Nortje: Tough route to fast track
The South Africa fast bowler retraces the injury-strewn path he travelled and how he still didn’t look to go abroad
KOLKATA: Anrich Nortje had been prepped for this out-of-turn promotion. The third Test against England with the series tied 1-1, South Africa needed a miracle after being pummeled for 499 runs.
Two wickets down, they sent Nortje out with the clear instruction to hold one end. Nortje did better. He batted almost an entire day. By the time Joe Root caught his dipping edge at first slip, Nortje had batted for 191 minutes and faced 136 balls, more than South Africa’s top three combined, and had scored 18. Runs weren’t of as much value as the time Nortje spent at the crease. It was a chance to make the most of the promotion.
“You don’t get too much time as a lower order (batter) to bat a lot in training. So, for me to bat so long was quite special… trying to face one ball at a time,” says Nortje about the tough 2020 Test in a video interaction from Dubai.
This tenacity made South Africa bowling coach Charl Langevedlt describe Nortje as a “proper Dutchman”, a term that sums up his uncompromising attitude.
It is almost a way of life for Nortje, hailing from a middleclass family in the tough Uitenhage, a small industrial town around 35 km from Port Elizabeth that houses Africa’s largest Volkswagen factory. Mornantau ‘Nantie’ Hayward, the tearaway fast bowler, is also from there. So, it’s not surprising that Nortje wanted to be a fast bowler.
Bowling to brother
“We played a bit of rugby as well but I had a little more going for me in cricket,” says the 27-yearold. Like many cricketers, his story too started in his backyard, bowling for hours to elder brother Anton.
“Every summer we used to play backyard cricket. I think that’s where the love for the
sport started,” says Nortje. “I always had to bowl. My brother was always batting. Maybe if it was the other way round, I would have been a batter.”
School cricket is big in South Africa. And Brandwag High, a fairly prominent school, played its part in fostering Nortje’s interest. “Once I made the provincial teams, I took it a little more seriously. Training started getting specific from under-16, just when I got to high school. We were quite a good cricket team but not known as the biggest cricket school in the area,” he says.
Nortje can be called a late bloomer, making his first-class debut at 20 against Namibia for Eastern Province while playing for Nelson Mandela University. He showed his ability to take wickets but it wasn’t until the 2018 Mzansi Super League,
South Africa’s franchise T20 competition where he really impressed with eight wickets in three matches for Cape Town Blitz.
“I was very close to getting an opportunity in the (Proteas) squad,” says Nortje. But he suffered an ankle injury. “It was supposed to be a quick recovery but then they said it’s going to be a little longer… Even after I got back I had to get used to believing in my body again.”
Injury has always shadowed Nortje. There was a collarbone injury at 17. The first few years of first-class cricket too were tough on his body.
So while he worked on fitness, Nortje readied a backup—post graduation in financial planning. He also took help from Eastern Province coach Piet Botha and Drikus Saaiman, strength and conditioning coach at the Warriors
franchise, to understand the load his body could bear.
World Cup setback
There was a shoulder injury forcing him to withdraw from the 2019 IPL, where he was set to play for Kolkata Knight Riders; and a thumb fracture in training before the Proteas left for the 2019 World Cup in England.
“When I broke my thumb before the World Cup I could do nothing. After the shoulder injury, I had to slowly rebuild. When I got back I was a little more mature, I got to understand my game a bit more. I just grew into a position. Maybe things wouldn’t have worked out as it did if I played all that time.”
That September, Nortje was named again in the South Africa squad, for a T20I and Test series in India. Debut Test in Pune, Nortje conceded 100 runs in 25
overs.
“It was tough in the Tests, I’m not going to lie. Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane), Rohit (Sharma) were really playing well. Things didn’t go according to plan but it was a good experience. I had travelled India twice before that with ‘A’ sides but this was a massive change.”
Many careers nosedive after a sobering debut like that. But Nortje came back stronger, to bowl quicker, straighter lines that targeted the stumps aggressively. And when he bowled that 97 mph (156.22 kph) ripper to Jos Buttler in Dubai last year, the world knew he meant business.
How does he do it, especially on docile pitches? “It hasn’t happened overnight. The body is getting stronger even though it might not look that way. Everyone thinks fast bowlers must be bulky and big but the programmes I have been doing are helping me.”
A changed bowling action that helps approach the crease slower and release the ball from a higher position helped as well. “My first (international) tour was 2018 in India with the A team. Later that year was Mzansi. That is when the action got a bit stronger. It helped me to go from touching 140 to touching 150. There isn’t much I think when I go in to bowl. It just happens, you get in the momentum.”
It isn’t just the pace that makes Nortje a prized bowler. He seeks advice and information on the pitch from the batters to plan. Then there is a quiver full of variations.
“Slower balls are my go-to if the pitch is very flat. And if he (batter) is hitting everything, probably the yorker.” He has mastered taking pace off the ball, case in point being the 108 kph delivery against Mumbai Indians on a slow Sharjah pitch. Having missed the first half of IPL due to a false positive Covid-19 test and team combination issues, Nortje is more than making up, stitching together enviable figures of 2/12, 2/18, 1/15 and 1/19.
He has also bowled 50 dots, averaging more than 12 per match. That is more than what tournament leader Mohammad Shami (117 dots in 12 matches) averages.
More than teammates
Playing IPL for Delhi Capitals has really helped Nortje bond with Kagiso Rabada. Rarely do the opening bowlers of a country bowl for the same franchise, so this has been a bonus to build on the rapport.
“It’s starting to look like a proper relationship,” Nortje chuckles. “I came here not knowing any of the boys so it was really nice to have him with me, especially when we do bowling chats or when we just talk about the game or do a review. Also the communication on how to go about the game has also improved. We know what we can say, what maybe clicks for the other guy or what the thinking is. So there has been a lot of understanding that has been growing.”
Without a major ICC trophy since 1998, South Africa would be hoping this robust relationship delivers a title. The cricket board is a financial wreck, losing key sponsors while the team gets used to life without the likes of AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Imran Tahir.
Though Kolpak cricket is a thing of the past after Brexit, South Africa has still witnessed many—devon Conway, Neil Wagner and a few others—head abroad. Some complained they didn’t get enough chances. Some wanted more security. Nortje chose to learn from the stumbles and wait.
“It was more about the frustration of getting injured when things started to happen. It wasn’t about going away at that stage. It was frustrating obviously, not being able to get into the system. It also might have helped me just grow a bit better as well.”