Jack will be all right says spin pal Roelof
Sam Dalling speaks to a Somerset star who backs his Taunton team mate to come good, despite the recent controversy
Somerset star Roelof van der Merwe has backed teammate Jack Leach to come back stronger after the recent questions marks surrounding his bowling action. The left-arm duo took their side to within a whisker of a maiden County Championship triumph in 2016, sharing no fewer than 90 first class scalps between them. Leach in particular impressed, claiming 68 victims at just over 22 a piece – figures that led to calls from some quarters for fast-tracked internationals honours. But somewhat surprisingly there was no seat on the plane for the leading English twirler in domestic cricket for either of England’s tours to the Sub-continent, with Adil Rashid, Zafar Ansari, Gareth Batty and Liam Dawson all preferred as spinning options. And out of the blue it was announced that the Taunton-born man wasn’t considered for selection following the discovery of a minor deficiency in his bowling action – the timing of the release coinciding with Alastair Cook’s troops suffering a humiliating innings defeat at the hands of India. That defect has now been ironed out and Van der Merwe has tipped his spin partner to mix it up with the big boys in an England shirt for years to come. “It was disappointing with the way it all came out – it could have been handled a bit more sensitively,” he said. “Personally I find it funny how people try to cover for themselves and don’t think about the player. “But that’s all water under the bridge now and it is only going to make him stronger in the future. “I told him that in a couple of years he will look back and have a good chuckle at it all – he will be all right and he will play for England.” As the holder of a Dutch passport Van der Merwe was able to sign up for a stint in country cricket without the need for Kolpak registration. But in his native South Africa such deals are a hot topic and the Cricket South Africa (CSA) are still reeling from the loss of Test star Kyle Abbott to Hampshire just as the seamer should be at the peak of his powers.
Others to have turned out for the Proteas in recent years before joining counties on long-term deals include David Wiese, Stiaan van Zyle and Rilee Roussow, and with Brexit on the horizon CSA fear further losses. But the all-rounder took a pragmatic view on such defections, highlighting a lack of security as a key driver behind the trend.
“The nature of sport is that it is a fickle business and there is not a lot of security,” he said. “In South Africa it is even more so and some guys have had to make tough decisions for their future.
“There will always be people who are for and against it and we will never really know whether it is a cricketing or a financial thing. But you’ve got to look at it and think that these guys now have job security over a period of time.
“At the end of the day it is their choice and we have to support them.”
Having spent the festive season back in his land of birth, Van der Merwe enjoyed some winter sun as part of the Netherlands squad for the inaugural Desert T20 Challenge, although the Dutch were, arguably, the tournament’s biggest under-achievers.
It was disappointing how it came out – it could have been handled more sensitively. I find it funny how people try to cover for themselves
The right-hander is just one of a handful of men to have appeared for multiple nations in T20Is, clocking up more than 20 appearances for the Proteas before debuting for his adopted country.
And the man who has experienced the glitz and glamour of both the IPL and the Big Bash believes that such opportunities like the Desert T20 can only aid the development Associate cricket:
“When you look at Associate cricket in general, usually when you play in a tournament, it is to qualify and every game matters,” he said.
“This was a good opportunity for the likes of ourselves to see how good our set-up was. We went to win, but it wasn’t a must win and it allowed us to play players in different positions and see what they’ve got.
“Associate teams have come a bit closer to the main Test nations in recent years, but there is still a huge gap.
“But we have shown over the years that we can beat good teams – the potential is still there and we will get stronger the more and more cricket we play.”