Cape Town Blitz fast bowler Dale Steyn returns for another edition of the Mzansi Super League (MSL 2.0), and will once again link up with last season’s breakthrough fast bowler, Anrich Nortje, as well as Pakistan international Wahab Riaz.
During the Cape Town leg of the Mzansi Super League trophy tour today, Steyn shared his love for fast bowling and his excitement at the line-up coach Ashwell Prince has put together.
“I have played against Wahab [Riaz] a few times and have never played in the same team as him, he is a fantastic player. I love left-arm seamers, I love fast bowlers, they get me excited,” Steyn said.
“Anna [Anrich Nortje] bowled very rapidly last year and I think it set the tone for how I wanted to play the tournament because you want to outdo your teammate in some sense. If you have all these quicks in one team, can you imagine that the one guy is trying to bowl 140, the next is trying to bowl 145, the other guy is trying to bowl 150 – It’s a good thing for the team,” he added.
Cape Town Blitz finished runners-up to the Jozi Stars in last years’ inaugural competition and Steyn is hopeful of going one better this time around.
“It would be amazing if we could replicate what we did last year – make the final and hopefully win it this time around. To have a successful tournament is to find players whom you can bond with and be in a team that can gel the quickest,” he stated.
“On paper, I don’t think we were the best team last year but together as a unit, I felt we played our best cricket and that’s why we made the final. So if we can establish ourselves quickly in the tournament and gel as a unit, we have all the makings of being able to make that final again. If we win it, fantastic but to have a good tournament, to enjoy it and give players opportunities [is important]. Guys like Anna [Nortje] went on to represent South Africa and this [tournament] is a stepping stone for that to happen,” he said.
Steyn, who retired from Test cricket, has been hard at work getting himself ready for South Africa’s premier T20 competition and is relishing the chance to once again showcase what he can do to the entire country.
“It’s great to play in your home country. I played a lot of cricket for South Africa and we didn’t get a lot of chances to play around the local grounds as often as we would like. But this time we get to play a lot of cricket in the country and I love it,” he stated.
“For a solid month, you know the whole country gets to experience and enjoy international cricketers playing cricket in a ‘domestic’ format. I just loved that, I felt like there wasn’t as much pressure as international cricket, although the standard of cricket is extremely high. I just had a lot of fun and I think the management – Ashwell Prince, Faiek Davids, and Paul Adams – made it a lot of fun and even the players we had. We had such a good time and it showed on the field,” he said.
Get the latest updates and News follow us on our social media channels
FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM
