Piedt considered signing a Kolpak deal
FIVE months ago Dane Piedt’s world had come crashing down. The off-spinner was left out of the Proteas squad to tour Australia – a series Piedt had publically dubbed “the World Cup of tours” – for a Test cricketer.
In addition to dealing with the personal disappointment of being dropped from the national team, Piedt was at the centre of a crisis unravelling at his franchise the Cape Cobras.
There seemed to be no escape for a player, who only a few months ago had completed one of the most remarkable comebacks from injury. The gloom was starting to reflect in his performances and Piedt became vulnerable to pursuing options overseas, and the possibility of signing a Kolpak deal.
“I was gutted. Playing a Test series in Australia was a big thing for me. I thought I had done reasonably well after coming back from injury. The conditions in the winter series against New Zealand weren’t favourable for spinners and I thought I had done what was asked of me,” Piedt, pictured, said yesterday after being recalled to the Proteas Test squad for the final Test in New Zealand.
“It did not help that the environment at the Cobras was not healthy at the time either. I was very frustrated and seriously considered signing a Kolpak contract.
“I wanted to get away from everything and everybody, but then Ashwell Prince sat me down and something changed within me. He was going to be the Cobras coach and the franchise wanted me to lead the side. The captaincy at the Cobras changed my entire outlook. I wanted to stay. I wanted to fight again.”
It was no small task trying to unite a team that had been torn to shreds over the past six months, but that is exactly what Piedt in conjunction with Prince achieved.
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Cobras finished a credible third place in the Sunfoil Series with three victories in five matches after propping up the table without a win in 2016.
The Momentum One-Day Cup campaign has not gone as smoothly, with inconsistencies plaguing the Cobras, leaving Piedt with a moral dilemma.
“The national cause, of course, comes first and you can’t refuse a Proteas call-up but we’ve done such good work at the Cobras in 2017 that I feel like I am letting the boys down by leaving at such a crucial stage of the domestic season,” he said.
“We have worked hard on creating an environment where players can be successful. I’ve been so focused on the Cobras that I haven’t even thought of playing for the Proteas before this call-up came. I’ve also taken on the challenge of improving my batting. I’ve always enjoyed batting, I just needed a game plan to score runs more consistently and I’ve worked hard with Ashwell in trying to give me more scoring options instead of just defending.”
Although being fully focused on the Cobras, Piedt admits that he’s had a roving eye on the New Zealand series and noticed that the pitches have not been the traditional green-tinged surfaces found in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
“It’s hard to follow the Proteas in New Zealand with the vast time-differences and I’m a guy who likes my sleep,” he chirped. “But I’ve caught the highlights and the wickets really look a lot browner than they usually do. Keshav did very well in Dunedin and Jeetan (Patel) and (Mitchell) Santner have been in the game, so I’m excited about getting over there and hopefully I can contribute to another Proteas series win.”