It's time South Africa starts drooling over Dewald Brevis ... he's that good!

“AS a group we are so humble to talk up other players that we don’t give credit to our own players.”

This was one of Shukri Conrad’s first statements after being appointed Proteas Test coach just over two years ago now. 

And for those still wondering what Conrad meant, he doubled down with: “It's time we drool over our own players.” 

Being one of the more savvy coaches going around, who certainly knows how to “play the media game”, Conrad was sending out a dual message. 

The first was, of course, for the Fourth Estate to begin backing his young team and processes whilst creating local heroes for the South African public to support.

Concurrently, Conrad was also speaking to his own players. Filling them with the belief that they had their coach’s ultimate backing that they could go toe-to-toe with any opponent.

Conrad’s convictions have only grown over the intervening period - not least after leading the Proteas to World Test Championship success. 

It is this infectious confidence that continues to lay influence on the entire Proteas dressingroom, which Conrad now has full control over across all formats. 

Dewald Brevis’ quantum leap from boy to man in Darwin this week is testament to it all. 

Whilst a term thrown around far too loosely in this modern era, Brevis is indeed a “generational talent”, whose Proteas destiny lay before him since his short pants days at Affies.

But he still needed someone to unlock the mind to allow those wonderfully gifted hands to produce its magic. Enter Conrad.

It is no coincidence that Brevis’ superlative ICC U19 World Cup performances in the Caribbean back in 2022 was with Conrad at the helm of Junior Proteas. 

There is a trust factor between coach and player that allows Brevis the freedom to launch his sky rockets from ball one without any fear of rebuke. 

The exciting prospect now is that Brevis’ record-breaking 125 not out off 56 balls - the highest T20I score by a Proteas batter - is not his ceiling. He has the potential to go even bigger and further for longer. 

And that brings me directly to Conrad’s initial statement. 

Brevis has catapulted himself into the same Whatsapp group that contains India’s T20I megastars such as Abishek Sharma, Tilak Varma and Yashasvi Jaiswal.

And for those feeling that I may be getting whisked away with a once-performance that could resemble Richard Levi’s blitzkrieg 51-ball 117 not out against New Zealand all those years ago, there is enough evidence to suggest Brevis’ trajectory is only upwards from hereon. 

After being overloaded with information when he first arrived on the professional stage, which led to the inevitable challenging adaptation period, Brevis has stripped away all the outside noise and knuckled down to the bare basics. 

The rewards have been consistent performances at all levels and across formats since driving MI Cape Town to the Betway SA20 Season 3 title at the beginning of the year.

Each sportsperson also has their individual motivational factors. Brevis, who is outwardly spiritual, seems to have discovered his in the divine scriptures.

“Yeah, just when I reached that century, the most important thing for me was, it wasn't me, it's all God,” Brevis said. 

“I give it all to him, all the glory and he blessed me with the talent to play like that to play aggressive ball striking.”

The steadfast conviction that his skill may be the workings of higher-power is backed up with an intense self-belief. 

"I've always believed that this is where I need to be and where I will be. Never ever have I doubted myself," he added.

It’s time for South Africa to also start believing that that have a genuine superstar in Brevis.