An international match at Kingsmead means everything to Linda Zondi, the Durban-born national convener of South Africa's cricket selectors.
KwaZulu-Natal's 96-year-old ground has not hosted a cricket test match this summer, but that duck will be broken when South Africa and Australia get down to business on Thursday in the first of four tests. And Zondi will be watching closely.
During his cricket career, Zondi did not get a chance to display his wicket-keeping skills in his home-town stadium. He was a member of the South African under-19 team in 1995, a side that also contained future international players Neil McKenzie, Mark Boucher, Ashwell Prince and Makhaya Ntini. Zondi played only three first-class matches for the Dolphins before retiring in 1999.
"I don't think we had the opportunities. You'd perform so well and you'd still not get a crack. You knew that if you didn't bat well or keep well, you wouldn't get the opportunity. Something that's very important to me is to identify and give opportunities. The coaches at the time were looking at our skin and not our talent. I think they weren't trusting us and, at the time, it was difficult to penetrate the system.
"You were competing against guys who were given better chances than you, especially in the KwaZulu-Natal region. Makhaya Ntini was lucky because he was in the Eastern Cape. I always believe he had the skill, but was lucky that the structures in that part of the world were better for him to penetrate."
Zondi says his mother, Agnes, was a great comfort to him when he gave up on his playing dream.
"I remember sitting on the couch crying because I did not get to play an international at Kingsmead. My mom, who never watched me play because of a lack of transport, said maybe I could help people to play for this team to make up for my personal disappointments. I didn't know that would turn out to be a prophecy," he said.
"I think what made me cry at the time was that I really thought I had the skills to contribute at national level, but back then we did not have the kind of people in the hierarchy who were pushing for us, trying to create room for us. It was a case of crying for lack of talent, lack of opportunity and about the fact that other guys in the under-19 squad were kicking on. It was too much to take in.
"Being in this position [selection convener] brings back those memories but I am constantly grateful to be able to contribute in this manner."Zondi's mother did not live to see her son progress through the selection, coaching and scouting ranks for Cricket South Africa and the KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union. She died in 2001, a year after her last-born (out of four daughters and two sons) had begun to chart his administrative path.
Agnes would have rejoiced at how her son, now a 41-year-old father, found fulfilment in the role she foresaw.
Linda Eugene Zondi was born in Durban on April 24 1976. The cricket bug bit him when he was 11 and attending Phakama Primary School.
From mini-cricket he sharpened his skills to a point of becoming a junior provincial player when he was at Nqabakazulu High School in KwaMashu. Zondi was offered a sports bursary to Glenwood Boys High, where he later became director of cricket.
After retiring as a player, his career break came in 2007 when his role as a Dolphins selector led to him becoming a selector for the South African under-19 team. From there he graduated to the senior national selection panel in 2013.
The year 2014 was a shining one for Zondi. The junior team he helped select, captained by Aiden Markram, won the under-19 World Cup, beating Pakistan by six wickets in the final in the United Arab Emirates.
Markram and two of his teammates, Kagiso Rabada and Andile Phehlukwayo, have since taken on the Proteas mantle. So has another of Zondi's young stars, Lungi Ngidi, who this year made his test debut against India.
In 2015 Zondi replaced former Proteas opening batsman Andrew Hudson as national convener of selectors. His appointment was not without its detractors, some of whom thought he lacked the necessary experience.Hudson's five-year tenure had not been easy, with his last months overshadowed by the controversial decision to play Vernon Philander ahead of Kyle Abbott in the 2015 World Cup semifinal. Zondi stepped up into the troubled space.
"I got a lot of flak when I was appointed as convener," he says. "People were saying it was about the colour of my skin and not my abilities. I didn't play for the Proteas. That was a problem and still remains a problem."
Despite an initial run of disappointing performances by South African teams coupled with injuries, Zondi gained the trust of the cricket world with three straight test series victories (against New Zealand, Australia and Sri Lanka).
He has since earned much praise for the new talent he has helped uncover while sticking to his guns that players must be picked strictly on merit.
Zondi has no problem talking about the dreaded "T-word" - transformation - and makes no apologies for his uncompromising stance on the balancing act between performance and the need to transform the game.
"There's a thin line between transformation and entitlement," he says. "When you increase the pool of players, that issue disappears. When you don't, then some players feel that they are entitled to certain positions and that is something I don't entertain. I don't judge a player on the colour of his skin. I need to judge a player based on his ability."
Transformation is not just about the selection of players at national level, he says. It goes much deeper and needs to address wider issues.
"I am not going to be apologetic when it comes to transformation," he says, "because when you understand the concept's clear mandate, it goes beyond getting a person into the starting XI. It's about making sure there are opportunities on and off the field and changing lives.
"Transformation is squarely based on the fairness of opportunities. Because I've played the game and have selected and coached throughout different age-group structures, I know the level. I back myself in terms of being in a position to identify guys who have the right skill and who can dominate at the highest level."
Apart from his position as head of selectors, Zondi's day job is as office manager in the KwaZulu-Natal department of health under the MEC, Dr Sibongiseni Dhlomo. Being a civil servant has informed his selection and life approach, he says. There are parallels, particularly in the importance of opportunities and backing...