Guess who is back? It’s the Steyn-less steel

THE Titans yesterday named a decent 13 for their T20 game against the Knights in Kimberley today, which is no surprise in a dressingroom bursting with talents the size of AB de Villiers‚ Quinton de Kock‚ Aiden Markram and Lungi Ngidi.

But the second-last name on the squad list will grab the most attention.

There‚ hiding in plain sight‚ were two words many South Africans have been waiting to see on a team sheet for more than a year.

One of those words was Dale. The other was Steyn.

The last Steyn’s compatriots saw of him in action was in November last year when he left the Waca in Perth in clear discomfort after bowling 12.4 overs in the first Test against Australia.

He had broken a bone in his shoulder and seriously injured three major muscles.

With that Steyn’s march towards the five Test wickets he needs to break Shaun Pollock’s record of 421 for South Africa was put under doctors’ orders to mark time. That time has been marked. After surgery to insert a pin and months‚ weeks‚ days and hours of rehab‚ Steyn is finally ready to put his best foot forward again.

If all goes well it’s difficult to imagine him not reeling in Pollock’s total this summer‚ and that against the illustrious Indians and Australians.

But Steyn will be the Knights’ problem today – he will play‚ surely – and that means he will be Nicky Boje’s problem.

Whatever might the coach tell his batsmen?

“What you tell them is you play the ball; you don’t tell them to play the person‚” Boje told the Daily Dispatch yesterday.

“Dale hasn’t played for a while. So he might be on song or he might not be.”

Kimberley as a comeback venue for a star fast bowler only adds to the story.

The pitch is as flat as they come‚ and the short straight boundaries mean batsmen get away with errors more often than bowlers.

What was Boje’s advice Steyn?

“You’ve got to stay ahead of the game‚” he said.

“If you commit to bowling a yorker or the bouncer you must execute it.”

Steyn‚ 34, and with 510 matches of all descriptions to his name – in which time he has bowled 38 758 deliveries of all descriptions – since he made his first-class debut in October 2003 will know that only too well.

He will also know that nothing means more than delivery No 38 759. — DDC Knights for