The weather was a shock but now England is my home

Former Derbyshire and Essex all-rounder

When I was 15 I shook Nelson Mandela’s hand. South Africans shake with two hands, and I can remember his were so big and soft.

My dad, Ian, worked for the South African cricket board. We went to a Test at The Wanderers when he asked me to come to the Long Room and there was Mandela. It was amazing. He was a very nice guy and a calm character, but at that age I was too young to appreciate who I was shaking hands with.

Cricket and tennis were my main sports growing up, I knew from about 15 or 16 I was a decent player and I didn’t want to keep studying.

When I signed my first deal with Griqualand West I could see it was going to be tough – you had to be really special to make the grade. Even now you find a lot of South Africans come over here because the politics at home are a shambles.

I came over to England when I was 21 and played a couple of seasons for Coventry & North Warwickshire in the Birmingham & District Premier League. It was brilliant and I really enjoyed my time in Birmingham. As an overseas player there is a lot of pressure to do everything every week but I thrived on that.

It’s a very different culture over here and the weather was a shock to the system. But I really enjoy living here and I call England home now. I like the way of life and it’s safe – I don’t have to worry about locking my door and someone ransacking my whole house.

However South Africans are more direct and have more of a winning mentality – we don’t accept second place. Second is OK here, it’s more about competing. In South Africa second isn’t enough, and I prefer that.

I had a couple of trials at Derbyshire in 2004 under Dave Houghton and joined the second XI. But it was never my plan to play in England full-time. I wanted to play in South Africa and come over to play club cricket in the winter to taste a different culture.

But a lot of my friends are still in Derby, and I had a great time there over seven years. My favourite memory was my first Twenty20 century against Yorkshire, I think I was the first Derbyshire player to score a hundred in that format.

Eventually, I got into my comfort zone at Derbyshire and I felt I would be the first name on the team sheet regardless of how I played. Then Essex came in with an offer in 2011. They were always at Finals Day and seemed to be on the TV more than Derbyshire. I had aspirations of winning things and making the most of my career.

I met my wife, Debs, at Essex where she was the marketing manager – so it was an important move even if it didn’t quite work out on the field. It was disappointing we didn’t win anything while I was at the club. Reaching the Twenty20 Finals Day at Edgbaston in 2013 was the highlight of my time, but we didn’t do enough.

I left Essex last year and could have waited for a contract offer, but I’d done my level three coaching badge and applied for the Hong Kong director of cricket job. I got offered the job, but at the same time the Penzance director of cricket development and head coach job came up.

My wife and I thought that, in the long term, Penzance was a safer bet. It’s nice to be able to coach guys and change their mentalities – some people in Cornwall would rather go and surf than play cricket.

I have a lot to thank Neil Tregarthen for in bringing me down here. He wants to leave a legacy knowing he’s had a part in bringing through first-class and, maybe, England cricketers of the future.