Rory’s time to shine
SA fast bowler rebounded well from nightmare debut at the Gabba
THERE are not many bowlers who have survived a horror Test debut like the one Rory Kleinveldt experienced in Brisbane last year. Kleinveldt conceded 97 in 21 wicketless overs, which included 12 no-balls, and gave the impression that Test cricket’s lights were simply a little bit too bright.
It was a harrowing experience for the 28-year-old fast-medium bowler from Cape Town.
Proteas fans, who were unaware of Kleinveldt’s good domestic record over the past 12 months that earned him his Test place, hurled abuse on the social networks. They had made up their minds that Kleinveldt should join the list of “one-Test wonders” like Imran Khan, Mark Rushmere, Adrian Kuiper and the late Tertius Bosch.
But Mother Cricket does have a heart, and aligned the stars for Kleinveldt to have another crack at the highest level, and the burly seamer redeemed himself with a good showing in Adelaide the following week.
The performance, especially in the second innings when he claimed three Australian wickets, not only showed that he could actually bowl, but that he possessed the mental fortitude to be successful at the highest level.
“It was a very tough learning curve for me playing on flat pitches against good opposition. It was a massive step up from first-class cricket. So I’ve learnt a lot from that and hopefully I can use that in the future,” he said yesterday at St George’s Park.
Kleinveldt hasn’t played a Test since his Adelaide rebirth, and is only back in the whites against New Zealand this weekend because he is again deputising for the injured Vernon Philander.
But those who have travelled the long road with Kleinveldt would always have known though that all “the Big Show” needed was time to settle in his new environment. The results are already evident in the shortest form of the game, where Kleinveldt also endured a nightmare debut – he has come a long way since conceding 20 runs in his only over against Bangladesh in 2008 to now forming an integral part of the national T20 side.
Besides being amongst the wickets, he showed good discipline throughout the series, with his Gabba no-ball problem disappearing altogether. According to Kleinveldt, this was by no means a fluke, but achieved instead through sweating it out with former Proteas bowling coach Vinnie Barnes.
“I’ve done a lot of work on my runup since Adelaide. I sort of extended my run-up a bit. Allan Donald (current Proteas bowling coach) has helped me a lot and I’ve done some work with Vinnie Barnes and Paul Adams (Cobras coach) in Cape Town.
“The three T20 games and the domestic games went pretty well and I didn’t bowl a no-ball there, so hopefully I’m onto something good,” a visibly excited Kleinveldt said.
It has been a rough introduction to Test cricket for Kleinveldt. And stepping into the big shoes of Philander doesn’t make it any easier.
However, Kleinveldt knows that he has experienced the worst days of his career – not only on the field – and has survived. It takes courage to plead guilty to smoking cannabis, like Kleinveldt did last year, and such accountability and personal responsibility will only stand in him good stead going ahead.
The Black Caps may think their arch-nemesis Philander is out of the way, but everybody knows there is nothing more dangerous that a man who has been given a second chance at life.