In a summer of cricket that produced many exciting new discoveries, the one with perhaps the most long-term potential is that of fast bowler Lungi Ngidi, who has overcome tough times to take his place in the country’s Test side.
Ngidi is potentially the long-term successor to Morne Morkel, who announced his retirement from the international game in February, and is likely to form a fearsome attacking duo with Kagiso Rabada in the coming years – both are able to clock speeds of 150 kilometers per hour.
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The 22-year-old is part of a new wave of black cricketers earning their stripes in South Africa’s national side, with the sport finally able tap into a segment of the population that had been excluded from the game for so long.
Aside from Rabada and Ngidi, Temba Bavuma and Andile Phehlukwayo have played Test cricket in the last year, while Khayelihle Zondo recently made his debut in the One Day International format, and Junior Dala and Aaron Phangiso played as well in the Twenty20 games against India in February.
It is a radical change from the days when Makhaya Ntini furrowed almost a lone career as South Africa’s only international black cricketer, joined ever so briefly in the national team by the likes of Monde Zondeki, Mfuneko Ngam and Thami Tsolekile.
Much needed transformation within the sport has had some role to play, but few would argue that all the recent recruits to the national side have not deserved their elevation and most grabbed the opportunity with both hands.
Ngidi, perhaps more than anyone, took advantage after he became an injury replacement for Dale Steyn in the second Test against India in Pretoria in January.
On a wicket more suited to spin bowling, he returned excellent match figures of 7/90, including the prized wicket of the best batsman in the world, Virat Kohli, with a vicious in-swinger that trapped the Indian captain leg before wicket.
It was not Ngidi’s first appearance in the national team; his promise was spotted 12 months earlier when he was selected for three Twenty20 clashes against touring Sri Lanka.
And he excelled there too, taking 4/19 in second match as the bounce extracted from his tall frame and good pace left the visitors hopping around the crease.
But a back injury immediately after that kept him out of the game for six months, and took him from an incredible high to a desperate low.
It was during that time that he struggled to keep his fitness levels at the required level, leading to some tough words at his franchise team, the Pretoria-based Titans.
“It was very difficult but it was worth it in the long run and a lot of credit must also go to the trainer and physiotherapist at the Titans for the work they did with me,” Ngidi told reporters.
“And the coach [Mark Boucher] as well – we had some hard but honest chats behind closed doors and that also helped me much in the long run.
“That was probably one of the biggest challenges of my career… coming from a high to a low in a short space of time. Being selected to play for South Africa and then getting injured, it was tough.”
&#8220;I thought I was doing all the right things but it was not going my way. During my time away from the game I got a lot of time to reflect and now I realize that I am actually stronger than I thought.”
Ngidi has his roots in Durban – his mother Bongi was a domestic worker and his father Jerome a caretaker at a local school. His life changed when he was selected for a scholarship to the prestigious Hilton College, a school known for producing international sportsmen in all codes.
“From a young age he was a natural talent, not just a cricketer, but a very talented rugby player and a swimmer,” Hilton College Executive House Master Sean Carlisle told FORBES AFRICA.
Aside from Carlisle, Ngidi was also under the tutelage of former Zimbabwe international all-rounder Neil Johnson, who had many years as a top professional.
“There was obviously lots of raw potential there at school level. He was probably a bit frustrated then as at school he suffered a lot of injuries, but the natural ability and the massive potential was clear for everybody to see,” says Carlisle.
“What was evident too is that he stood up in pressure situations. When things were tight in match situations, he came to the fore and that gave you an indication that he could handle bigger pressures later in life.”
Carlisle believes that it is Ngidi’s calm and grounded personality that will see him successful. He is not prone to flights of fancy or the belief that he does not have to work hard to achieve his goals.
“That is probably one of his greatest assets, that he is humble and down to earth. Right from the start, he was very grounded and really was one of those all-round, well-mannered and well-groomed guys. You could say he was, and is, a real good guy.”
Carlisle is rightly proud of his former pupil, even if he himself admits he is a little bit surprised at how well Ngidi has taken to international cricket.
“We have been following him and seeing how well he has done at Tuks [the University of Pretoria], and then in the Twenty20s. But to be honest, all of us are slightly taken aback at how quickly and how well he took to Test cricket.
“He is just an incredibly rounded, humble man and we could not be prouder. The cricket side is fantastic, but for me it is the human element that will make him special.”
With Morkel out the picture and the future of Steyn in serious doubt, Ngidi has the opportunity to lead South Africa’s pace attack with Rabada for the next decade or more if he can stay fit.
“I’m so proud of him, he’s already a role model for millions of South Africans,” Ngidi said of Rabada, just a year his senior. “I’d love to emulate his achievements one day but, for now, I’m just happy to be chasing him.”
&#8211; By Nick Said

