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This Day in Alternate History Blog
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"Invictus", a movie variant by Steve Payne
In 2009, the odd-ball movie
Invictus (Latin: Invincible) premiered in theatres across North America.
I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.
Alongside Cronje is the trusted figure of Bob Woolmer (pictured with Cronje, below). A famous English batsman from the nineteen seventies, he was appointed coach of South Africa in 1994. Initially his team performed poorly, losing all six matches on his first outing in Pakistan. However, in the next five years, South Africa won most of their Test (10 out of 15 series) and One Day International matches (73%). Having the highest ODI success rate among international teams in that period, an overconfident Woolmer assures Mandela that a South African victory is more than possible. Acting on this poor advice, Mandela appeals to Cronje to win the world cup for all forty-three million South Africans. Appointed national captain aged just twenty-four, Cronje is by now a thirty-year old sporting legend. Universally adored in South Africa, he is respected overseas as a world-class batsmen that strikes fear into the opposition. But unbeknown to the President, the national cricket team is gripped by a match-fixing scandal, organised by none other than Cronje himself. ![]() The final scene of the movie is heavy with symbolism because Cronje's plane crashes into the Outeniqua mountains northeast of George airport, and the disgraced captain dies, aged just thirty-two.
Steve Payne Editor of Today in Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History That Never Occurred Today. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting fictional blog.
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