JP Duminy missed out on last season’s inaugural Mzansi Super League through injury, and was replaced with Quinton de Kock at the Cape Town Blitz.
Neighbours Paarl Rocks immediately seized the opportunity by snapping up South Africa’s leading T20I scorer at this year’s draft, with Duminy joining the likes of Proteas captain Faf du Plessis at Boland Park.
“I am looking forward to MSL 2.0. Obviously I missed out last season. It’s huge for domestic cricket in South Africa. If you look back two, three or maybe even five years, domestic cricket was on a downward spiral,’ said Duminy yesterday.
“The revival of the T20 game and the model of the MSL is something I am quite excited about. You have international cricketers moulded with young talent and that’s going only going to leave us in good stead.”
Besides hopefully guiding the Rocks to another play-off spot, it’s his experience that will be most valued by mentoring youngsters such as Kyle Verreynne, Thando Ntini, Sibonelo Makhanya and Bjorn Fortuin.
“It is always important to have that scenario. I think the most important factor is that youngsters get to match themselves against the best in the world. You get Dale Steyn up against a Kyle Verreynne, who he might have only faced in the nets. Now he gets to go up against him in a professional environment.
“Youngsters can also gain plenty from just having conversations with the internationals in the changeroom and learn from them. I am definitely aware that the stage I am at in my career is not focused solely on performance, but thinking beyond just myself as a player, and about legacy and what I want to leave behind. Imparting knowledge on a style of play and mindset for the future.”
Du Plessis will certainly be pleased that his former teammate will be making a positive contribution from within the confines of the Rocks’ dressingroom.
The Proteas captain bemoaned the lack of experience currently around the national team after the disastrous tour of India and how Cricket South Africa needs to find the financial resources to get more ex-players involved.
“It’s obvious that we need to make more use of our ex-players and especially our experienced players, but it also comes with challenges,” he said. “I know for a fact that we have tried to get them involved, but I suppose it always comes down to a financial point of view. The financial thing is a hurdle at the moment but if that wasn’t a hurdle, most definitely.”