‘Oom Ray’ Remembers it well

As a mark of deep respect, Mali is known throughout the Border and indeed South Africa as “Oom Ray”, particularly in cricket circles.

He simply loves the game and during his lengthy career as an administrator, he served as chairman of Border Cricket, Cricket SA and the International Cricket Council (ICC). He was also an interim chairman of Athletics SA.

Mali lost both his parents at the age of nine, and was raised thereafter by his late uncle Aaron Mali, with aunt Esmay, much-loved family members, who brought him up as their own.

“If anyone inspired me, it was my uncle Aaron,” Mali says.

At a young age both rugby and cricket, the two main sports of the 1950s, began to play a huge role in Mali’s life.

At rugby, he represented Port Elizabeth club, Oriental, and later skippered Lovedale as a robust eighthman, eventually gaining colours for Border in 1959 and ’60.

However, a shoulder injury put an early end to his rugby career.

He was a top club cricketer, an all-rounder, usually batting at number five or six.

He recalls that uncle Aaron would encourage him just before going out to bat.

“Gilyilitye!, Ray,” (swallow a stone!), Aaron would yell. And young Ray would look for a small stone, swallow it for strength, then march forth to the pitch.

“Just like a hen scratches in the dirt and swallows a small stone,” Mali said.

Educated at Lovedale College, Mali, after leaving school, became a teacher, and then later he worked at the Ciskei People’s Development Bank as the general manager business development and housing loans, when he was approached by an ill Lennox Sebe to head a “Committee of Four” and later act as chairman of the Public Services Commission for three years. He was also appointed as the minister of Internal Affairs in 1981 for the new country but because his wife was in poor health he served for only about four months.

When world rankings for Test and One-Day International (ODI) cricket were introduced early this century, this scribe, in an interview with Mali, asked him whether he thought South Africa would ever achieve number one status in either or both.

Mali never hesitated. “Oh, yes, definitely, they’ll be number one, in both,” he replied with confidence.

And so it proved to be true. Despite a lengthy 22-year gap from international cricket worldwide, a short period later South Africa, under the inspired leadership of a young Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur, achieved the number one ranking in both Tests and ODIs.

They have in the past few years proved to be among the top three or four in both formats, as well as the newer Twenty20 Internationals.

“You know,” Mali said, “South Africa were the fore-runners in T20 matches.

“I had to go to India to discuss T20 with the Indian Board as they were so reluctant to start it while there were plans for the inaugural World Cup in South Africa in 2007.

“It took a lot of persuading and I told them that without India, the tournament would be a disaster.

“Well, they listened, and as everyone knows, they won the tournament and they have never looked back. A year later the Indian Premier League started and today it is big business!”

Mali produced an exciting story, not too well-known within South African cricket circles.

“Are you aware, Peter, that the decision to appoint Graeme Smith as captain of South Africa was made right here in East London, at Buffalo Park in fact?

“At the time we needed a young captain who could play for South Africa for the next 10-12 years, and Smith was the type of man we needed.

“Yes, he was young, only 22 at the time, but I had seen him bat and he really impressed me. During the World Cup we had one or two of the selectors here for a World Cup match, we linked up by telephone with the others and made the decision.”

Smith went on to captain South Africa in over 100 Test matches before retiring in 2014, setting excellently high standards as skipper of a most successful side.

In May 2007 Mali was thrust into the limelight of world cricket after the sudden death of Percy Sonn, then chairman of the ICC. Mali had been the president of Cricket South Africa since 2003 – the first black person to hold that position.

When the time came to hand over the baton to a new chairman, it was a toss-up between England’s David Morgan and Sharad Pawar of India. Mali then made the suggestion that seeing as England was due to host a World Cup in 2009 and India the 2011 50-over World Cup, and as he had been chairman of the ICC at the South African T20 World Cup, it would be fitting for Morgan to take the chair in 2009 and Pawar in 2011. This suggestion was accepted and Morgan succeeded him.

Mali and his wife, Peggy, have been married for 36 years and the couple have three adult children. He has four children from his first marriage, with two sons now living in the United States.

“Peggy has been a tower of strength for me,” Mali says.

He considers the “434 ODI” between South Africa and Australia at the Wanderers in 2006 as the most exciting game he ever saw, with the home team winning by one wicket in the last over.

“That single of Makhaya Ntini was so important,” he reflected. He said that at the break between innings he mentioned that the game “could go either way”, to roars of laughter from supporters of the Proteas, as well as detractors.

A celebration of the life of Ray Mali has been arranged for this evening at Buffalo Park and well over 200 guests from the political arena, the sportsfields, the media, friends and relatives, have been invited to the black-tie affair.