Buthelezi's first international pitch at Wanderers

Buthelezi's first international pitch at Wanderers

The Wanderers Stadium's first black head groundsman, Bethuel Buthelezi, has prepared his first international pitch for the third Test of England's tour to South Africa, which kicked off on Thursday.

Bethuel Buthelezi_getty
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Buthelezi took over the top job in November 2016 from Chris Scott after a long apprenticeship that included cleaning swimming pools and tennis courts.


According to reports, the 51 year-old Buthelezi was appointed in 1984 at the Wanderes Club before moving over to the ground staff in 1994, where he acted as Scott's assistant.


Buthelezi is only the second black South African to prepare a Test pitch after Wilson Ngobese, the groundsman at Kingsmead in Durban, according to the Daily Mail.


The Proteas have to win the Test to square the Series and take it into a deciding test at SuperSport Park the following week.


This is also the first Test captaincy for AB de Villiers after Hashim Amla quit earlier in January. De Villiers said his captaincy style is very competitive.


"“There will be a big focus on winning, lots of energy and I like to lead by example. It makes my job a lot easier when I go out there and do things the way that I want the team to follow. I will try and lead by example; score the runs, throw my body around the field and do the hard yards, I then believe that the team will follow.”



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(File photo: Getty Images)


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