '80s.
The imposing frame remains, as does
the former paceman's moustache, but
there's a gentleness that just doesn't
fit with a man who so obviously
wanted to hurt people.
That is, until Le Roux, 55, explains his
antipathy towards batsmen - one that
could extend to good friends, as
Western Province roommate Peter
Kirsten found out during a club match.
"We knew each other well and he'd
watched me bowl and hit people from
day one," says Le Roux. "He wasn't a
terribly good hooker and he walks in with a cloth cap in
the days of helmets.
"So I bowl him a baby bouncer and he hits me for a
one-bounce four. The next one gets a bit more heated
and I hit him straight on the pip.
"He goes down and has to spend two weeks in a dark
room. Almost kills him. And I felt nothing for him
because he should have known better."
Never mind friends - Le Roux's white-line fever went
further. "At that moment that mist comes over, I don't
care if you put pads on my wife. If she's standing
between me and the woodwork, she either gets out the
way or takes the pain. That's how it works.
"There's got to be fear; all the greatest fast bowlers
have been mean. That's why I'm worried about Morne
Morkel. He's got all this ability, but I want to see him hit
people properly, and then tell them to get up or f***
off. Those batsmen will spread that story so quickly it
will make your head spin."
That approach served Le Roux well. His entire career
was eclipsed by South Africa's isolation, but he made his
mark during a season of World Series Cricket that came
out of the blue.
His reputation at provincial level had travelled to
Australia and the unwitting youngster received a phone
call from Tony Greig in his university digs at
Stellenbosch in 1977. The next season he turned out for
the World XI against players he'd only seen posters of.
"I walked into the Perth hotel and there was this
massive car, swivelling on a disc. And sitting in the
driver's seat was a guy with a hooked nose, a big, shiny
man. It was Viv Richards.
"A sign next to the car said it was for the man of the
series, so I thought: 'Well it must be all done - he must
be the winner.' Guess what? I go and do so well that I
win the car, at the age of 22!"
He would go on to take 372 wickets for Western
Province during the Currie Cup's halcyon period and 59
wickets in 15 "tests" during the rebel tours.
These days Le Roux sells property at Fancourt golf
estate in George. While the lifestyle is idyllic it hasn't all
been plain sailing - in 2008 he was sentenced to four
years in jail for tax fraud, but had the ruling overturned
on appeal.
"To cut a long story short, it took seven years and two
judges in the high court to prove it wasn't fraud, and
not only was it not fraud, but (the money) wasn't
taxable.
"It wasn't a very good time as you can imagine, but it's
spilt milk and I don't want to whine about it."