CRICKET-RSA-AUS

The Speedster That Bounced Back

It was a night to remember for Kagiso Rabada on a chilly July evening as Cricket South Africa handed out their annual awards. Not only did Rabada claim a virtual a clean sweep of all the individual accolades, taking a record six awards, he became the youngest cricketer to be named the best in the country.
Less than 12 months earlier he was still on the brink of a dramatic introduction to international cricket, a virtual unknown with plenty of promise but untested at senior level. His rise to stardom has been impressive as the 21-year-old from Johannesburg is now firmly fixed as the next hope for the game in South Africa.
His first international summer saw him bowl the second best figures by a South African in test cricket, claiming 13 for 144 against England at Centurion in the last test of a disappointing series for the Proteas.
His One Day International (ODI) debut delivered a return of 6-61 against Bangladesh, including a sensational hat-trick in a dream start.
If what he produced in his first year with the national sides is anything to go by, South Africa can only savour what lies ahead.
It is not just his raw pace that has batsmen hopping around the crease, but his skill with the ball. He can swing it both ways and also has an unerringly accurate yorker that has already got him a lot of wickets.
As the test team now heads to Australia for a thorough examination of their credentials and then host the mercurial Sri Lankans over the holiday period, so the scrutiny on Rabada will become much more marked.
The trip to Australia will be particularly taxing as the game is played as much in the mind as on the pitch Down Under and how he handles the verbal pressure from the home team and the local media will be intriguing.
He is on the cusp of taking over from Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander as the country’s leading bowler, having already led the attack when the pair were absent through injury against India late last year and England at the start of the new year, and then playing a complimentary role as first change to them as South Africa swept aside New Zealand in their brief series in August.
<div id="attachment_5435" style="width: 236px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-5435" class="size-medium wp-image-5435" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/GettyImages-508738696-226x300.jpg" alt="" width="226" height="300" />PORT ELIZABETH, SOUTH AFRICA &#8211; FEBRUARY 06: Kagiso Rabada of South Africa bowls during the 2nd Momentum ODI between South Africa and England at St George&#8217;s Park on February 6, 2016 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)</div>
“A diamond,” says his first coach Ray Jennings, who brought him through the development ranks with a “don’t pull any punches” approach that many youngsters would have bristled at but Rabada seemed to revel in.
“He was always going to be something special but it took a lot of work,” Jennings says in his brusque manner. “The thing about Kagiso was he was prepared to learn and work.”
So much so, says Jennings, that Rabada’s appetite for specialist knowledge has become more and more intense the more he has succeeded.
“During the England series, he kept seeking me out to say we must have dinner, he really wants to speak to me. He is the kind of guy who wants to extract as much information as he can, to analyse what is going wrong and what is going right. I didn’t want to be seen to be interfering so I kept telling him I was busy, but he kept persisting. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
Rabada went to play briefly for Kent in county cricket in mid-year rather than the much more lucrative Indian Premier League because of the lessons the English wickets could offer his bowling.
Rabada’s performances mark him out as already a roaring cricketing success but his profile makes him much more than just a successful test and limited overs player. Along with batsman Temba Bavuma, he represents the future pool of talent for South African cricket as the transformation speeds up the process that makes the national teams better reflect the population make-up.
Unlike Makhaya Ntini, who was pulled from rural obscurity, Rabada is the product of the emerging middle class. His father, Mpho, is a doctor and sent his son to St Stithians College, an exclusive private school in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs.
“His first love was soccer,” jokes his father, who admits being amazed with the steady progression of achievements Rabada has made since emerging as the star of the South African team at the under-19 World Cup two years ago.
That his son is now a poster boy for the future of the game has not gone unnoticed in the Rabada household. “He does realize what his achievements do to inspire people, although his top aim really is to play as best he can.”
For Rabada himself, the last 12 months have whistled past almost like a dream.
“Ever since I was young I wanted to play for the Proteas, and it is amazing to be playing with the guys who were my heroes as a kid. It’s so cool to be with them. I’m just being myself. I don’t want to be like anybody else,” he said in one of the early press conferences on tour when he was put up to be interviewed by the assembled media.
This is usually a daunting prospect for players but every time he has done it since, Rabada has reflected a genuine enthusiasm and a level-headedness than tempers the heighted attention he has been subjected to.
“One matures quickly on tours because you spend a lot of time alone in a foreign environment and have an opportunity to find yourself. Of course I’m learning from guys like Dale Steyn but mostly I’m just being me,” he added. “I love this job and I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”
For captain AB de Villiers, Rabada is the real deal.
“He’s shown the maturity of a guy with 100 test matches and the pace of one who’s played in just one or two. It’s difficult to find all the right compliments but he has impressed us all. He is the future.”
That future is bright.

Tag: Bowler

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