[imagesource: Mandar Deshpande]
Former Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis’ autobiography, Faf: Through Fire, was released last week and immediately attracted attention for a number of reasons.
Du Plessis outlined how he felt he was mistreated by the likes of Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith towards the end of his career, admitted he had erred when he said the Proteas “don’t see colour”, and explicitly called out Daryll Cullinan for being a massive doos.
Recounting a story from his rookie season as a Titans player, du Plessis says he was on the receiving end of an abusive verbal barrage from the middle-order batter.
Cullinan, a schoolboy prodigy who has turned to commentary and analysis post-retirement, has told Sport24 that he very much disputes du Plessis’ version of events:
[He] confirmed that there was an incident between him and Du Plessis, but said there wasn’t an interruption of coach Dave Nosworthy speaking, nor of him swearing at Du Plessis.
“There was an incident, yes. I spoke to five people this week, one of whom spoke to another three who were part of that meeting,” Cullinan said.
“There was no memory of me interrupting the coach, swearing at Faf, or asking him to take his kit and sit in the bath!”
Pointing out that the incident in question happened 18 years ago, Cullinan questioned how du Plessis could so perfectly recall the conversation and claimed that nobody he spoke with backed up the claims in the autobiography.
He went on to label claims that he sent du Plessis to sit in the bath as “ludicrous” and finished with, “But as they say, don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.”
We break briefly to enjoy that epic debut hundred down under by a player who has eked out every last drop of success from the talent he was given:
Back to Cullinan, whose claims would be easier to believe if he hadn’t long been called out, especially behind closed doors, for his attitude by former teammates.
Unsurprisingly, Herschelle Gibbs had no qualms about going public and wrote in his autobiography that it was Cullinan who ratted his teammates out for smoking marijuana during the 2001 tour to the Caribbean, which Cullinan also denies.
During various interviews since the furore around his Cullinan comments, du Plessis has stated that he mentioned the incident to illustrate how his approach to leadership was shaped by his experiences as a young cricketer
Cullinan said seniority was always part and parcel of cricketing dressing and that junior players always had to have reverence towards senior players.
“I am old school. From my very first day as a 15-year-old arriving at my first game for Border, dressed in my school uniform, I asked captain Rodney Ontong where I should sit,” Cullinan said.
The 55-year-old said he was merely making it clear to the rookie that he should stand and allow more senior players to sit, adding he didn’t regret the exchange because it was “a lesson that needed to be taught”.
Thankfully, times have changed and by all accounts, changerooms are far more welcoming to young talent these days than they were when Cullinan was being torn a new one by Shane Warne.
[source:sport24]
