Gibson tells Frylinck to fight for a spot
SA coach Ottis Gibson has asked veteran Dolphins allrounder Robbie Frylinck to use November’s Cricket SA T20 Challenge to fight for a place in the Proteas side.
SA coach Ottis Gibson has asked veteran Dolphins all-rounder Robbie Frylinck to use November’s Cricket SA T20 Challenge to fight for a place in the Proteas side for the limited-overs series against India in January.
Gibson said he hoped his decision to hand a debut to Frylinck at the age of 33 would serve as a message to all the high-performance cricketers in the country.
The coach said form would be rewarded regardless of age and players should use the Challenge to impress the selectors.
“Robbie Frylinck made his debut in the T20s at the age of 33 — there is a message in that to every young or high-performing cricketer in the country‚” said Gibson. “When I asked around the country everybody said he is one of the best.”
Gibson‚ who will double-up as bowling coach during his two-year term at the helm‚ said he had hoped to see what an experienced player like Frylinck would bring to the team.
“People will say he is 33 but the youngsters who have come in do not have that experience.
“You want to have a look at young guys but you also want to see what the experienced guys can bring to the table.
“He did well over the two T20 games in Bloemfontein and Potchefstroom. The ball is now in his court to go back to his franchise and do the other stuff around international cricket and make sure there are more opportunities available to him.”
Promising batsman Aiden Markram and all-rounder Wiaan Mulder‚ who made their debuts against Bangladesh‚ were also challenged by Gibson to continue working hard on their game to boost their chances of returning to the national team against India and Australia in 2018.
“Aiden Markram is a real talent and he has started his inter- national career very well. We know that in the game of cricket there will be ups and downs, but he carries himself very well.
“He has gone back to his franchise and hopefully he will score more runs and carry on that form for the rest of the summer‚” he said.
“Young Wiaan Mulder‚ I saw him playing for his franchise and the selectors told me he was in the system and he went to the under-19 World Cup.
“It was a good opportunity to give him a run in the ODI [oneday international] series so he could have a feel of what international cricket is all about,” Gibson said.