Klusener opts for nets instead of quotes

Lance Klusener headed for the nets and left reporters waiting in vain for quotes on his return to form with 108 for South Africa in the first test against India on Monday.

Called to explain why Klusener was not available for comment after an innings which confirmed he had ended his wretched run with the bat, team manager Goolam Raja said the all-rounder had opted instead for extra practice.

"He (Klusener) hasn't refused (to talk to the media) outright," Raja said. "What he said to me is that he wants to hit balls and he's gone into the nets with Fordy (South African coach, Graham Ford).

"I know it's being unfair on you guys to say 'wait until they've finished the nets', I don't think that's ideal. But cricket is his core business and he feels he wants to go and have throw downs. It's very difficult for me as manager to say that he must go and do the interview first."

Klusener passed up the opportunity to talk about his innings on a day when there were well under a thousand spectators in Goodyear Park, indicating the problem test cricket can have in attracting support.

Although there is no specific clause in the South African players' contracts that demands they make themselves available for interviews, Raja appeared to admit that Klusener had failed to fulfil his obligations.

"Absolutely, you're talking to the converted," Raja said when asked if it was part of a player's responsibility to help market the game.

"But when a request is made by a player who wants to go and practice, it's very difficult for me to tell him that his priority should be marketing."

Raja said the time had come for the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA) to include a clause in players' contracts. "This is a matter that I have to take up with the UCB, not only because of today but because the contract is too loose on this issue," he said.

Klusener has a long history of avoiding meeting with the press, even failing to appear for a media conference following his career best 174 against England in Port Elizabeth in the 1999/2000 test series.

He was not the only player who failed to attend a news conference on Monday.

Paceman Javagal Srinath, who became the only the fifth Indian to claim 200 test wickets when he dismissed Shaun Pollock in the morning session and finished with five for 140, spoke only briefly to television before going into the dressing room.

Mail Cricket Editor