Workhorse Morne mother figure for Proteas, Faf says
MORNE Morkel is 1.96m tall. He wears size 13 boots. His Adam’s apple sticks out like a ramp model’s hip bones.
He is no one’s idea of a mom. Or‚ as it turns out‚ not quite no one.
“There’s been a lot of good stuff said over the last while about Morne but Morne was almost‚ for the first six‚ seven or eight years of his career‚ the guy who went unnoticed‚” Faf du Plessis said at Newlands on Sunday.
“He was the workhorse. He got his two or three-fors and I think only captains really appreciate the work Morne does.
“He is not the guy who gets five-fors. Dale Steyn‚ Kagiso Rabada of late‚ they get the five-fors on regular occasions. “Morne does the donkey work.” But‚ on Sunday‚ it was Morkel’s turn to shine.
He ripped through Australia’s second innings‚ taking 5/23 and claiming all his scalps in the space of 33 of his deliveries in which he conceded only 14 runs.
It was Morkel’s eighth five-wicket haul in his 85th test‚ and his match figures of 9/110 are the best of his career and helped South Africa beat Australia by 322 with a day to spare in the third test to take a 2-1 series lead.
Morkel’s career will soon end: he is set to retire after the fourth test at the Wanderers‚ which starts on Friday. “He works hard‚” Du Plessis said. “He never says: ‘I’ve bowled enough’. You tell him it’s enough and then still he wants to bowl more. That’s a captain’s dream. “As a performer‚ he is going to be missed. “He has been a mother figure in the team‚ with a big heart. We are going to miss that.
“It’s size 13 boots that need to be filled. Those are big shoes.
“But we understand his decision. It’s a decision for his future and his family.”