Cape Town — For all those caught up in the hype that Dewald Brevis is the most exciting batting prospect to emerge from South Africa since AB de Villiers, they surely do not remember Rilee Rossouw.
Make no mistake teenage prodigy Brevis is a generational talent that will sooner rather than later debut for the Proteas, but Rossouw — now 32 — was altogether different stock.
Perhaps it's for the fact that Rossouw forged his reputation in the trenches of first-class cricket that is most appealing. Aged just 20, Rossouw hit 319 off just 291 balls, which included the record for the fastest triple century in South African cricket.
Hitting four sixes in an over is entertaining, but striking the ball so sweetly and consistently for such a lengthy period of time is on another level.
From thereon it was inevitable that Rossouw would enjoy a considerable international career. The fact that it lasted only 51 matches (36 ODIs, 15 T20Is), culminating in 2016, with no Test cap to show for it is a South African cricket tragedy.
There is nobody but Rossouw to blame for it all ending so abruptly though. Despite being entrusted with the crucial No 4 spot in the epic 2015 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand at Eden Park, and winning the Player of the Series award in his last ODI series, Rossouw felt that playing as a Kolpak for Hampshire in the English County Championship offered greater long-term financial security.
Of all the Kolpak defectors during that tumultuous period, Rossouw’s departure stung South African cricket the deepest. Then-Proteas coach Russell Domingo was particularly vociferous in his condemnation and it seemed all ties with Rossouw’s homeland had been severed.
But such is the crazy world that we find ourselves in that has led to a bizarre turn of events, among them the United Kingdom exiting the European Union leading to Kolpak extinction, and captain Temba Bavuma’s unavailability though injury, will somehow in a wicked twist of fate provide Rossouw with the opportunity to resurrect his Proteas international career in Bristol on Wednesday in the T20I series-opener against England.
“It’s great to have Rilee as part of the squad again. He has immense experience. A good head on his shoulders. He is a match-winner. We welcome him all the way,” Proteas stand-in captain David Miller, harbouring no ill-feelings, told reporters on Tuesday.
Rossouw could just be the trump card the Proteas have been missing in their T20 line-up, especially leading into a T20 World Cup just a few months away in Australia. It is not just his skill-set that has been further enhanced through being a self-confessed “T20 gun-for-hire” across various franchise leagues over the past few years, but he also seems much more relaxed playing his cricket now than previously.
“I started my career with him. He is a lot stronger now than back then (laughs). It's mainly the experience that he has. He is a great guy to have in the team. He has a serious record, he’s been all around the world. He is pretty relaxed and takes things in his stride, but hugely competitive out in the middle,” Miller said of Rossouw, who just blasted 623 runs at an average of 47.92 and strike-rate of 192.98 for Somerset in England’s VItality Blast.
“He’s also been in the UK for a couple of years, and it's nice to have him in these conditions as well. A great asset to have in this T20 side, and I think it's going to be a cracker of a series for him.”
Further changes to the Proteas T20I squad sees the welcome return of talismanic fast bowler Kagiso Rabada along with youngsters Tristan Stubbs and Gerald Coetzee.
LIKELY TEAMS FOR BRISTOL
England: Jason Roy, Jos Buttler (c/wk), Dawid Malan, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Phil Salt, Moeen Ali, Sam Curran, Chris Jordan, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rilee Rossouw, Rassie van der Dussen, Aiden Markram, David Miller (c), Heinrich Klaasen, Dwaine Pretorius, Wayne Parnell, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje/Lungi Ngidi, Tabraiz Shamsi/Keshav Maharaj.